I love Motown music.  You’ve got the artists everyone knows…Marvin Gaye, Diana Ross and the unbelievably good Stevie Wonder among many others. However my favourite thing about Motown is the number of great tracks from some of the biggest bands of the era.  From ‘Please Mr Postman’ by the Marvelettes, ‘Do you love me’ by the Contours and my personal favourite ‘Shop Around’ by the Miracles.

If you’ve never heard ‘shop around’ by the Miracles let me tell you about it.  It’s the story of a mum talking to her son about not jumping into married life too quickly.  Her advice to her son….’Before you ask some girl for your hand, keep your freedom for as long as you can…my mama told me…you better shop around!”

Now…I didn’t take that advice personally and married Cassie who I met when I was 17.  I’m also thankful I didn’t as we’re incredibly happy together and have two great daughters.   Also whilst I like the song….I’m not too keen on the message.  When you’re talking about the person you intend to spend your life with ‘shop around’ seems far too a impersonal way to meet your future wife, husband or partner!  However ‘you better shop around’ isn’t bad advice when dealing with other aspects of your life.

Recently I met with Tracey Bleakley (from the Personal Finance Education Group) who very kindly helped me out with a video interview and podcast for my consumer education site Common Sense Money.

We were talking about helping children develop financial skills and Tracey used a phrase I liked….’Critical Consumers’.  Whilst the focus of the PFEG is to help children develop financial skills I firmly believe that as adults by becoming better ‘Critical Consumers’ we could all improve our longer term financial situation.

The word ‘Critical’ is often perceived as a negative concept.  However when you understand the scientific definition of ‘Critisism’ you will see that ‘Critical’ can be seen as a positive trait:-

"the act or of analysing and evaluating or judging quality"

Whilst this term has previously been mainly used for evaluating film, books, music and art there’s no reason we can’t use this skill in selecting the most appropriate mobile phone, car or choosing what solicitor, accountant or financial planner to work with.

However this raises a question…”How do we judge a quality product or service in our day to day lives?” and this takes me back to the phrase of the old Miracles song….”You better shop around!”

The key is to evaluate and analysing when you make a purchase.  Firstly it’s important to ask yourself….”Do I need it or do I want it?”  and the reasons for this I’ll talk about in a later blog.

However once you’ve decided that you’re making a purchase it’s always worth taking the time to ‘shop around’ on the market and make a informed decision on what the best buy will be…..and it’s important to follow the same process regardless of whether you’re buying a new sofa, your weekly shop or engaging a professional service of some kind.

So, Whilst I’m not going I’m not going to take relationship advice from Smokey Robinson and the Miracles….I reckon “You better shop around” isn’t a bad ethos for other parts of our lives.

As ever I’m interested in your thoughts.  Are you a ‘critical consumer’ in your daily life?  Do you shop around in some aspects of your life…but not others?  You can either leave a message below this post….alternatively why not get in touch on Twitter @ChrisDaems.