I was out doing errands this week, and I had to run in to Target for two (2) items. Tide laundry detergent and paper towels. That’s it. That’s all I needed. Nothing more. I planned on running in, picking up those two needed items, and getting back out. I told myself to keep focused and don’t let anything distract me from my very simple mission. 
My first mistake, as always, is grabbing a shopping cart. But I didn’t want to be in the position of having to juggle a gallon of laundry detergent and a huge pack of paper towels while standing in a line waiting for a cashier. Okay, fine. Off I go with the cart – and I come to a skidding halt at an end cap displaying a 2 for $3.00 sale for those Nabisco 100 Calorie Packs of cookies. I love those things. And so does my family. 
That sale is just too good to pass up, and I toss four boxes of the things into my basket (2 of the peanut butter cookie crisps, the Chips Ahoy crisps, and the Oreo cookie crisps), and off I go again, my stride determined as I aim towards the detergent aisle.
I take a short cut down another aisle, which is my downfall. Dog food. No problem, I’ve got plenty of that . . . but look at those adorable new squeeky dog toys! My dog, Sandie, loves a good squeeky toy, and these are loud and obnoxious and just how she likes them. Those kind of squeeky toys are hard to find (most have a wimpy squeek), and I just can’t resist. I toss a mallard duck squeeky toy into my basket, knowing how happy Sandie will be when I give it to her.
Now where was I . . .Oh, yeah. The detergent and paper towels. I hang a left at the end of the pet aisle and head down the household aisle. Ahhh, I finally find the Tide detergent. I drop a gallon of the stuff into my basket. Now I’m back on track! Whoo-hoo! The paper towels are right around the corner, and I manage to toss a six-pack into the basket, too.
I’m done. Well, I should be done, anyway. I know I ought to turn that cart around and head back to the cashier’s lane. But I’m right next to the DVD/Music/Book aisle, and I see the latest DVD on sale. The one the kids have been bugging me to get. It’s a great price, cheaper than I’ve seen anywhere else – so why not? I also see a music CD that I know my husband would like, and a few aisles over is books! I pick up two new ones that I’ve been wanting, even though I know they’ll just add to my HUGE to be read pile. But I’m a book junkie, and even though I might not have time to read all the books I want, I love to be surrounded by them! And some day I WILL read them! 
(That’s what I keep telling my husband, anyway *g*)
Really, I need to get out of here. 
I’m done, done, done!!! I’m now at the back of the store, but with willpower and determination, I can make it to the check out lane without doing any more damage to my checkbook. So off I go, keeping my head straight though my eyes see everything in my peripheral vision. Like the Fall, long-sleeved shirts my girls are going to need in the coming months. 
So, I pick up three shirts for each girl, but they really do need them!
The check out lane is so in my sights. Except now I’m right by the cosmetic aisle and I’d really like to find a pretty new pink nail polish since I’m schedule to get my nails done this week. 
Five minutes and two different colors of nail polish later (I couldn’t decide which I liked better!), I’m out of that aisle and heading down the check out lane.
Whew! I made it. Well, almost. While I’m waiting in line I see a tabloid magazine featuring the “Best and Worst Beach Bodies”, and I have to admit that I have a weakness for tabloids. 
In this case, I want to read about who got skinny and who ate like a regular person and gained weight (I’m not saying who! *g*). In the basket the magazine goes.
The checker is scanning my items while I get my check ready. I look up just as she gives me the total amount. $156.78. What!?! 
I really shouldn’t be shocked, but I am. I only came in for two items. Two items! And now I’m walking out with 20+. Most of which I really didn’t need. How in the hell did that happen? 
Well, it happens to me way too often, despite my best intentions. And the biggest culprits are Target, Wal-Mart, and the big warehouse stores like Costco. I’ll have only a few items on my list to buy, and end up with a dozen. I get lured in by those great prices and sales and thinking I’m getting such a great deal . . . until I’m hit with the total bill at the end of my shopping spree. 
Then my high at getting such fabulous deals on everything instantly deflates because I really should have just bought those two items I needed and gotten the hell out of the store ASAP.
So, is it really possible to walk into one of these stores and only buy one or two items? How many of you share this same weakness, and how many of you possess that willpower I wish I had? Come on, tell me I’m not alone!
