I went to Kohl's today because I realized I did not have a shirt for the suit I'm wearing to church tomorrow for Easter Sunday. I have come to like Kohl's quite a bit, because they always have stuff on clearance sales of 60-80% off and there's almost always a coupon or other %-off deal that you can take advantage of to make the clothes even less expensive.

When I walked in, I was in kind of a hurry because I was late getting to my mom's house for dinner, which mean that I did not properly prepare myself mentally for the purchase. Because of my determined laziness, I fell for a trick that I know stores use and should've been able to avoid. I saw a display right near the aisle for Chaps shirts that were "50% off" – which put these normally way overpriced shirts in the $25 range. I only needed a tan shirt, but as I looked at the other colors available, I decided I should buy a white one too, since I don't really have any white business/dress shirts. (I work from home full time now and even on the rare occasion that I have to drive into the office, the building it's located in has a "business casual" dress code, so I can get away with a polo shirt or nice sweater.)

My story could end there, and right now the moral I would be conveying was that I'm an idiot and don't do what I did. Thankfully, the story doesn't end there and that's not the moral – or at least, not all of it.

As it was, I happened to wander off the main tiled walking area and into the recesses of the men's dress wear section, where I discovered a set of shelves containing a mass of discount dress shirts. It was an absolute mess, but not uncommon to anyone familiar with heavily discounted retail items. I started picking through the shirts, any thought of making it to my mom's house in time for dinner having flown to whatever den such thoughts fly to. Within the tangled horde I found an Arrow shirt that was just a shade lighter tan than the Chaps version on display – for two-fifths the cost. And it was my size! I immediately snatched it up.

At this point, I should've had my head screwed back on straight, but apparently it still needed a quarter-turn or so. After finding the Arrow shirt, I continued looking to see if I could find a white shirt as well. Somehow, in my mind the desire for a white shirt had become a need. Fortunately, I did not find one in the right size.

I made my way to the front of the store. Only, the problem was that I was still holding all three shirts. It didn't even occur to me until I was almost at the cashier counter that I should have put the Chaps shirts back. When it did occur to me, however, it was like a 10-foot wave smacking me square in the face. Was I really about to spend $60+ on three shirts, when all I needed was a single shirt that only would cost about $11 after tax? It was a no-brainer once that realization occurred, and I immediately dropped the Chaps shirts on the closest display shelf, cutting the cost of my intended purchase by more than 80%.

So, there you have it: Rethinking can save you money. Of course, thinking in the first place can save you both money and time, so that's the better option if you can manage it – which apparently I can't.