budget living

Lessons I learned at the Old Navy Sale

FLIPFLOPS

Good morning Loves.  With summer upon us and the 4th of July weekend just passed I’ve noticed that several major retailers are having sales.  Macy’s wants to sell us patio furniture or our backyard barbecues, TJ Maxx wants to sell us summer essentials at a discount and Old Navy wants to sell us flip flops for $1.  Trust me if you need something for summer you will most likely find it on sale.

Or so I thought.  I have been shopping for a white cardigan since May and I just can’t find one that is reasonably priced.  After seeing the Old Navy ad on TV I decided to go and have a look.  I don’t usually shop at Old Navy for all the reasons I’m about to tell you but I thought I’d give it a try.

Cheaper isn’t always better

To make a long story short I went to Old Navy, found a white cardigan and bought it.  When I got home I decided that the quality wasn’t worth the price (reason number 1) so I went back the next day to return it for a full refund.  Did you know that you can return items and get a refund up to 90 days after your purchase?  That seems like a long time to me, but that’s the policy.

As I stood in the extremely long line (reason number 2) waiting to return my cardigan and listening to the conversations around me I realized several things about people, money and shopping habits.

3 lessons I learned from Old Navy:

People love a good deal.   The woman standing in front of me had three pairs of jeans in her hand.  She explained to her boyfriend that they were the same model of jeans she was wearing and because they were on sale she was buying them in every color the store had in her size.  It’s kind of hot to wear jeans in the summer but I guess they will be handy come fall.  There were signs all throughout the store advertising cheap prices on summer must haves such as $1 flip flops, $5 tank tops and $10 summer dresses.  Big flashy signs in bright colors attract shoppers and Old Navy does this well.

The impatient become patient when it comes to money.  The lineup was huge and I mean 20 plus people.  I HAD to wait in line because I was getting money back from returning my cardigan.  I am not sure if I would wait in the same long line to spend money.  I love a great deal just as much as the next girl but I have a breaking point when it comes to waiting.  I was truly shocked at just how long people would wait just to get a good deal.

People will buy anything if it’s cheap.  If you are in the mood to shop you will buy anything and everything that’s on sale.  I know this to be true from my past life.  I am a reformed spend-a-holic and I would love spending money even if I didn’t need the item.  If it was on sale then I was buying it.  It’s an extremely bad habit that’ I’m glad I broke.

Photo from Flickr

1 Comment

  • I usually become amazed at just how much stuff gets purchased when I stand in those lines. Old Navy lines always seem to be long, way to persevere and get your money back! Long exchange periods are really good for folks like me who don’t live in cities, so it takes ages to get back and exchange things.

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