When I started this blog and tackling more frugality practices, I started putting myself various businesses mailing lists to keep up to date with sales. I figured that I should be kept in the loop as to what is going on sale, if they send a promotional coupon or perhaps even get a few free items. I soon realized that my mailbox was filling up with dozens of emails from businesses, trying to coerce me to peruse their website and purchase all those awesome things at a deep discount, and with free shipping!

For a short period of time, I got all excited at the deals, coupons and discounts and found myself purchasing more junk than I would have, had I not even received these emails in the first place. Dammit. I’ve just been had by all those marketing people who write these emails. I just spent $50 I wouldn’t have spent had I not seen this email. Crap. So what now?

I started unsubscribing from these mailing lists. I did keep a few though. And even with the ones I kept, it is rare that I read them, unless I am specifically looking for something. THEN, I will go look at them. Otherwise, I delete them. I don’t want to know that Matt & Natt Handbags are going on sale at Beyond The Rack because I’ll want to buy one. I LOVE Matt & Nat handbags! But I don’t NEED another one. Sure, it’s only $70 for this wicked looking vegan bag, but I have handbags. I have a few Matt & Natts. Just because I love them and just because they are on sale, doesn’t mean I need to get another one. It’s hard though, but at the end of the day, it’s more shit, more clutter that I don’t need and more money that I don’t need to be spending.

These email lists are great to be on if you need something at a big discount though. I have a bad foot with osteoarthritis and I need GOOD shoes, which come at a very hefty price. That is my reality.  And I don’t want grandma-looking orthopedic shoes!! I can’t wear shoes from Payless and sadly I can not wear most vegan shoes. I’ve come to terms with that. I tried doing a cheaper route but my foot paid for it in a bad way.

I finally found a couple of brands that make my feet very happy and last me forever but if I bought these shoes retail, they would cost me over $150-200 and in some cases $300+. My partner always bugs me about my $300 shoes. Then I say, I paid $99 for them on sale. They were $99 shoes.   After my second foot operation, I had to get rid of most of my shoes and start collecting the shoes that would work for me & my gimped-up foot. In this case, receiving these emails with big discounts are wonderful. I needed a pair of city walking flats and found a company called Bloch which makes shoes for dancers. I gasped at the $250 price of their ballet flats and of course wasn’t going to pay that. I  have been wanting Bloch flats for about 4 months now but the cheapest price I found was $150 and I still wasn’t willing to pay it. Now, just last week, I get an email  from a particular company and I ended up getting a pair of Bloch flats for $99. I had a free shipping coupon on top of it. Score!! Patience is a virtue, right?

The message here, is to exercise some form of control when receiving these marketing emails. I can suck at it, I admit. If you’re one of those people too, start weeding through the email lists you are on, and keep the ones you are pretty sure you’ll use and scrap all the other ones. Too much temptation can be bad, especially if it has “75% OFF” written in the subject line.

GOOD LUCK!!