Save me from the sales

So far I have resisted the pull of the January sales and if I can hold out another week they will probably be over. My problem is I just don’t have the dedication and discipline to survive the relentless temptation of all those apparent bargains. Unlike my friend Vix who knows what she wants in the sales and goes for it like an Exocet missile. She is one of the most focussed shoppers I know – yesterday she was in and out of IKEA in 17 minutes. Really – and that included a dangerous deviation into the Market Place to buy me some tea lights. Product placement holds no fear for her – she would no more come home with an impulse bought set of storage jars than she would hop on the bus with an extra Billy bookcase. And I think that’s partly down to her carrying a vision of her home as it really is with her as she shops. Most of us step into somewhere like IKEA or a fabulous department store and suddenly imagine that we live in that world. Our kitchen surfaces are no longer crowded with gadgets and kettles and coffee jars  but are clear open spaces just crying out for a set of stackable cake tins decorated with cup cakes. Our wardrobes are not groaning at the hinges with seventeen different pairs of black trousers, but a walk in oasis with plenty of room for a new wrap dress and two more grey skirts. I am getting better, and I do stick to the “one in one out” rule when it comes to buying clothes – but that doesn’t really help at the sales does it? Especially if you show me a 50% off sticker because that’s just an invitation to buy two…

Perhaps I should get some aversion therapy – maybe I shouldn’t  head for the shops until I’ve watched an episode of The Hoarder Next Door…..

Posted by Amanda Blinkhorn