HOW TO CHANGE YOUR SPENDING HABITS

We're all secretly a little bit of a Rebecca Bloomwood deep down inside, and we all love to spend the money that we earn. But every now and then, we need to shake ourselves and reevaluate how much we should be spending on clothes/makeup/etc. Recently, I've been reading a lot about minimalist lifestyles (something I might talk about more on the blog) and it's genuinely made me reconsider how much I value material things. So here are a few things that I've been doing to reduce the amount of money I spend, particularly on clothes. 

Delete Shopping Apps on Your Phone

Shopping apps on your phone are dangerous territory. They become almost like another game on your phone and you end up going on them when you're bored and expose yourself to the temptation of buying new things. Delete them, every single one, and you'll stop spending your free time adding things to your ‘saved list’ on Asos.

Avoid Sales Like the Plague

Sales encourage impulse buying. It's as simple as that. We get sucked in by the ‘small’ prices and end up buying stuff that we don't need, or even want. If you're going to browse the sales, do it online and give yourself plenty of time to decide whether you actually want it or not. Plus, sales are much more relaxing from the comfort of your home anyway.

Stop Watching Hauls on YouTube

This is something I stopped doing a while ago and it has made an unbelievable difference. We all love a good haul, who knows why, we just do - that's why they're one of the most common videos on YouTube. But they really do  encourage spending. All of a sudden you find yourself with 20 tabs open from links to dresses and bags that you didn't even know you wanted 10 minutes ago. Just try it, this one really works.

Don't Ask Enablers for Their Opinion (ever)

If your best friend is the biggest enabler you know and tells you that you look cute in everything you try on, feel free to still go shopping with them, but never ever ask them what they think about those snake print shoes. 

Plan Shopping Trips

Make lists and know what you want. I wrote a few tips here about shopping on a budget if you want more info on this. A great way to know what you want is to shop around online before you go into any physical shops. Shopping lists act as blinkers when you're shopping - this technique also applies to food shopping and stops you going crazy in the snacks aisle. Also, whilst it's nice to make the occasional impulse buy on something you fall in love with in the shop, maybe limit yourself to one per week/month/etc. 

Change Your Attitude Towards Clothes

Whilst these simple little tips might help you in the short term, your spending habits aren't going to change unless you truly want them to. For me, it was less about saving money for important things, and more about not having all of these possessions weighing me down and cluttering my headspace. (Although it is nice to know I have a little more dough in the bank.) (Wait, did I really just say dough?? *reconsiders all life choices*)

Let me know if any of this was helpful, or if you’d like to see more posts like this one. Good luck!