How To Shop Like A 20something

Hello friends! With Black Friday and the Christmas holidays just around the corner I am thrilled to introduce you to a great friend of mine, Missy. A 20something herself, Missy is the go-to-girl on how to look incredible without breaking the bank. So without further ado, here are her holiday tips on "How to Shop Like a 20something". 

Meet Missy

Hi there I'm Missy.  I'm a marriage and family therapist, dog lover, and aspiring baker, photographer, and blogger.  I heart strong coffee, big cities, good food, and red lipstick. Although I'm inching closer to thirty everyday, I fondly look back on my 20s as some of the most fun, exciting, and confusing years of my life. I've made plenty of mistakes and am no expert on life, but am happy and excited to share with you some of the things I've learned along the way. Cheers!

Thou Shalt Not Pay Full Retail: How To Shop Smart & Look Great 

by Missy Jimenez

Shopping is every girl's Achilles heel, and with today's media incessantly telling us to consume, consume, consume it can be difficult to resist temptation and avoid spending frivolously beyond your means. My own personal relationship with retail is a complicated one. As a poor student in my early 20s it was painful to stomach the reality that everything I wanted to buy was financially out of reach. I had a champagne taste with a beer budget. 

Unfortunately I was largely able to ignore my financial reality and quickly deferred all my troubles onto my my best friend- the credit card. While initially swipe and run shopping brought with it an instant high, I later became consumed with guilt and worry. Needless to say my impulses eventually got me into trouble and forced me to learn how to become a smarter shopper. And now I'm here to help you. 

Believe it or not, you can still get the looks you want without breaking the bank. All you need is a shift in your consumer mindset and a few simple rules.

1.  Learn to curb your need for instant gratification.

When I shop, there are always a few items that immediately catch my eye, sending an instantaneous "I need that" reaction to my brain.  Looking back, the times I have given in to emotional shopping are the times I end up regretting my purchases all together. Chances are I could have saved a lot of money by shopping around or looking into online discounts.  

The take away-- be aware of your purchases. 

• Consider trying on items you like in store and later find them online.  Prices are typically lower online due to the elimination of storefront cost. I usually see between a 10-20% savings range online. 
•  Sign up for sites like E-bates who forward rebates to their customers in the form of a quarterly check, and at no cost to you. That's free money my friends!  
• Online coupon codes can also be utilized to add extra discounts or even free shipping.  If you just cannot find it in you to wait, consider signing up for an Amazon Prime account (free to students with an educational email address) which offers free next day shipping.  
• Finally, retailers also love hosting sales during national holidays, so planning your shopping around them can bring additional savings. 

While it can be hard to leave a store empty handed, your patience will be handsomely rewarded.

2. Returning is not a sin. 

You know that lady who has a million returns and always holds up the line? Yep, that's me, and I am proud of it.

5 Lies We Tell Ourselves As 20somethings

Image via Breanna Rose. 

In my experience, being a 20something means learning to sift through a lot of BS. You will get fed plenty of lies from our culture, the media, and even your friends and family. The best way to combat these lies is to become self-aware, get to know yourself. If you know who you are, you can sift through the muck and only draw out what's valuable to you. To get you started here is a list of the Top 5 lies 20somethings tell ourselves.

1. I need to be with someone to be happy. 

The lie of all lies for the 20somethings is that you're not someone until you're somebody's someone. This is just a bold-faced lie, and it's stopping you from reaching the full potential of you. Yes, you may be single, but it's time to quit acting like you're dying and get over it. The reason being single is so hard for so many of us is because it gets right to the heart of our insecurities, but the truth is you're not single because you're not __________ enough (see number 4). You're single because you just haven't met someone yet. If you're still not convinced read Thought Catalog's great article, Why You're Single.

2. I should be way further ahead in my career. 

Should you really? Growing up in the "trophy generation" where everyone gets an award for participating has left many of us feeling that things are not moving fast enough for us. We've been trained to crave recognition, measuring our value by the number of likes we get on Facebook, retweets we receive on Twitter, and emails that fill our inbox. And so as we begin our "careers" at the very bottom of the rungs, we can't seem to understand why we haven't been promoted to CEO yet. In reality, you have to put in a lot of hard work before you start getting recognized for your efforts. So don't be discouraged, keep on doing you to the best of your abilities and someone will eventually
notice.

Why It's Important To Learn To Say No In Your 20s

One of the hardest things I've had to learn in my 20s is how to say no. I'm a people pleaser, there I said it. It's true, I want the people around me to be happy and jolly. I'm like Santa Claus on crack, addicted to good cheer. And in my mind the easiest way to keep people happy is to just say yes. Yes, yes, yes.

Can you stay a little later at work today? Yes. Will you come with me to so-and-so's party tonight, I don't want to go by myself? Yes. Can I borrow $50? Yes. Could you do me a favor? Yes. 

I'm a yes machine, and until very recently I thought that's why people valued me. I thought by saying yes, I was making people happy. What's the big deal? I'm just being nice, accommodating, kind. Those are good things to be, right? Sure, until you reach the very fine line where saying yes to someone else means saying no to you. 

How do you know if you're saying no to yourself? Ask yourself a few questions. Are you overwhelmed by your schedule? Have your commitments become a burden rather than a joy? Do you often feel obligated to do things you don't want to? 

If so, it's time to learn to say no.