I am used to high-pressure sales. I actually enjoy resisting them.
In fact, I have a sure-fire list of rules that I use whenever I purchase appliances, furnishings, or cars so that I can avoid high-pressure sales tactics.
However, what’s a shopper to do when they are confronted with high-pressure sales in the supermarket of all places?
The other day as I was browsing the grocery store meat department looking for items that had been marked down or just a very good sale, I was approached by the butcher.
Normally in the grocery store, if I want the attention of the butcher, I have to ring a bell like a possessed child and wait until he is good and ready to show himself. Not this time. He was front and center in at the meat case ready to make dinner suggestions.
As he began to offer dinner choices that would be quick and easy to make — like $5 steaks, or a roast that I could put in my crock-pot — I couldn’t help but smile. “Was this man actually offering dinner choices that would eat up my entire week’s meat budget?” I asked myself as I slowly side-stepped down the aisle.
“Yeah, looks like he is,” I told myself. So I started repeating to myself “He cannot make me buy what I cannot afford. He cannot make me buy what I cannot afford. He cannot make me buy what I cannot afford.”
As I continued to smile (I was amusing myself with this silent conversation), he followed me down the entire aisle offering up high-end cuts of meat that I could serve my family for dinner tonight.
When I finally reached the end of the meat case (without picking up one item), I smiled again and thanked him for his time, and fled to the frozen food aisle where I found a few good deals.
I have been a certified tightwad since I became pregnant with my first child and decided to find a way to stay home with him. I enjoy sharing my experiences in my journey back to financial health and planning for a future — which will include sending 2 kids to college and early retirement.
