At war with myself in a department store

I am usually a search-and-destroy shopper: I know what I want, I get it, and get out of the store. Sometimes, however, I am in the mood to walk around and look in aisles I don't normally visit-- and that's when the trouble starts.

I will see some cool thing that I never noticed before, and think about buying it. I'll pick it up and look at it, trying to determine if it will cause me to go over budget. While I'm thinking that, I'm also thinking of reasons why I should buy it-- trying to justify an "off the shopping list" item. I put it in the cart.

For most people, the story ends there-- the item is purchased. Not with me! If I go home with that item depends on how long I stay in the store. The longer I walk around in the store, the more time I have to start thinking of reasons why I shouldn't buy that item. On a good day, I can reshelve almost everything in my cart. I must drive store detectives crazy.

I have read books about marketing, and most of them say that stores should try to keep customers walking around for as long as possible in the hopes that they will make more impulse purchases. I'll bet they never counted on people like me doing the exact opposite!

I live on a fixed income, so I have to be very careful with my money. Sometimes, just the act of putting the item in my cart gives me the illusion of already owning it, so it's not that hard to leave the store without it. I could probably help chronic impulse shoppers with my Department Store Zen... "All right, now release the CD... breathe... and put it back on the shelf."