There are two ways to have more money: earn more and spend less. Getting a handle on sales sits firmly in the second camp. You can buy the same thing for less, but you can also spend money you didn’t need to spend. Sales are tricky like that: sometimes they help us get what we need more cheaply; sometimes the lower price makes us spend more than we planned.
The good part: during a sale, you can buy something for less than its usual price. The more expensive it is, the bigger the saving could be.
The tricky part: being in charge of the sale, instead of letting the sale be in charge of us.
Here are a few ways to make sales work for us.
When do sales happen?
Sales aren’t a surprise. Shops have a few sale seasons each year: before Passover, before Rosh Hashanah and toward the end of the year.
Online, the end-of-year stretch is even more intense. It starts with Shopping IL in early November, then Singles’ Day on November 11, followed by Black Friday and Cyber Monday, Christmas sales on international sites, and finally the end-of-year sales. If you’re interested in the history, there’s also a story about how these shopping events reached Israel.
Shopping IL is the first in this run of shopping events. It was created to encourage people to buy from Israeli businesses. Production costs more, imports cost more, being an island economy costs more (we’re a small country that relies on shipping and air freight and can’t easily trade with our neighbours), regulations add costs, and VAT does too.
Many owners of physical shops, as well as plenty of other shops in Israel, realised that if they didn’t want to lose customers to sites abroad, they needed to join in and offer deals at this time too.
Why can sales be a money trap?
Sales press an emotional button in our brains, and advertisers know it. It’s easy to get tempted: you see something you want, it’s discounted, you work hard and you want to treat yourself. Why not? We don’t always have to save like mad. We’re allowed to enjoy ourselves. But impulse buys made only because a discount ends soon, or because a site offers cashback, can turn into a whole lot of spending we didn’t plan for.
How can we save money even when there’s a sale?
Would you pay full price for it?
We don’t like missing out on a discount. There’s something in our heads that makes us want things more when they’re scarce, whether it’s a sale price or a limited edition. And getting something at a discount can make us want more of it, even if we don’t need it.
Those offers by the checkout? That’s what they’re doing. “This dress goes great with this scarf,” “Free shipping over ₪350” and “Sign up for 15% off your next purchase” all tempt you to spend more now or come back and buy again when you don’t need to.
Buying something on sale still means spending money. Say you bought a gorgeous bag for ₪700 instead of ₪1,000. You didn’t pay full price, sure. But you now have ₪700 less than you had before you bought it.
One way to check if you’re buying it just because it’s on sale is to ask yourself: would I pay full price for it? If yes, great. Make the most of the sale. If not, the sale might be making the most of you.
Make a shopping list
You can decide in advance what you’re going to buy and how much you’ll spend. A shopping list helps you keep track of your spending and helps you avoid drifting into impulse buys.
A tip for the self-employed: new business owners can get very excited when they discover there are sales on business expenses too, not just things for the house. I wait for sales to buy software licences (I was excited when I found out Elementor had discounts in November and December), and office supplies when I need them.
Give yourself a fun-money budget
Some dietitians say there’s no point banning foods you love, because you’ll eat them anyway. Dietitians who understand their clients don’t ban those foods; they suggest setting an amount.
If you think you might fall for impulse shopping, set a “fun-money budget” for that too. Then it won’t feel like you’re on a diet or in a monastery until you slip, feel bad and blow the whole budget.
Compare prices
Want a new robot vacuum? Great! Compare a few models and shops so you get the one that suits you best for the best price. Don’t jump at the first sale you see.
You may have more room to negotiate with some suppliers at sale time. They know everyone is trying to get your attention, so they might offer a bigger discount, or more for the same money, rather than lose you to a competitor. Some shops and suppliers might even agree to give you the sale price after the sale ends. It doesn’t hurt to ask.
One more tip: know what you want before you get there. Ask friends about models and sizes, whether you’re buying shoes, a car or a robot vacuum. Then, when it’s time to buy, you can choose what actually works for you instead of being swayed by the price. Make the decision well before you’re faced with everything in the sale.
Look at the shekels, not the percentages
You pay in shekels, not percentages.
A computer that normally costs ₪3,000 costs ₪2,700 after a 10% discount.
A computer that normally costs ₪4,000 costs ₪3,000 after a 25% discount.
The second discount is bigger, but that computer still costs ₪300 more. If the two computers are very similar and both suit your needs equally well, the cheaper one may be the better choice, even if its discount looks less impressive.
Think long term
When you buy something, think about how long it will last. Don’t just pick the cheapest option; pick the one that will last you more years. Buy cheap, buy twice. I once bought boots for a Jerusalem winter for ₪900, and seven years later I still hadn’t needed another pair.
FAQ
Shops usually have sales at set times of year: before Passover, before Rosh Hashanah and toward the end of the year. Online, the end-of-year sale season starts with Shopping IL in early November, continues with other shopping events and ends with the year-end sales.
Ask yourself: would I buy it if it weren’t on sale? I also recommend planning ahead: work out exactly what you want to buy and, if it helps, write a shopping list.
