Get The Chanel Look For Free

According to Alain De Botton we are all suffering from Status Anxiety and I have to agree having been a sufferer myself in the past. We are living in a world where unnecessary snobbery has taken over our desire to seek fulfilment within ourselves, looking outward for approval from others.

I remember when I had too much money and not enough sense, buying three Chanel handbags in one go, just because I could. It made me look rich, feel rich and being a massive snob at the time, I was more excited about being seen with the big black carrier bags, than the actual handbags themselves. Its so sad when I now reflect.

There has been a shift in marketing aspiration to younger and younger customers but even the desire to shut up a whining teenager isn’t enough to keep retailers in business as parents become more and more squeezed.
Could it be the culmination of magazines filled with glossy unrecognisable celebrity images, so much so we need to be told on adverts who we are admiring in the small print, the same faces selling us everything from lipstick to lash lengtheners, TV executives slipping any female talent out the side door the minute they reach a certain age and the seemingly unbreakable glass ceiling feminists have been going on about shattering since the sixties that have caused this collapse of retail trading.

The World has gone mad and if you think for one second what you own, drive, eat, buy, makes you who you are, you’re delusional and extremely misinformed. There is NO mega store anywhere on the planet where you can buy a life or happiness, only stuff to put into a life, so I now teach others to get a life first and stuff later because when you are centred and fulfilled, you find you have everything you need.

It is such a sad state of affairs when people think carrying around a bottle of designer water makes them look like they have a fabulous lifestyle. Tap water in the UK is perfect and we already pay for it anyway, so why not drink it? If you are desperate to be seen drinking designer water and are a big enough mug to pay over the odds for it, why not help save the planet and just fill up your old plastic bottle with tap water because no one will know but you.

A budget lifestyle is all about living within your means and if once you have paid all your bills, you have nothing left for luxury items, you have to get creative and savvy, like I used to. A top tip if you have a big event coming up, like a wedding or party and you are broke but need new make up or to look extra special, get along to the nearest Chanel department in a local shopping mall. You will find in most shopping centres, Chanel concessions, desperate to get you sat in the make up chair for a make up lesson to find out what looks good on you, with the hope you will shop till you drop. Make sure you go on the day of the event so you look amazing for free and walk away with some samples to keep you going. You can always go back later if you feel bad and buy a lipstick when you have saved enough money for a little treat.
I say now days “buy new and the joke is on you” as swapping becomes the new shopping. Get together with friends and family to swap your DVDs, clothes, golf clubs, gardening equipment and anything you don’t use anymore for something you need. Its fun, its clever and it makes great sense when you are short of real cash.