Confessions of a College Shopaholic

I began my training at a very young age. But not for any sport or even dancing, I was trained as a thrifty shopper before I could walk. Now you must be thinking, "What's so difficult about shopping? You pick something out and pay? Right?" So wrong! So much goes into shopping that most people never think of!

Rule #1: Never pay full price! Sales are God's gift to a shopper and used right it's possible to save more than you spend. I have a saying, "If it's not half off it's not on sale." Also, don't go into a sale blindly! Make sure what you are buying says clearance and isn't just in the clearance section. Nothing is worse than thinking that adorable new scarf you thought was sixty precent off and it turns out to be full price!

Rule #2: Shopping carts are your best friends! They store your items until you are ready to pay, hold your children so they don't get lost, and make you move at much faster pace. But the best use of a shopping cart is as a battering ram! Use it to block off other shoppers from the area you are in or to push a slower shopper out of the way. You haven't lived until you've experienced a cart joust!

Rule #3: It doesn't matter who saw it first as long as your the first to get your hands on it! This rule tends to apply to big shopping days like Black Friday and the day after Christmas. These shopping holidays become a sporting event to the best shoppers. Days start at four a.m. and last until about three p.m. You do not take these days lightly, an unexperienced shopper can be seriously injured in a shopping mob. This means you take care of yourself, get your hands on what you want, and get out!

Follow these rules and you to can learn to shop like a pro! That is when you have money... and if your like me... you won't.

Not a Fan of Not Matching

This may seem trivial to many, but my vice is I feel like I have to have to have my outfits match. It bugs me when I see someone blatantly mismatching their clothes with clashing colors, patterns, etc. Mind you, there are exceptions; people who mismatch for stylistic reasons and can pull it off, but I’m talking about people whom just A. Don’t care or B. Think that stripes look good with polka dots.

Now I’m not saying people need to dress up everyday. I don’t even do this myself, but I have noticed that I do feel better about myself if I’m having a good hair day or are wearing a cute outfit, where everything from my headband to my shoes go together. One of the biggest things I have noticed is I want my flip-flops or boots to match the color of my outfit. If I somehow accidentally wore navy blue flip-flops with black pants I would feel incredibly sloppy. Even though this can seem kind of vain, I know that the way we dress is a huge part of American culture.

If you disagree, just take a look at a People Magazine, or E News. There is so much emphasis, especially for girls, on what is flattering for our bodies, what’s fashionable, what’s hip. If there wasn’t, I don’t know that so many people would pay money for name brand things. Just the other day I was watching Fashion Police on television and people just laughed and made fun of how badly dressed different celebrities were and it was oddly entertaining to me, perhaps because of the humor of it all.

Also, the way we dress can affect us in a way that is beyond our own taste in couture. When applying for a job, a poor dress choice can affect how seriously the interviewer takes you. If poor enough, it can cause you to not even be considered.