Excessive Emails

It’s almost Summer folks! And like many teachers, I am ready for a break.  The end of June brings a job change.  I become a full-time MOM.  And while all you who don’t work in education groan, keep in mind, teachers don’t get paid twelve-months a year, at least the ones I know.  This means that while those last weeks in June and July are fun, I start to get a bit antsy about money in August.  And by the time September comes around, I start to bite my nails.

So I’ve been thinking about ways to not experience summer $ stress. Recently, I read that a strategy to save money is to unsubscribe from all the emails you get from various companies.  The emails promoting sales get me to click all the time. Now I don’t know about you, but I love a good sale.  And this is where I trick myself into buying something not for right now, but for the future, because….well you know…you might just need that something two months from now.  Did I tell you how much I loathe Prime Day?

Now I don’t know how many emails you get a day, but my inbox is typically flooded with over one-hundred.  Various companies, from Children’s Place to Michael’s to Staples send me emails hoping to push my BUY ME button.  So this morning I decided that today was the day, even though the Macy’s sale email was enticing, to unsubscribe to as many email lists as I could.

This was not easy.

First off, have you seen how little the unsubscribe button is?  And then when you press it, you can find yourself into a screen that gives you options:

A. Keep the emails coming!

B. Send me less!

C. unsubscribe.

Once you’re through that hurdle, then you are often faced with the following choices:

You don’t want these emails anymore because:

A: You get too many.

B. You want fewer.

C. You don’t want to hear from us anymore.

They should offer a D option: Destructive Financial Gremlins

It took me on average over 15 minutes to unsubscribe from ten vendors.  Lands End was the worst! It bounced me to two extra screens.  After ten, I was tired.  So I quit.  Tonight there are 28 new emails in my inbox! UGH!

It amazes me just how easy it is to spend money in our economy, and how challenging it is to get companies’s hooks out of our heads, hearts, and piggy banks.  It terrifies me just how much companies know about me.

I expect to receive “We want you back!” emails tomorrow.

So I’ll let you know if not seeing emails curbs my addiction to spending during sales.

If you have any neat saving tips….post them below! I’d love to hear them, and I bet a few of my readers would too.

Happy Writing!

J.Monell