I promised myself I would not go near the stores on Boxing Day. If I didn’t go, I couldn’t shop, thus saving myself the agony of putting something I really couldn’t afford back on the shelves. The shops called to me, yet still I stayed away. It was like the wind was whispering my name with every gust – promising me the world if I just took a step inside those automatic doors and let the fluorescent light wash over me.

I lasted 24 hours.

I’m all for saving one’s pennies but when there are bargains to be had, sometimes its just not worth staying at home. I still believe it’s not my fault – if the magazines I had bought (even they on sale: OK! And Grazia for $7) hadn’t have advertised the cheap chic fashion, I would never have discovered the Gossip Girl for Big W collections, and been enticed to enter a shopping complex in the first place!

I entered the shopping centre with some trepidation, I knew I wasn’t meant to be there and that is when you will always get caught. I parked as close as possible to the Big W entrance so I wouldn’t be tempted by other stores (like the Myer Stocktake Sale – first year I haven’t gone and it’s like I sent my child to boarding school and didn’t see them for Christmas). I planned lunch with a friend – I had a time limit of 30 minutes at the store. The starting gun fired and I was off.

First stop – accessories. I had seen the bejewelled Blair-esque headband in OK! magazine and that was what I was here for. $14.50 or something similar to have a piece of Gossip Girl seemed reasonable and a small concession to my post Xmas shopping ban. But then – what’s this? All the GG collections with orange stickers? On sale? ON SALE!! $5 a piece, I grabbed everything on the racks – pearl necklaces, braided bracelets, diamonte bangles, chiffon flowers, sparkling oversized beads – it was a treasure trove of bargains.

I passed on the Peter Morrissey maxi dress (see, I can show some self restraint) and headed to the checkouts – 8 pieces for $40; original price average $15 a piece RRP. I nearly cried with joy. So excited I was with my purchases, I skipped back towards the exit, only to be distracted by something shiny in the window at TEMT.

10 minutes later I was done, returning to the car now with a clutch purse and cocktail ring. I felt like a junkie who had just had their hit. Calmer, satisfied.

But everyone knows the fix doesn’t last long and after collecting my friend for lunch we detoured past Tony Bianco for just a moment – where I emerged with gorgeous lavender flats, complete with bow, reduced from $109 to just $30.

A week later and I have managed to stay away from the stores. I had to leave Melbourne to do it, but hey, as long as the result at the end of the week is the same does it matter?

Let me live vicariously through you – what did you find at the sales this Summer?