How to stick to your shopping list

Ok internet friends, I’d like some praise and acclaim for the shopping heroics I just accomplished.

My husband requested for his birthday dinner a specific cheesecake from a specific price club store (which I also refer to as the vacuum at the other end of my wallet).

I actually (and this is 100 percent true) walked in the store, picked up the cheesecake, walked to the cash register, paid and exited.  I assure you, this is the first time in my life I’ve exited that store without an overflowing basket of things, which while enormously appealing, were most definitely not on the shopping list going in.

So, it makes me think? What was the secret to my recent success at sticking to plan in the face of temptation?  Let me retrace my steps.

I was by myself

It’s hard enough to stay focused on the list items yourself and resist your own impulses. Factor into that fielding off the requests of others (i.e. children, hungry husbands and enthusiastic friends) and you are well on your way to spending money you didn’t account for.

Maybe you stumble on a great deal- and that is awesome. When shopping with others, you end up filling your cart (at least a portion of it) to appease and accommodate others.

So- go alone.

Carry out

Speaking of carts, I didn’t even use one. Now this may be completely impractical, depending on what you are entering the store for, but it brings forth a good point.

If you can’t bring it to the cash, you can’t bring it out of the store.

In stores where you can opt between a small basket and a monster cart, choose the basket if it will accommodate your list items. Every little bit helps!

Time pressed

I went in to run my errand in a very short time window. As in, I simply did not have time to wander. I took a direct route to the cake case and out again.

Wandering leads to browsing, and browsing leads to impulse buying.