To stop yourself impulse buying and spending money when you don’t need to, it is a great idea to make a list of priorities. This is really important with clothes shopping as the marketing is so strong and we often buy clothes with our hearts, not our heads.
Why Have A Priorities List?
Because we don’t think when we shop a lot of the time. You might think you’re thinking when you shop, but how many times have you made purchases and felt instantly guilty afterwards because you didn’t actually want what you bought? Or you overspent and really can’t afford to. Or you bought everything you never even wrote down and didn’t get what you needed. We all mindless shop a lot, and it is bad news for our bank accounts! Shopping this way will also lead to the wardrobe being really big, and free from any sense, or correlation. It is a really quick and easy way to form a jumble sale in your home.
Once you start to look at your wardrobe and the way you buy in more detail, you realise there’s a lot to be improved. You might be spending a lot on clothes, but are you as happy as you could be with your wardrobe? Perhaps you could have bought one high quality, expensive item for the 10 cheap jumpers you bought that already have holes in. You are likely to be buying emotionally and not thinking much at all, which is why a priorities list will help.
How To: Make A Shopping Priorities List
Wardrobe Gaps
Day to day you might often think about a certain item of clothing that you wish you had because you know it would make a lot of your outfits look amazing. Maybe it is a certain pair of shoes, a necklace, a scarf – whatever it is you think of, this is likely to be a wardrobe gap that you should put on your priorities list. These items we should spend time looking for, because they are likely to be used a lot when we do get them.
Replacing
You may well have items you wear a lot that need replacing. Perhaps you have slanted heels on your favourite boots, or holes in your favourite leggings, bobbles on your favourite jumper – recognise these issues and write on your priorities list what needs replacing, vowing to chuck the old item as soon as you buy a replacement.
Personality
Fashion changes quickly and often so does our personal style. Pieces we loved before we might hate now and that is fine. Figure out the difference between trends and personality. Your wardrobe should be about 75% classic pieces that are all your personality and style, then the rest is trendy pieces that will be out of fashion quickly. Be sure to choose a few favourite pieces of the new seasons fashion and stick to putting those items on your priorities list. Use sites like www.bellafashionqueen.co.uk to ensure you don’t overspend on pieces you will be likely to throw away or donate in a few months.
Purging Your Wardrobe
Now you have your priorities list, you can go ahead and purge your wardrobe. You may look at it and feel queasy at the thought of tackling it, but you can totally succeed in doing this, and you will feel absolutely amazing afterwards!
To clear out your wardrobe:
- Be ruthless – don’t be emotional about this, you need to clear the space
- Be really picky checking if the item fits, if it has any damage, if it is still fashionable – really think deeply about whether or not you really want or need to keep the item
- Go all in – don’t just do a bit every day, you will procrastinate and put it off. Give yourself a certain day to get it done, and stick to that plan
- Set yourself up for success – make sure you won’t be disturbed and have everything you need to get the job done – black bags, space etc
When clearing your wardrobe out you will want to make a set of piles depending on where each piece is going.
Charity – any clothes in good condition that are clean should be donated to charity
Selling – you could sell items that are in good condition that are clean either online if they are worth a bit of money, or at a carboot sale if you have a few bags full and don’t mind getting 50p-£1.00 per piece
Bin – Damaged items, items which are really outdated etc – put them out of their misery and pop them in the bin!
Enjoy Yourself!
Remember to enjoy yourself when you do this priority list and clearout, it will mean you save money, make better fashion choices and maybe even make money in the process by selling some of your unwanted clothes!