Shopping is always fun. After all, it’s called retail therapy for a reason! Do you know what makes shopping even more fun? Doing it with friends!

Are you looking for advice on which clothes to buy for a date? Or are you planning a girl’s day out? Maybe you have a weekend afternoon planned at Burlington Shopping Mall. Whatever your motivation is for going on a shopping trip with your friends, you can bet you’ll have a good time.

These strategies will help set you up for a successful shopping with friends:

1. Pick a Date for Your Shopping Trip

Think about how many friends you want to invite to your shopping trip. Then, speak with all of them to arrange a time that works for everyone’s schedule. This could be the hardest part.

A great way to communicate with everyone at the same time is to host a group chat. You can do this over text message, Facebook, Instagram, or WhatsApp. Once everyone responds, you can go ahead and work out a date that suits everyone’s schedule.

2. Plan Ahead

Another important thing to consider if you are planning on shopping with friends is to plan ahead. Do you know which stores you want to go to? While you’re chatting with your friends about a date for your shopping trip, see if there are stores that top anyone’s list. Then make sure that you plan to stop at these stores during your trip.

It’s good to go in with a game plan because it’s so easy to get distracted. You also want to make sure everyone is being heard, so take everyone’s wants and needs into account.

3. Eat a Good Breakfast

You and your friends are going to need energy for your shopping trip. Fuel up by eating a good breakfast. Eggs are a great option since they’re packed with protein.

Throw in some fruit or make a smoothie to add to your breakfast. If you’re not a fan of eggs, try a bagel or toast with peanut butter.

4. Stop for Lunch

Speaking of food, while you’re doing all that shopping, you’ll be working up an appetite. No one likes shopping on an empty stomach, so make sure you stop for lunch. This can also be something you decide on in advance. That way if anyone has any dietary restrictions, you can know about it before the trip and can properly plan.

If your friends don’t know what restaurant choices there are, be sure to let them know in the group chat. Roughly plan out what time you’ll be stopping for lunch, so time doesn’t get away from you.

5. Have Somewhere to Drop Your Bags Off

Since you and your friends will be doing a lot of shopping, you’ll have a lot of shopping bags. It’s not fun to drag these around with you all day so plan somewhere to drop the bags off. This could be in someone’s car or a locker, if available.

Being able to offload all of your merchandise somewhere will save you the energy of dragging them around and looking for somewhere to put them while you eat. It’ll also ensure nothing is left behind by accident.

6. Try Everything On

Are you shopping for some new clothes? Having your friends with you provides you with a great opportunity to get some feedback. Be sure to try everything on so you and your friends can see if it looks good on you.

When your friends are trying things on, keep the feedback honest but polite. The last thing you want to do is insult a friend by saying their outfit choices are horrible.

7. Be Aware of How Much You Are Spending

It’s so easy to get caught up in the fun of shopping with friends that you lose track of how much you’re spending. If it’s easier to see what you’re spending, take a set amount of cash out of the ATM. That way, once you run out of cash you know you’ve spent enough.

If you don’t want to use cash, make sure you go into this shopping trip with a budget in mind. If you spend $20, mentally take that amount off of what your spending limit was. As long as you stay aware of what you’re spending you shouldn’t go over budget.

8. Have a Show and Tell with Your Friends

Once your shopping trip is done, plan to meet at a friend’s house to have a show and tell. Here is where you can show your friends everything you bought. It’s a good time to see if you want to return any items before you wear them.

You can also swap items of equal value with friends if they’re interested in something you’re looking to get rid of.

We hope this list helps you and your friends strategically plan your trip so you can get the most out of your shopping adventure.