How I Changed My Shopping Habits

I enjoy shopping. My folks love to tease me about how I spend more time chatting up the shopkeepers and window-shopping rather than actually purchasing. It drives them crazy, when they accompany me. By the time we’re through with the first hour, they have a hunted glazed look in their eyes, never sure how much longer it is going to take. Mind you, I always step out with a list. And it is this list that lulls them into a false sense of hope and makes them assume that this time is going to be different.

Unfortunately, we live in one of the most preferred shopping areas of our city and I swear you can’t reach your first destination without wanting to stop at ten other unplanned ones on the way.

It is tempting.
It is distracting.
It is time-consuming.

And you know that these days if there is one thing that’s a priceless commodity, it is Time. So after repeated lectures, both loving and strict about my shopping habits, I decided I must change my modus operandi. After all, none of us deserved to waste time that we needed for more important things.

I discovered the internet and with it, the joy of online shopping. It began with getting grocery deals online aided and abetted by the thoughtful Google constantly serving up ads that align with my browsing behavior. This did not stop me from visiting my local stores – far from it – but it made me cleverer – I leveraged my time management by doing the research. I still had my list – and this time I fine tuned it – and compared pricing. If it was cheaper online, I ordered it there. If I got better pricing offline, I shopped there. Point is, I reached a balance and saved a tremendous amount of time.

The best part was I could do it at my convenience.

Gradually, I became a bit of an online shopping pro. Hey, I like to think so anyway. And true to my nature, I do not keep good things to myself. I shared the knowledge and saw the gratitude meter going up with my friends, who were pretty much in the same boat as I was.

Fast forward a few years – and today, I do most of my shopping online. Be it books, apparel, electronics, health devices, movie tickets, groceries, travel packages – I rely on the power of the Internet. And coupon sites. Because somewhere along the way, I stumbled upon them, again thanks to Google when I typed deals for something I was looking for.

You have to love coupon sites. Especially the ones that aggregate a huge number of popular stores. Now I mostly enjoy mostly shopping at Myntra, Jabong, Flipkart and Amazon, among others thanks to their variety and great process. The benefit from coupon sites is getting all those deals and coupons in one place and also discovering stores I never knew existed. Big bonus, that one. And of course, the primary purpose – save time and money. Recently I used Myntra coupons and was able to save much of my valuable money. Signing up at these sites for their newsletter brings those deals right into my mailbox.

I especially love the fact that I can order something online and have it delivered to different addresses – you know – gifts for special occasions or just help out a friend who’s busy.

So anyway – don’t go thinking I’ve stopped strolling around my area. In fact, I enjoy it even more – with my camera and without the pressure of hurrying up. Yep – a walk around my area is more of a de-stressing activity than stressful shopping and worrying about getting back home in time to cook dinner.

Do you shop online? Do you have favorite coupon sites?