I am a shopper. It’s kind of my thing. I enjoy going to the grocery store, buying toothpaste and paper towels at Lewis, and above all, scouring the racks and online boutiques for the hottest piece of fashion. I wouldn’t call myself a bargain shopper, more the type that considers a bargain a bonus. It’s been exciting and a little dangerous racking up the credit card balance here and there. But life has really shifted in the past 6 months and it’s caused even me to change my ways.
I’m pregnant with my first child in “our country’s worst economic conditions since the Great Depression”. It’s tough as a consumer to sift through how much of this is media hype and how much trouble we are actually in, but now I’ve got a little doozer to worry about and I’m finding myself responding not only to the hype, but to creative messaging that helps make the simple things seem a little less boring and a little more special.
As discussed in our Food for Thought luncheon last week, it’s common during a recession that messaging stresses quality and value, as well as new uses for old brands. Just paging through one issue of In Style magazine, there are several solid examples of this:
- Lowe’s You popped in for a gallon of paint. You walked out with a new living room.
- General Food International Coffees Indulge for 20 cents a cup!
- Champion yogawear at Target Train within your means
- Target : Offering a coupon for $1 off Glade candles with the message Indulge every day.
- Oscar Meyer Deli-Creations A great lunch shouldn’t require a financial plan.
- Lean Cuisine We believe in food that’s good for you and good for your wallet.
This kind of creative is catching my eye and influencing my shopping behavior. Instead of indulging in the most breathable, tush-flattering bamboo lycra blend yoga pants that all the stars are raving about, or even buying the newest, extra whitening and enamel-strengthening toothpaste that comes in a slickest new container, I’m going back to basics and finding out that a little frugality isn’t so bad after all.
Befriending the Budget,
-Nat
{ 6 comments… read them below or add one }
Great post, Nat! I, too, have noticed that I have a new awareness of my budget and the “value-add” marketing messages that catch my eye. Goes back to basics, putting ourselves in the shoes of the audience and saying WII FM (What’s in it for me?)
By the way, Deli Creations are DELICIOUS!
Hi Natalie — So glad to see the L-S Food for Thought sessions in the Black Hills! I am going next week. This maybe goes against the whole simplicity tone of your blog but it’s a definite value add item — especially for new moms. Smart marketers are still promoting smart products out there regardless of the ecomony.
http://www.smartmomjewelry.com/
Thanks for the smartmom tip, Michelle! Teething Bling is a definite value by simply being multipurpose- fashion & function! Great example of finding new uses for traditional products. Enjoy the upcoming Food for Thought out there.
It’s funny how easy it is to get by on less and less. When we first moved here, the cost was much higher than we were used to in Madison, so a budget was created.
This weekend we checked past account balances to discover that we had managed to survive on a fragment of the savings we have now. Our year of frugal habits has put us into a pretty good place considering how easy some of the cut-backs were to make.
Good luck with your frugality!
At home, we’ve tried to embrace frugality, yet not let it limit the things we like to go out and do by setting some “ground rules.”
1. If we go out to eat, the meal cannot total over $20 (for my fiance and I. This would be much harder with kids!). We find we can still go to every restaurant we’ve always enjoyed but are now sharing larger portions, skipping the soda, etc.
2. If we rent a movie, it must be from a $1 RedBox machine.
3. If we decide to see a movie in a theatre, it must be at the West Mall 7 (cheap seats) or a matinee with a reduced price.