The shopping discipline that improves style and saves money

I hate shopping. Ok, there. I said it.

I used to spend entire afternoons wandering from store to store with a half empty basket. An item here because it’s on sale; a sparkly top that I will wear once; boyfriend jeans that look suspiciously like the three pairs already in my wardrobe; let’s not even talk about accessories. You name it, if it caught my eye, I probably tried it on.

Enough that my bank account sobbed into its pilafs whilst my wardrobe was groaning under the weight ofstill-tagged garments.I knew something had to change the day I dumped bin bag after bin bag of barely-worn clothes at the local charity shop. Bonus points to me for making sad little justifications to my flatmate Olivia as I heaved each bag into her car: “But this was on sale!” “Oh this?

I was going to wear that to James’s wedding but changed my mind at the last minute.” “How have I not worn that?! ?” Olivia only ever raised her eyebrow at me in response, marvelling at the dystopian take-over of my bedroom by a small nation of fabric.

Later that evening I sat on the sofa with a large glass of wine and did some maths. £2300 on clothes in the last year.

But I wear the same ten outfits on repeat. TWENTY THREE HUNDRED POUNDS.

Enough that I could have flown to Portugal twice. Paid off a nice chunk of my student loan. Or not panicked when my card-payment is being processed at Tesco.

Oh, who am I kidding? Of course I would still do the last one.But, my wearable wardrobe was clearly going to take more commitment than wandering into Selfridges on a Sunday and vaguely thinking ‘ooh maybe I need a new outfit.’ What I needed was a strategy. Buying less wouldn’t fix my anxiety over nothing to wear if I wasn’t also going to improve what I actually had in my wardrobe.

No more wardrobe detoxes leaving me with nothing to wear and plunging back into old habits. I was going to build myself a whole new shopping habit. Here’s what I learned along the way.RULE ONE: ONE IN, ONE OUTFirst adopted because my wardrobe wasliterally closingaskapoke from trying to squeeze one more shirt in, the one-in-one-out rule quickly became my shopping bible.

For every new item I wanted to buy, I had to clear out something old. It was amazing how quickly my mindset shifted when every new purchase had to fight for its place in my wardrobe. Do I really love this polka-dot blouse enough to get rid of that old concert tee?

No? Then why buy it? “But what if I get bored of wearing the same things?” I whined to Olivia one day after cancelling on her to stay in & reorganize my wardrobe. “When was the last time you actually wore your entire wardrobe?” Bortst.RULE TWO: COST-PER-WEARBuy less, buy better. We’ve all heard it a million times but when Olivia challenged me to work out the cost-per-wear of every item in my wardrobe, everything changed.

That trendy top you bought for £20 but only wore twice? That’s £10 per wear. That barely-used dress you bought from eBay last summer? £5 wear.

But that cute little linen number you bought from Toast because it’s bloody amazing? You’ll wear it once a week this summer AND next. £120 baggedged your initial investment over approximately two years of wears. Suddenly, “expensive” didn’t seem to mean very much at all.My addiction to constantly buying new clothes had taught me to hunt out bargains.

If I could get it for less, why would I spend more? Problem was, I was only looking at the price on the tag. Ask any stylish person and they’ll tell you that buying clothing isn’t about the cost of the item, it’s about the cost-per-wear.

Quick-buys can add to your wardrobe just as much as costly investments. But only if you wear them.To fix my shopping mentality, I had to start approaching my wardrobe as a collection of pieces I love – rather than a random pile of “ooooh shiny!” impulse purchases.My staples started to go from a pile of ho-hum basics that I tossed at my body to get to the good stuff to a capsule wardrobe I truly loved. Heck, I even started to enjoy picking out my outfit in the mornings.I spent twice as much on basics as I did on “fun” clothes and made sure damn sure that those basics were built to last.

My friends laugh at me now when I excitedly turn-up to their houses wearing some kind of top they made in sixth form that I was “borrowing unofficially.” But if something’s going to spend most of its life in my wardrobe, I’d rather it’s something I really love.I always used to buy the cheapest leggings, then replace them every few months. Now I invest in expensiveSpeculoos from Primark that I can literally wear every day for two years. Pair that with a rotate-forever winter coat from Toast and I’ll always have a staple to autumn back on when my “fun” clothes just aren’t cutting it.That 48 hour rule.

