How many times have one of your girlfriend’s called you and said, “OMG, it’s finally on sale! Should I buy it?“ It happens to me all the time!

When you’ve been wanting to buy something for a long time and it’s now on sale and you’re going to be able to keep some extra money in your pocket by buying it now rather than after the sale, then that’s a great deal!

If however, you haven’t been eyeing that item for a while and it’s just love at first sight, be careful! This is where it starts to get tricky. When you’re not planning on shopping and you see something that you would love to have, AND it’s on sale, you’ll want to think twice before swiping your credit card.

If you weren’t planning on shopping, even though you might be saving money due to the sale price, you still end up paying an amount, which you weren’t planning for that week or month.

If an item is on sale from $400 down to $300 saving a hundred bucks or twenty-five percent off is awesome, but you still have to find the money to cover the $300!

If you’ve got that extra three hundred dollars or saved for unexpected purchases, and it’s no big deal for you to cover the cost….then go for it!

Remember, it is not okay to go into debt for any amount in order to take advantage of a great sale! This is often the piece that we seem to miss when we get together with our girlfriends and tell them about a great deal we got on a new purse, shoes or whatever the case may be.

We don’t talk about how much we had to spend to purchase the great deal.

It is important to take this into consideration, particularly as we start to get into the holiday season with Black Friday, Cyber Monday, Boxing Day and Christmas holiday sales coming up.

Sometimes the sales are not really as good as you might think. You might see big signs that say 25% off. Be sure to check for the small print or an asterisk stating that this is 25% off suggested retail price, which they may not be charging in the first place. It’s a deceptive trick to make you think that you’re getting a better discount than you think.

My recommendation to you is that if you find yourself out shopping and are excited to find a great sale, take a moment to think of the implications of spending that extra money. Perhaps even sleep on it and come back the next day.

Buying something on sale can be fabulous, just don’t forget, that no matter how great the sale is, it’s still going to take money out of your pocket!