On Tuesday, I took a trip to the North Georgia premium outlets with visiting family from out of time. My intention was to enjoy girl time with my cousin and Aunts and not to blow my budget.  Maybe a shirt or two, at most.  Certainly, I didn’t anticipate the goodies I would walk away with. Good thing, I knew a few ways to save even more when outlet shopping. Here are some of my tricks.

Bring cash

Bringing cash reduces my chances of overspending. Unlike a card, you can physically see your cash stack dwindle down with every purchase you make.  When people make purchases with cash, they take longer to ponder the value of what they are buying as opposed to mindless shopping.

Begin at Customer Service

Customer Service is not only full of pamphlets and maps, but also information regarding sales and special offers. Go here first and pick up a booklet. It should include a list of all of the stores and coupons/special savings to particular stores. I saw a coupon for $15 off, unfortunately it was for a clothing store that I don’t shop.

Don’t Spend All of Your Money in the First Store

Remember the girl from Confessions of a Shopaholic? She spent ALL of her money on shopping and did not take care of her financial responsibilities. Don’t be like her!! True Story- Once we got to the outlets, my little cousin wanted to stop in a teen clothing store. She was picking up items and I told her, “Don’t spend it all here. Now that we know what they have and what you like, let’s see if any other stores have anything better or for less. If not, and you remember that shirt after we have hit up the other stores, we will come back”.

Use your time wisely

While shopping, one of my aunts pulled out a map of the outlet and highlighted all of the stores she was interested in visiting. The outlet was set up in color-coded zones and paralleled the map provided at customer service. She then wrote down each color section that had stores that we were planning on visiting and then wrote down how many stores were in each color zone. The whole process took about two minutes but it saved so much time in the end. I find that people are extremely excited when they get to the outlets and quickly become overwhelmed and exhausted. This way, you can ensure that you hit the stores you absolutely love and you don’t waste your time randomly looking in other places.

Only buy what you love

Don’t waste money on things you like when you can buy things you love. Often times, I have found myself spending MORE money just because it was a good deal. A good example of this would be the red Jessica Simpson pumps I bought for football season. First of all, I had NOT intended on buying anything. Secondly, I went into a store that was not on the list; although, I am super pleased that I did. Thirdly, I found myself searching for another pair of shoes just because the sales associate kindly mentioned that I could save 50% if I bought another pair for equal or less value. I spent about 5 minutes searching for another pair when it hit me, why would I spend extra money for something that is not in my budget and that I don’t love? Just because it is a good deal does not mean that it is the best deal for you!

What’s Your Go To Shopping Tip?

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