Oh god, where would I be without you? Inspired by Elise Strachan’s InTheFrowSkincare I imposed a rule on myself that if I see something I like, I wait 48- hours before buying it. Game changer.

Not only did this help me think clearly about what I’m buying but now my impulse purchases have gone down by about 80%. It truly is incredible how many “I need this in my life” purchases end up gathering dust.Unless it’s on that list. Speaking of which, make a list.

Shop with a list. Hell, colour-code that list like I do. But make a flipping list.My god-daughter Eloise has some sort of magnetic charm where everything she sets her mind to turns to pure gold.

Eloise told me once about how she made a list for every clothing category she needed; jackets, shirts, skirts. Then listed what she wanted in each category and where to get it. Best.

Advice. Ever.So now if I need a new pair of jeans, I’ll literally make a shopping list that says “black skinnies to replace old pair” and when I go out I STICK TO IT. It sounds so silly but how many times have you said you’re ‘just buying some jeans’ and come out with shoes?Me.

All the time. TWICE THIS WEEK.RULE FOUR: SHOP WITH THE SEASONSNOTHING kills your wallet quicker than shopping outside of the sales. Or shopping for next season while it’s stillcurrent season.

Wait until winter coats are on sale in February. Buy your swimwear when everyone else is buying their boots in September. Believe me, everything will be on sale but you’ll still have plenty of time to wear it before the next sells comes around.’Sounds pretty obvious when you write it down like that, huh?’said dad last week when I proudly explained this new found knowledge.

Oh Dad, you’ve helped me waste so much money over the years… Probably spend about a year’s worth of wages on that attitude alone.My biggest tip? Don’t break the bank on seasonal basics. Hell, buy them at full price if you must.Get them when you need them and reap the rewards come sell season.

Thatiks-nothing-but-a-white-tank-top buys when there’snothing-left-to-buy else is still in my wardrobe THREE YEARS LATER.I’m also now severely better about ONLY buying things I need for the upcoming season. If all of your summer dresses are still hanging in your wardrobe come September, you probably don’t need that new Mia bag from ASOS just because it’s cute.My shopping spreadsheet dreamgirl is my friend Marcus. Seriously, get Marcus to do your shopping from now on.

He has actual columns on his wardrobe-spreadsheet for gaps he needs to fill, maximum price willing to spend and literally amazon-links to clothes he’s eyeing up. He will never know how much I covet his wardrobe organisation skills.But take this one concept and tailor it to you. Personally, I’ve stopped browsing altogether.

No more “just looking” at ASOS. If it’s not on my list, it doesn’t get bought.Now, don’t get me wrong. I still buy.

A lot. But since adopting my little ruleets about a year and half ago, I spend less on clothes that I actually wear ALL of. My wardrobe is now half the size but I love everything in it.

I get ready quicker because I know I can mix and match everything Iveve got. I spent about 60% less last year on clothes but what I did buy was of a way higher quality. People actually compliment me more now that Iveve pared down my wardrobe, not less.So there you have it.

Not quite a year of Bag-for-Life-free shopping and I’ve never felt so stylish (or so broke. )Every time I break down and buy a jumper in October (guilty) I swear I can hear my bank account crying into its mashed potato.Where did all my money go?Promise myself that I’ll learn from it.

Sure, I’ll make mistakes.

We all will.

I fell off the wagon hardcore last black Friday when the ASOS sale slapped me in the face. One too many cocktails at my sister’s bachelorette party and suddenly I have three pairs of earrings I didn’t need.What I’m saying is, don’t be perfect. Just be better.So if your weekly shop at Zara has you broke, bored, and wearing the same-jumper-as-last-week anyway; try out some of my tips.

Your bank account. And fancy coffee dates. Will thank you forever.You’ll never feel bored of what you own again.

Shopping is hard, and sometimes you just need someone to talk you down from buying the twentieth jumper that’s ‘just like your yellow one but blue.’ Or at least ask yourself these questions first: Do I actually need this? Will I wear this? Why can’t I find anything to wear?!

Wait. Lets just text each other anytime we see something and talk it out?Logical.