Control your impulses when shopping for the holidays

Even the savviest shoppers fall off the wagon sometimes and buy items on impulse.

According to a poll recently featured in ShopSmart, the shopping magazine from the publisher of Consumer Reports, 60 percent of women have bought something on a whim in the past year. With the average cost of their most recent impulse purchase at $108, falling off the wagon is not always cheap.

The impulse-shopping poll was conducted by the Consumer Reports National Research Center. It consisted of a telephone survey of a nationally representative probability sample of telephone households, with 1,016 interviews completed among women aged 18-plus between July 30 and Aug. 3, 2009.

Its findings include:

While 60 percent of women have made an impulse purchase in the past year, 39 percent of women have done so within the past month.

About 15 percent of women admit they often buy things on impulse.

Impulse shopping inevitably causes regrets. More than one-third (35 percent) of women regretted an impulse purchase they made in the past 12 months.

Few recoup money from a bad impulse purchase. Only 25 percent of women said they returned the item, 25 percent donated it or gave it away and 20 percent ignored, hid or tossed it.

Price is a key driver of impulse purchases: 42 percent said they made their most recent impulse purchase because it was a great price or it was on sale.

Women also cited irresistibility: 18 percent had to have it, 5 percent said they might need it someday and 4 percent were afraid it would not be there on their next visit.

One-quarter (25 percent) of respondents said clothing was their most recent impulse item, followed by food (14 percent) and accessories (6 percent). Other popular impulse items were electronics (5 percent), cosmetics (4 percent) and jewelry (2 percent).

Saving strategies

Follow these tips to have a sensational holiday season without a sensational bill:

1. Give warehouse clubs a try. "The challenge of warehouse shopping is restraining yourself from going hog-wild - 42 percent of the women we polled made their most recent impulse purchase because the price was too good to pass up," said Lisa Lee Freeman, editor-in-chief of ShopSmart. "It's not easy to stick to your list, but if you can safely get past the 110-count boxes of mini cream puffs and all the other stuff you don't need, you've got it made."

You can easily score bargains of 40 to 50 percent off.

2. Jump on last-minute deals. Warehouse stores use special codes on marked-down items. Look for the "C" at Sam's Club and items marked with prices that end in .97 at Costco.

3. Beware of where you walk. Aisles, tables and displays are arranged to get you to stop, look and buy.

4. Cash in on coupons. BJ's accepts manufacturers' coupons. Costco and Sam's Club have in-store coupons.

5. Know how to size up a sale. Don't be blinded by 50-percent-off signs. Google items or check price comparison sites like Shopping.com or PriceGrabber.com.

6. Choose that first item carefully. As soon as you put that first item in your cart, you're apt to keep buying. Try hopping from store to store so you'll be more aware of what you're spending.

7. Save time, go online. Before you hop in the car, find out if an item is even in stock and see products that aren't sold in stores by going online.

8. Don't let pricing strategies trick you. Do the math. Deals might not be as good as they appear.

9. Remember return rules. Return policies often depend on the item and there can be restocking fees.

10. Don't miss the rebate. Check Rebate-Tracker.com for lists of current deals to save even more.

11. Look beyond outlet malls. Many retailers have stand-alone outlet stores and clearance Web sites.

Visit the Consumer Reports Web site at www.consumerreports.org.