Pinterest has increased my spending habits

It was bound to happen. I’ve written about my addiction to Pinterest. At first I loved the visual nature of Pinterest. I loved seeing what people pinned, signifying that this item was important to them. I have created boards, but I’m not much of a pinner. I’m starting to pin more, but that’s typically stuff from GamingAngels to remind me I want to purchase this game at home point.

But this past week Pinterest has altered my real life spending habits. First, I decided to get a hair cut. Typically I would look online or through magazines, but really not bring anything in for the hairstylist and end up just getting a trim. This time I used the magic of Pinterest. I created a hair styles board, then search Pinterst for Hair. Then I searched for “hairstyles”. I think I used a variation of the term hair a few times to make sure I searched all the hair pins that were out there. In the end, I ended up with a board of 12 pictures that really focused on an overall look. I used the Pinterest app on my phone to show the stylist my hair cut ideas. She really honed in on a few of them and I ended up with the best haircut I’ve ever gotten. I do believe she’s uber talented too, but I think it helped being able to show her grouped ideas of what I’m looking for because it gave her a larger theme to pull from.

Most of what I follow on Pinterest are DIY, Fashion and home decor. I feel like Pinterest really helps to inspire me in these areas. But what I’ve really found is that if someone pins something I’m interested in, I follow through on the link (as well as pin it on my board), to see where it’s sold online and decide if I can buy it. So far I’ve bought two shirts and a dress. I’m coming dangerously close to buying home decorations too. There is something about Pinterest that makes it so easy. Like you weren’t looking for something, but there it is in all it’s perfect glory. If I could dress the way I have fashion pinned on my boards I would finally have the “look” I’ve been looking for. All without having to search endlessly at stores in a mall. It’s like having 100s of personal shoppers looking for the perfect item.

While Pinterest may not urge you to pull out your wallet, it does have other uses. I love the term “window shopping”. I can go to the mall and not buy a single thing, but I do come out with ideas. Pinterest allows me to “pin” those ideas and revisit later when I have the money to spend or feel like making a purchase.

I am curious if your buying habits have been altered by Pinterest? I used Storify below to see how Pinterest has affected others online.