Janelle Denison finds it hard to believe that it’s been nearly 25 years since she first started writing romance novels. At first, it was a way to pass idle time while her husband worked swing shift, but before long it became an obsession to get published. Luckily, she kept at it (it took her over 5 years to get that first book published!) and is now a Waldenbooks, Barnes & Noble, and USA Today Bestselling author! Now, after selling over 45 plus novels, she finds that her Plotmonkey pals help to keep her stories fresh and unique, and she can’t imagine writing a story without their input. Janelle lives in Oregon with her husband, Don, along with two teenage daughters that keep life interesting.
Destiny
Dirty Little Secrets
Once Upon A Valentine
Through The Night
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I am infamous for not bringing a list with me, so though I don’t have bills quite as high, I’ve been known to spend $60-$80 when I just go in to get a few small items. Bad me. But I try really hard to stick with sale items too, or buy a few things in bulk that I know I need so then I don’t feel so bad. Since it’s just me, I don’t find the need to shop @ Sam’s or Costco. Not worth the price of the membership.
So no Janelle, you’re not alone! We shoud start a support group LOL.
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Of course now I have a new addiction: free stuff and couponing.
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Kirsten — I’m a big fan of “couponing”, too! I cut coupons for everything I can and have saved TONS of money!
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Oh My Gosh I never can go into a store and just get what I need I always comeout with way more. They ask me at the check out “Did you find what you were looking for?” I reply “yes and then some” My son spent last year in a pre school class at the high school it was only an hour and 10 min class so I spent most my days at walmart waiting dangeros very dangerous. lol
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Good it isn’t just me who can never walk in and just buy the few items on my list…at least not at Target. I usually do pretty well when I’m out grocery shopping and take a list, but Target and Costco are always a problem. Yesterday I had to go to Costco to pick up 4 things for work, and ended up also finding a few things for me. Granted, I will eat or use everything I got, but not on my list when I went in. Extra trouble for me is the Target that is right next door to my house. I could walk there if I didn’t buy so much stuff while shopping.
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Leslie,
That is sooo Funny!!!! My husband is not allowed to go to Target/Walmart alone any longer….. I’ll make him a list and when he comes back something that should have taken one bag to carry has turned into 10 bags….. I go and i’m in and out. blinders go on, tunnel vision check I get in and get out. I usually get tempted to go to the book section, but the only thing that saves me is that I get rewards from Borders with awesome coupons. My weakness is the book store, I can’t buy just one. I usually come out with at least 5 books every time.
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My dad used to complain, years ago, about how much mom spent at the grocery store. He was determined to prove he could do it better and cheaper. We all went shopping. The result? We ended up with TWICE as much stuff!! He was never allowed to go in and buy anything but his beer after that!
God, how I miss his craziness!!
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Make us triplets.
We have Sam’s Club instead of Costco and I’ve gotten to the point where I don’t go there anymore because, in the end, it doesn’t end up saving me anything! I spend a small fortune on things that I really don’t need.
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We’re quadruplets….I go in for one item or what’s in the circular and come out with a million items.
My husband is the worst at Costco…seriously, I send him in for four items and he comes out with 10 and has had lunch at the cafeteria. Seriously, that’s why I don’t send him there a lot.
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I love having lunch at the Costco cafeteria! $1.50 for a HUGE hotdog and all the soda you can drink! What a deal!
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It’s one of those things in life. We will never be rich and the likes of WalMart (Tesco/Asda here in the UK) always will be. Because they know marketing. They know we are suckers for a “bargain”. They tempt us with “loss leaders”, they waft out enticing smells from the bakery section and coffee from the cafe. THEY KNOW US ladies. Oh yes indeedie they know us too well. I don ‘t know anyone who has ever stuck to a dedicated shopping list. I know I haven’t. So sympathy to you and your (bad) shopping trip – but you have been warned – they are out there – and they know YOU and your shopping habits. Take care. Caroline x :*&#!:
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You’re not alone, Janelle. I did the same thing at Target yesterday. Lilly and I went in to buy “1″ posterboard for school which costs .69 cents. Lilly saw some shirts she wanted and really needed for school and I saw this hoodie that I needed and then I saw this pretty plaid throw that I thought would be great for the sofa in the den. So, after going in the store for one .69 cent posterboard we walked out after paying $179.00 bucks! Geesh!
