We all have to go shopping for clothes from time to time. For some people this is a pleasure that they look forward to with relish, and for others it is little short of a nightmare. The shops are bursting with choice, and from every angle we are bombarded with posters and images of models wearing the outfits on sale with promises that simply by wearing clothes with a particular label on them our lives will be transformed and we will become glamorous stars with photographers at our heels and the world at our feet.

In fact, the chances are that unless you are well prepared and reasonably hard headed you will eventually walk out of the shops with several bags, including an absoluter bargain that you have no idea if you'll ever wear, a couple of items that were really far too expensive, and something more or less along the lines of the item you actually came shopping for.

It is important when you are going shopping to prepare yourself. An unprepared clothes shopper is what every retailer wants, because you will be far more open to suggestion, and more likely to end up buying clothes you didn't even realise you wanted. You may have noticed that when you go shopping during the sale season, the actual items in the sale are at the very back of the shop, forcing you to walk past and ignore all of the current season's hot products and looks, which is not easy. Far too often people end up going in to a shop for a sale item only to end up coming out with a full price one instead, or as well.

To begin with, have a good idea in mind of the sort of thing you're looking for. Have a look in your wardrobe and decide what you need, and what it will go with. Think about accessories, because especially for women, buying a new outfit at a very good price becomes less of a bargain when you realise you have no matching accessories and you have to spend the equivalent of the full price of the outfit again just in shoes, belts, handbags and so on to match it.

Have a budget in mind. This can be helped by only taking a certain amount of cash with you. A flexible piece of plastic might feel like power, but it's a power that you don't own 'it's the shop's. Having a strict limit on cash and taking this with you means that there will be no chance that you'll be easily swayed, unless of course you really do find an absolute bargain.

Remember as well, that an item is never a bargain if there is no chance of you ever wearing it. How many items hanging in your wardrobe now have the label still on them? It might have seemed a good deal, but if you never wear it, just how much was it worth? Think carefully about whether, when and where you would actually wear the outfit.

Obviously, always try items on, and it helps in this regard if you wear easily removable clothes so that you can quickly hop in and out of outfits in the changing room. Use the mirrors and don't be afraid to ask a sales assistant for help if you're not sure.