We're still going to shop, but we have to be smarter - here's how

Supposedly, few people have money to burn lately, but you'd never know it based on what I'm seeing at some area stores.

For at least the past three weeks, the major retail centers along Greenbrier Parkway in Chesapeake have been overrun with customers. People are streaming into Bed, Bath & Beyond, T.J. Maxx, J.C. Penney, Target and the like.

And it was pandemonium at Burlington Coat Factory on Military Highway in Virginia Beach this past Saturday. If it's not bad enough that the store always has too much merchandise jammed in it, there were so many shoppers inside you could barely breathe. Trying to find my way to a cash register made me feel trapped in a Third World country in a surge of people trying to get to a refugee camp across the border.

Man, I was shook. But I held my own. I held my own.

There has to be some cognitive dissonance going on. I've needed four new tires for weeks now, but I've been hesitant to plop down a heap of cash in one swoop. Yet, I'm still plucking bargain merchandise an item or two at a time, every other day. And more so than in any previous year, I'm overeager for the store ads that will come out Thanksgiving morning.

What's with that? If the shopping climate is this intense before Black Friday, how much worse will it get? If we're so broke, why are we descending upon the stores as if there were no tomorrow? How can we avoid falling into a vacuum?

Clarky Davis, the national finance expert also known as the Debt Diva, explains.

"Consumers are going to spend - they're just prioritizing their spending and shopping smarter," Davis says. They "are becoming savvier. We're willing to put the time and effort into visiting those shops.

"People still want the same things, but they want to spend less - and that's where the off-price retailer comes into play."

Oh, OK.

A caution from Davis about the Black Friday bonanza: "It works better if you spread your shopping out over the season, otherwise you'll spend more."

Consider all of your holiday spending from a holistic point of view, Davis says. That means taking into account food, travel, holiday cards and postage, and decorations. "You can't just plan for your gifts."

Also, she says, accept reality. "Our buying power has changed since last year." Salaries have remained stagnant. "Know and accept that you will not be able to spend the same amount of money and get the same amount of stuff."

And beware of the salesperson. They have gotten more aggressive, Davis says. "Prepare to be approached more so than in years past."

Davis also advises:

n Make a list and plot your route so you don't get overwhelmed.

n Pay cash. Have an emotional connection to the money.

n Look at what is in your shopping cart before you get to the register. You might then realize you don't want or need everything you've piled up.

n Have a big breakfast, and take snacks. Be ready to focus on what you need to do so you don't get distracted.

You know something else I believe in? Fixing yourself up so you look decent before going on a mad shopping spree. You'll feel a lot more confident. You'll be less likely to sink into thinking that everything on the mannequins, racks and tables will make you look better or bring happiness.

It works, for a while. After all, we're not really in a Third World country.

Yet.

Jamesetta M. Walker,

(757) 446-2211,

jamesetta.walker@pilotonline.com Story jumps here