So here’s the thing — we all love shopping online and why won’t we? Everything is a lot cheaper online and you’ve got way more choices than any store! Sure, the world wide web has made life easy, but at the same time with so much choice it gets difficult to shop without overspending. Every time I want to shop I scroll through sites and see many things I love and keep bookmarking the page or leave the tab open so I can ask my friends and family for a suggestion. But isn’t it annoying when you like something and need some suggestion, you have to keep that tab open on your browser or just bookmark it? Do you also tend to overspend on similar things sometimes? Because you just can’t decide which one is better? Do you buy stuff and end up not using them because you can’t pair it with anything? Yeah, that happens a lot with me too!

Just a few days ago I was complaining about it to a friend and he said, “People in India don’t use Pinterest but it’s actually pretty cool. You can just pin everything you want and shop. It helps you organize your shopping.” And he was so very right! He also told me to use Pinterest myself before I wrote about it so I started using it to organize my work and my shopping. To say I loved it would be an understatement. But before I tell you how you can organize your shopping I’d like to thank my lovely, supportive and the most critical friend (wink, wink) Ankur Jangra! Thank you for the idea.

This is what you can do with Pinterest to organize your shopping and make your life easier.

1. Download
The first thing you need to do is download the application on your phone and install the Pin button on your browser.

2. Understand
Understand how you can use Pinterest. Once you install the Pin button on your browser, log into it via your Facebook account/email id. Set up your profile. After this you can start creating your boards.

3. Budgeting
Pick the budget for your shopping — how much you want to spend on your footwear, bags, make-up, skirts, tops, dresses and so on. Remember not to overspend. Pick items within your budget.

4. Organize
Here’s how you can organize your shopping:

a. Create a board for your make-up and start pinning everything you want from shopping sites — from foundation to highlighter — as per your budget to the board.

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When I saw Isla Fisher’s portrayal of a hopelessly out-of-control shopaholic in the 2009 movie Confessions Of A Shopaholic, I was like, “Seriously???? Come on! No one’s that dumb!” But that was before the advent of the wondrous world of e-shopping. At that time I was just out of college, so even regular shopping trips involved saving up for a couple of months and shopping online was most definitely not an option. But since then, with the launch of several websites solely catering to the tech-savvy populace, the advent of smartphones and high-speed internet connections and the variety of payment options offered, shopping has not remained a necessary task but has transformed into a worldwide pastime. So whether it’s that new skirt you’ve been eyeing or the bag you need for your laptop, all you have to do is pick up the phone or tablet, find what you like and click, click, click, your shipment is on its way and you need not pay a rupee till you get it at your doorstep.

Don’t get me wrong. I think some aspects of online shopping are way cooler than the actual physical activity. For example, some websites actually have amazing deals on products and the biggest advantage you have as a buyer is you can comfortably browse through various options till you find the one you like best. You can compare competitor prices, check for bargains and discount coupons and get the best possible deal for yourself. Many of the online stores are able to offer these attractive discounts because they do not need to spend any money on the actual store. So, if you walk into say a Forever21 at your nearest mall, imagine the owner has to spend for the rentals, the electricity, the display and the staff of the store even before he manages to sell one tiny item.All of this is factored into the costing of the products on their shelves. Online stores however do not have any such requirements. So they can offer good prices. Then again, there is the convenience of getting things delivered home without moving an inch. These stores are open 24×7 and usually have prompt return and replace policies. Also, some offer an option of an online shopping assistant on a live chat feed to help you make a decision.

With all this happening on the online shopping front, is it surprising that so many of us now find it difficult to control ourselves. How many times have you impulsively bought something, thinking “I really, really need this right now!” and then kept it in your cupboard for months together before finally getting it out? How many times have you clicked on the ‘add to shopping cart’ button only to find yourself cringing when the order finally arrives on your doorstep?

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