By Matt
When you're married to a shopaholic and you're allergic to shops, it can cause some challenging weekends. Here are my helpful and to the point tips to avoid world war 3.
You want your boyfriend/partner/husband to go round the shops with you... but you know they will not want to go. So here are 5 ways to convince them to get off the sofa and leave the house:
1 ) Food. A way to a man's heart is through his stomach so the saying goes. This is 100% true. Plan your day shopping around his favourite restaurant for lunch and you are on to a winner. To make it even more certain he will come with you, offer to pay! All men love food and a free meal. If the Zara Steph wants to go to is round the corner from Pizza Hut, the day is definitely starting to look up. If it's a pub he loves eating in, that's even better - they will probably be showing some form of sport!
2) Sports. Check what is going on that weekend. Is your partner a big Arsenal fan? Are they on TV? If they are playing Tottenham he is not going to want to go. If they are playing Burnley, who cares! (That is unless your partner is a Burnley fan - sorry!) Also, if its a big team playing a big team (those are the ones you've heard plenty about), your chances of getting him out are slim. 4 pm on a Sunday is usually when the big games are on, so try and avoid this time. In the UK live football can't be shown on a Saturday afternoon so it's always a good time to go out.
3) Shops for guys. Believe it or not, men quite like shopping. Make sure you offer to go to his shops. Try and break up the day with at least a visit to a couple of his favourite stores. You will find him much more happy to go round Zara, Primark, Topshop, & Other Stories and so on....
4) Seating & WIFI. There is nothing worse than going to Zara. They never have seats, its always too hot and the queues are massive (same with H&M). So leave your bloke on a nice seat, with free WIFI. He can check Twitter, use Sky Go to watch TV, watch Netflix etc... so he'll be happy. Also when in the shops NEVER and I mean NEVER ask him if you look good in something. This is a stressful question and there is no right answer. If you say yes, she will buy it and spend money. If you say no, she will throw a strop and say she looks good in nothing. You know if it looks good on you or not, so either buy it or don't... we don't care!
5) Compromise. Finally all the above relate to one thing: compromise with your partner. Give him a good reason to go, and he will go. Just try not to pick the wrong time, the wrong restaurant, a place too hot or busy and you will be fine.
Of course, you might be one of those lucky ladies that has a partner that loves going shopping with you, loves standing by the changing room to give his opinion on your outfit. If you found this rare gem of a man, hold on tight as there's only about 2% on this planet like him.