Clothes Shopping, Xmas shopping, or just browsing QVC.com?

It does not matter if you are clothes shopping in a trendy boutique, shopping on line, exploring the home shopping network, or watching the home shopping channel on TV, shopping is an emotional activity.

Your final purchase decision will be influenced as much by emotions (how does this make me feel?) as by logic (can I afford it?).

Emotions will never bring about the control you desire for organized living!

The emotional aspect of clothes shopping or any shopping for that matter has long been recognized by businesses that want to sell you their goods. A whole industry is built on this knowledge base ....it is called marketing!

People who study marketing are really studying the emotions that influence consumers' purchase behavior. They seek to understand the influences on shopping behavior so they can present their goods and their message in a way that creates the emotions necessary to stimulate your purchase. A glance inside a consumer behavior text book will reveal headings in the table of contents such as:

self concept and self esteem
peer and group influence
attitudes
lifestyle
motivation and personality

It almost reads like a first year college course on psychology! And indeed it covers most of the same basics, but in marketing these basics are applied to the purchase behaviors of consumers. They want you to spend your money on their goods, and they will use every conceivable influence to do that. If you have the money to do that all well and good, but in the context of this discussion on organized living we are more concerned with this question;

"Where will you put it when you get it home?"

The clutter control formula stuff in must be less than or equal to stuff out, tells us that in order to control the amount of stuff you have you either have to be constantly getting rid of stuff or stop accumulating it. Both sides of the equation need to be active to maintain control and a balance of the stuff entering and leaving your space.

While there are many ways to get stuff, purchasing stuff is probably the most common. Shopping has become a recreational activity! Whereas in the past shopping was a necessary activity to obtain needed goods and resources for everyday living, shopping has now become an activity that is used to satisfy a wide range of human needs, including recreational and social needs. It is no longer about clothes shopping or furniture shopping, or grocery shopping.....now it is about the "buying experience". People go shopping for the emotional experience not because they need something!

Controlling purchases is essential to organized living.

If you want to be in control of your purchasing it is absolutely essential to understand the emotional influences that motivate you to get out your debit card! This requires understanding the emotional influences on your purchase behavior as well as an analysis of your own needs and the reasons you are engaging in shopping behavior. At the very least you should be as informed about what influences you to buy something when you go clothes shopping as the people who are trying to sell it to you!

Sometimes I go shopping because I just need stuff......really I do! Sometimes shopping is just shopping. Let's face it we do need stuff. It would be pretty hard to stop buying food, or gas, or new underwear (well hard for me anyway!). These items are necessary to meet our basic survival and safety needs such as food, clothing, shelter, hygiene etc.

Social needs are better satisfied through establishing and maintaining satisfying interpersonal relationships.

This is actually free! and you do not even need to go to the shopping mall or figure out a place to store your personal relationships!

But how often do you go shopping to meet other needs? I am referring to needs such as love, prestige, belonging, self respect, status, or achievement. All humans have these needs and shopping is not the best way to fulfill them. Clothes shopping or the purchasing of other goods in order to meet these needs is very poor value for your money.

Yes you will a get a short term emotional lift but you will not have satisfied the unmet need so you will have wasted your money!

Here are some questions to help you achieve organized living next time you go shopping.

What am I here for?	Wandering through a shopping mall without knowing what you are looking for will never lead to control! Research has shown that a lack of clear direction when you go shopping leaves you more sensitive to advertising messages and marketing strategies that the shopping mall has in place. If you want to be in control know what you are there for and focus your search. Use a list to keep you focused!
Can I afford it?	Purchasing without awareness of your financial resources is dangerous and will reduce your ability to be in control. Although debt management is beyond the scope of this website this question warrants inclusion here since it should be given considerable weight in your purchase decisions. If you have not been giving this question the weight it deserves and find yourself spending more money than you have, here are some sites for debt management. http://www.canadadebt.ca/ http://www.debtsteps.com/ Remember...nothing can derail control faster that uncontrolled spending!
What is my feeling about this purchase?	Not what are you thinking but what are you feeling? This question will help develop awareness of how you may be using shopping to create the "feel good" hormones that can create a lift in your mood albeit a temporary lift. If you are purchasing goods in order to change your mood you are experiencing emotional interference with your purchase decision.
Do I need it?	You might need something if you are replacing an item or commodity that has been used up or is no longer working and of course there are some items that we just need for our survival (like clothes shopping!) I am referring to actual need here not want! You do not need to be mean to yourself and deny yourself the pleasure of purchases that you desire (and can afford) but you need to be aware of the motive for the purchase because there can be no control without understanding. And of course you need to find someplace to put it! (Create a place for everything and put everything in its place!)
If I do not need this item then what need am I trying to address by purchasing it?	This question will help you to determine if you are purchasing in order to fulfill an unmet emotional need. There might be a better way to meet that need. If you think you might be engaged in purchasing behavior in order to satisfy unmet needs for love, achievement, self-respect etc., http://www.about-personal-growth.com/
Do I already have one?	Your clothes shopping trip will mean you have more clothing! Use the one in/one out rule if you are purchasing duplicates and consider how you will get rid of the old one.

Shopping can be a fun experience but organized living is only possible if you are in control of that experience rather than having it control you. If you are unaware of your personal motives for shopping and accumulating things you can quickly become overwhelmed with trying to control the ever accumulating amount of stuff in your home.

So on your next shopping trip, whether you are clothes shopping, TV shopping, or just browsing the internet, ask the needed questions for organized living to help you with your purchase decisions.

Develop some awareness of your own motives for accumulating goods and you will be on your way to better control!

Remember if you buy it, then using the clutter control formula and following the one in/one out rule your clothes shopping trip may mean now you have to get rid of something!

And that brings us to the second P in the three P's of organized living....purging decisions