I didn’t go into the book or movie section which I should get points for because I always go in there and buy something. So three cheers for not going in that department.
But I love, love, love Target.
They have such great stuff and truthfully, the prices can’t be beat. I’m very weak when it comes to Target. I don’t need much of an excuse to go in there.
Cher
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That sounds exactly like me except by the time I am at the car unloading all the stuff I shouldn’t have bought I realize that I never got the ONE item I went to the store to buy.
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That’s my thing! I went to Target 4 times in the last 2 weeks for one item- a mop. This mop led to school clothes, snacks, household cleaners(at least they are green products) and even toys- but I kept forgetting the mop.
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Denise, that’s FUNNY!
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You are SO not alone. Most of the time, I count myself lucky if I get out under 4100. AND if I remember what I originally came in for, LOL!
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Janelle, I’m not a shopper, & usually pretty well stick to a list, which I always take (do you think a list will help you? I think it does me.) However, of all the stores Target is my toughest test, as they have just about everything (cheaper by not using gas to go other places), & the prices are great. That store & Trader Joe’s are places that I never miss, & whose stores I love. No greater shopping experience than TJ’s with its great, healthful products, good prices & a check-out experience that beats every other store in town in speed and checker smiles.
Patricia
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Ugh. In general I hate to shop, as I come from a shopaholic grandmother who used to drag the grandkids through hundreds of stores while babysitting. Although I get sidetracked once in awhile, since I don’t have a job and am still in school I try my best to put myself on a budget. Also, I don’t have a car…so when I walk the 15-20min to the store (target one way, commissary/px the other), I can only buy what I can carry back. I do a pretty good job at sticking to my list, because I know that I want to spend most of my money on books from Amazon.
On a few occasions I will walk 45 minutes to Borders, and because I’m actually getting some exercise in I will award myself with a handful of books. I’m all about rewards.
<3 J
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How do you like that commissary and PX in San Diego?? Wow, it put West Point and Fort Drum to shame and they are huge!!
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The 32nd Street ones are amazing! The ones in Coronado are nice but a little smaller. Unfortunately the px up here by school is super small, though the commissary is pretty nice. I like the whole self-checkout thing that they’re getting into.
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Hi Janelle,
I also am a member of the get more than you came in the store for club.
But in my defense, I live 12 miles out of town so even if I do pop into a store for one item I try to find the sales and see if I have coupons to match for other things.
I have been shopping this way for 25 years. When you live far away from the stores you just don’t want to run out of things you need. A trip to town takes much gas.
In defense of the snack pac of cookies you bought, if the kids or family had to buy those out of vending machines or something similar you would have paid much more for the snacks. I am good when I go to Sam’s club I usually have a list and buy things I know are cheaper than getting them in the grocery store.
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YOU ARE NOT ALONE !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Pat Cochran
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OMG, I am trying to cut back on my Target shopping.
I don’t know what it is about the store that makes you want buy more and more.
I tryed shopping with a list a Wal Mart over the weekend. Keep in mind that there was only about 15 items on my list. So how is it that I spent $113.00.
Maybe a personal shopper might be the way to go?
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Boy oh boy, do you sound just like me, too!
Naturally, Zoey loves puppy toys and I love books and more books.
I have 2 grand daughters so the kids clothing and toy departments are a must.
I can skip the cookies but a box of pull ups and wet wipes oh yeah and butt
creme and I am off to nail polish. Did I mention that I came here to pick up my
all ready called in Rx and some claratin. I must say you did much better than I
did at the check out. I feel good if I can getout for under 200.00.
The secret is to stay home and send my hubby.
Don is a stick to the list kinda guy well except for the occasional 100 calorie
packs. Okay so that end cap caught my eye too!
You don’t even want to go to a book store with me. Did you know that it costs
16.00 each for an ernie and grover at borders. She just couldn’t choose
between the 2. If there is a sesame street book she doesn’t own or a young
adult book my other grand doesn’t have, sheesh.
Well, I have gone on and on huh?
Kudos to Leslie whose third book Black at Heart releases tomorrow.
I got it the other day and it is awesome.
Also I got Plotmonkey friend Roxanne St. Claire’s newest release
Hunt her Down.
She really does a great job with these bullet catcher books and I am really
enjoying this new one.
