Admit it.  We have all bought a few things we bought…just to buy something.  Impulse buying needs to stop because 9 times out of 10, we get zero use out of them once we get them home.

1. Find out what you have.  Go on a total closet clean-out.  Take everything out of your closet and make three piles, Keep, Maybe, and Give Away. Try on everything that isn’t something you love and know fits.
2. Organize your closet by jeans, leggings, work clothes, tops, dresses, skirts, then by color.  Think about what you wear a lot and what you always are searching for but actually don’t have, like a white blouse, black skirt, or patterned top.
3. Make a list of what you need.  Think about the basics that are missing from your closet and make a list of than and a list of special pieces like a printed top or colored jeans that you can wear all the time.
4. Look on Pinterest for new ways to wear what you have.  Search on Pinterest for something like “colored jeans” or “floral top” and soon enough, you will be faced with tons of outfits that you can recreate with your current closet.
5. Spend most of your budget on pieces you can wear for more than one season.  Make a budget for the season, maybe it’s $50, maybe it’s $200.  Make sure to only spend about 20% of that on special pieces like floral tights or bright heels.
6. Don’t rip off the tags the second you get it home.  When I get something I just bought home, I make 3 or 4 full outfits with shoes and accessories to make sure it goes with the pieces in my closet and if I can’t make 3 outfits, I’m sad for about 10 minutes but once I return it, I never think about it again.
7. Know how many hours it’s worth.  Let’s say you make $10 per hour and that pair of heels is $56.  Think to yourself that those shoes are worth nearly 6 hours of your work.  If you aren’t willing to spend 6 hours of hard-earned money on those shoes, keep walking.
8. Take a picture and make a digital photo album on your phone and if you are looking back often for a week, (or showing people like it’s your newborn baby) it’s safe to say you really want that.  But if you look back a month later and you don’t even remember, delete.
9. Use a budget app or even a list app.  Open up the notes on your phone and jot down things that you are actually shopping for, and how much you can spend.  Also have a separate note of things you really want in the store, but are waiting to buy.
10. Buy what you will wear.  If you see a floor length dress that fits well and is cute but you don’t have an event coming up for 6 months, you probably don’t want to pay price for something to fill up your closet.

Did you have any idea that 60% of all purchases are impulse buys?  Another way to avoid buying things you don’t need is to make a super strict list and stick to it.  Don’t write things like white blouse or black pants, write brands and styles so you have less inclination to buy more.  Only look for those things in the store and you’ll spend less, guaranteed.

xo