Some Unsolicited Advice

As I was perusing the latest issue of "Reader's Digest," I came across one of the best pieces of financial advice I have ever read.

Financial planner Carl Richards imposes a 3 day "mandatory holding pattern every time he puts something in an online shopping cart. It's amazing how something you absolutely had to have holds almost no interest to you after three days."

I find that I do that all the time. I will go on a website and fill the cart with things. Then, over the course of the next few days, I weed that down and down and down. I get almost-buyers remorse and question my need for the items or how much the girls need it. I look around for online coupons codes. I shop around for a cheaper version or a close second. What usually happens is I empty the cart and never buy anything

I think that is great advice for online shopping. It is really easy to just click "place order" and move on. I have found that there are a lot of good deals on the Internet but usually it is a whole lot cheaper to buy at a store. Maybe that is because it is easy to put things back at a store. I also think that it is way cheaper to drive to a store to buy the things you need than to pay the sometimes outrageous shipping costs. There are a lot of coupon codes out there for free shipping, but as my luck usually has it, they are never for the online store I am shopping at. I am rarely suckered into the "if you spend $35 more dollars, you will get free shipping" advice the sites give me. Really?! Why in the world would I spend $35 more dollars to get $7 in free shipping? 

I am not a online shopping hater at all. Sometimes the sale deals are way better than in-store. Sometimes the online specials are worth the shipping costs. I just thought that the 3-day rule was a great idea to hinder impulse shopping.

And yes, I do read "Reader's Digest" and have a subscription thanks to my dear old dad. So, hold on tight. There might be more juicy tidbits to come.