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I discovered long ago that I can’t walk into Wal-Mart for less than $100.
I’ve simply taken to avoiding shopping altogether.
I can resist going shopping, but once in a store I can’t resist spending money.
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Well I love to shop! Right now my income is very teeny so I must watch very close what I am spending. It ain’t easy!!
I love Costco, where else can you shop & eat!! There aren’t to many items I buy there as I am single & some of the large packaging just doesn’t do it for me. The vitamins & calcium are good buys for me, also good quality. My daughter & her husband give me the membership so that doesn’t cost me anything. By the way they love to eat the hot dogs at Costco!! Trader Joe’s is one of my favorite places, another place you can shop & eat! Love their products. If you love ice cream be sure to try the Coffee Blast if you haven’t already, it is the yummiest!! 
Target & Walmart are dangerous, books are my downfall at both places, sometimes a new CD and things I need to buy or replace for the house. I avoid Border’s unless I have planned buying books & then only with coupons. It is one of my favorite places books, CD’s, coffee what more could you want!! 
See Janelle you are not alone. I hope that makes you feel better. Great blog today, fun to see others fall for the merchandising the stores do!!
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Well Janelle, as the late Michael Jackson sand “You are not alone.” I too fall prey to the sales and low prices…that is usually the case when I get to Walmart and Sears Essentials. The books are what really get me though. I drop loads of my paycheck each month on books…Some people don’t get us bibliophiles…I went looking for Whitney Houston’s new album, but it wasn’t there. I was so disgusted, I left with one item…I couldn’t believe it…ONE ITEM and NO BOOKS!!! I know why though…I was a little fuzzy this morning. I will go back tomorrow and see what I can find. I wanted to swing by and say hello. I will swing by again later on…I need to take a nap.
Peace and love,
Paula R.
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My problem is coming out without the items I went in for originally! My friend insists that she brings a list and only buys the items on the list. She will allow herself *1* item over the list if it is something she can’t get at another store.
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FYI – I made 3 trips to Target yesterday and still didn’t buy the tuna for the kids lunch!!!!! :*&#!:
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I never really have that problem. Unless I’m at a mall where there’s a Barnes and Noble. Then I’m totally screwed.
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lolololo Janelle! You just described my every shopping trip to Target or Wal Mart. I swear, I used to say I couldn’t walk into Wal Mart for a pack of gum without spending at least a hundred bucks. For exactly the same reasons you described!
Thanks for the grin–glad to know I’m not alone.
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Sound like a global problem. Here in New Zealand we have “The Warehouse” and they keep adding more and more food items to their stores. I usually plan my meals around what is on special at the supermarket so know what is a good price or not. When it comes to The Warehouse, I need to be careful how much time I have to spare – as if I have time on my hands I will wander around (the excuse being that I’m checking out prices on things that I want) and of course this means that I come across the clearance bins.
When it comes to food, I tend to stick to making grocery purchases at the supermarket. I can’t remember who told me but I take note of the prices on items at the end of aisles that I would purchase and look for them in the aisles – that way I can compare prices. Sometimes what looks like a special at the end of an aisle isn’t such a good deal once I compare prices.
I definitely still struggle but I find that carrying cash and having a list help. Also even if its not a food shop, if I’m hungry I will buy more – so I try to avoid shopping without eating first.
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Lyn — I definitely believe in the “eat before you shop for food” statement. I always find that if I don’t eat ahead of time, I buy so much more junk food!
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I walked into a Christmas Tree Shop once and came out with nothing. Hubby asked me if I was sick. A week later, I had my gall bladder out!
I went to Target today. Nuff said. Hit the outlets in Lake George last week. Wait until he sees that bill!!
But I got lots of nice sweaters and shirts. And even some stuff for him.
I bought a fridge today for the kidlets new apartment. I am going out this weekend. It’s going to cost me. I know this before I even get there. We are going to Ikea. Nuff said on that subject too!!
So, no, you are definitely not alone. ::sigh::
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I am definitely one of those with willpower. I can go into Target and only get the one or two items I went there for. On rare occasions I’ll stray and take a look at other things, but I usually don’t end up getting them. My mom, on the other hand, is just like you. She’ll spot something while she’s there and decide we need it, like the cookies and the shirts, and throw it in the cart.
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I feel your pain… End caps are the devil’s display window…