1) Leave your wallet in the car. That way you won't be pulling out a credit card for something you don't absolutely love!

2) Do some homework before going in. What exactly you want/don't want. Especially color. Do you want to commute with it? Make sure it's compatible with what you want to do, that is one of my downfalls.

3) IF you don't want clipless pedals, why get them now. No one should force them on you. I get tired of people pushing them on me. I have combo pedals on my commuter. If I want to use them, I do (can't right now bc of foot issues). If I don't, I don't. If you don't want to learn them right now, don't. I don't like when I go to a bike shop and they start on me about the pedals. For me, that is a big red flag if they don't like my answer-everyone is entitled to their own setup. Just my 2 cents...

And most of all...remember, you are the queen of your domain...