Effective Consumer Decision Making – Work at Home Seniors

Effective Consumer Decision Making. A free article from WorkAtHomeSeniors.com!

A couple of married seniors spent an entire year shopping around for a CD player. Yes, you heard that right—they compared prices, manufacturers, features and probably even researched the color of the interior of the back panel where batteries go! What a waste of time and money!

What IS effective consumer decision making? How do you go about implementing that in your life? Are you too old to learn this (not new) trick?

Many seniors these days lived through the depression, lived during the years just after the depression and were probably raised by by folks who lived through the depression. Frugal to the core, they adapted the motto of ‘waste not, want not’ and have maintained that very conservative spending lifestyle throughout their lives.

Unless they had long and lucrative careers and then found just how much the value of their dollars were spread out, to convey their status in society.

One of the best examples to learn effective consumer decision making is to look at your financial situation through a trip to the grocery store, as an example. On this imaginary trip, you have a list of five items you want to purchase. You also only have $10 to purchase them with.

Two of the items on your list are in the produce section—fruits and vegetables. Fresh produce is usually more expensive than buying canned but not as nutritionally sound.

Another item on your list is sandwich meat. Deli? Prepackaged?

One of your other items is a convenience food. Is it really necessary to purchase that bottled iced tea when you can make it yourself with tea that you already have in your cupboard?

Your final item on your list is a necessity to you and not a convenience food, such as coffee.

Now, with this list – and prior to you going to the grocery store – determine which items are WANTS and which are NEEDS.

Scrutinize your personal definition of wants vs. needs. If you cannot live without it, that is a need. If it is for convenience sake, it’s a want.

This type of exercise is something you need to make a habit of. It is said that if you do something the same way, at least seven times, it becomes a habit.

It is important to remember a few important lessons when deciding how and what to purchase:

Never go to a store with your checkbook but no list;
Always plan for a purchase, if possible, by comparing sales flyers, coupons and prices;
Enjoy what you have instead of always wanting more;
Never buy on impulse;
Make a list of needs and wants and a timeline for the purchase of such;
Budget your money, regardless of whether you are on a fixed income or not;
Some generic and/or store brand products are perfectly acceptable over name-brand items, try some out to see if you like them;
Never buy something because it “makes you feel good”!

How is your list now? Just based on what the example was and after determining whether the item is a want or a need, your list would probably be whittled down to four different items, and you may also need to buy less numbers to get the greatest benefit and fit your budget. Buy one or two bananas instead of a week’s worth. Buy a head of lettuce instead of prepackaged salad. Watch for sales or coupons for your coffee. Buy prepackaged sandwich meat. Again, once you make this a habit, you should really notice your grocery bill is lower than before and your food choices are the best you can make for the money or your health.

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