Shop, shop shop! Enough already!

[escargot]

Since I've been here I've spent a fortune on the 'next best thing'!

It has left me feeling inadequate, a bit of a sheep and frankly vain and self-obsessed. My life hasn't been the same since I was HoC'd.

My remedy is to have February off. No more shopping for me, no more winterness and no more bloody lipsticks.

I do have a couple of days of January left though.....

Anyone else hitting the brakes for February beauty/style-wise or are all the new must-have Spring things making you itch?

Glad to know it isn't just me. I have 5 cleansers on the go They will last the whole of 2014.

Yep I'm in for a shopping-free Feb!

There is nothing in spring for us Winters

Yippee miss I won't even be tempted!

well done frugal :)

Good idea! I'm in!

I'm kind of considering a new approach to shopping that won't necessarily save a huge amount of money, but I think may result in a wardrobe full of clothes that mean I don't have a panic about having nothing to wear when my wardrobe is literally bursting open it's so full. I've been on a year long declutter effort, and have sold clothes via dress agencies (which I think I will continue when I get my Summer clothes out a realise how much I don't wear), a car boot sale and also have given a lot to my Mum and charity shops.

I think this year, I'm planning on buying one nice item of clothing per month, as long as it is in my budget. This is as opposed to my former effort of bargain hunting, and shopping became a bit of a game of the biggest bargains I could find, instead of what I really wanted/needed.

Will be a big challenge...

Good plan Saurus and welcome to you and green! I'm so bored with "needing" yet more STUFF!

I always get quite acquisitive in Jan - even though I'm not a lover of sales shopping, I always pick up the odd bit, and something about the new year inspires me to revamp a little bit.

Saying that, I'm 7 months pregnant and the temptation is reasonably limited anyway at the moment! The only purchases for Jan have been a dress for after I give birth in the sales (the joy of colours and style means I know it will work) and a pair of maternity harem pants. Style central.

I actually don't love shopping and my wardrobe tends to go in fits and spurts, where I buy anything i need, wear it till it falls apart, then rebuy everything. I'm not a massive fan of shopping. So I'm actually planning on doing what Saurus is (on item per month) as a way of forcing myself to actually have enough clothes, rather than as a limit!

I gave up shopping in October - I need new clothes now to refresh my wardrobe. I tend to binge on clothes twice a year, beginning of spring and beginning of autumn....I get all obsessed, shop shop shop, Pinterest board gets filled, live and breathe clothes and then I get bored, I've filled all the gaps in my wardrobe and I go and do something different. Attention span of a gnat - that's me.

Last year I started to make big changes to my shopping habits. I aimed for quality rather than quantity and aimed to buy clothes that I needed rather than clothes I thought I should have.
This year I'm taking it a step further and limiting myself to a maximum of 3 purchases per month. January has been relatively easy as sales shopping holds little joy for me. My 3 items for January all came from Topshop: a blue shirt, a black dress and a navy jumper. They have all been worn already and I seem to have avoided buying and just sticking things in the wardrobe which never get worn.
I am enjoying window shopping and browsing much more and am considering my 3 purchases more carefully. Up for consideration in February is a navy mac, a stripe jersey skirt and a satchel bag.

Well I can't promise but I won't see anything I like anyway as spring and summer clothes are rubbish. Does that count?

I think it's a good strategy to sales shop twice a year if you are not overdoing it and if you are also buying more timeless items. The risk with sales-shopping trendy stuff is that it will feel dated by next year.

For me, limiting exposure to blogs, online shopping sites and department stores helps me to stay focused. It's really easy to get sucked into the hype qnd become a sheep

One of the online shops I use stores all my purchase data on their server and I revieved all of my purchases from the past two years there. About half of them were fantastic basics that I repeat-wear. About half were clothes that are not worn much and that just end up cluttering my wardrobe. Had I really listened to my subtle feelings of dissatisfaction at the moment I first tried them on I would have much less redundant stuff. I'm a lazy returner and tend to keep stuff that I know is not perfect for me. This is what I should avoid in the future

• clothes that are very specific (party dresses, highly seasonal items, boots that are hard to walk in, beautiful but totally impractical stuff)
• pattern
• very bright colors
• black and navy
• clothes that are high maintenance
• multiples - I never like the second item as much as the first
• clothes that I feel I should have but do not love

I also noticed that I find pattern and color very tempting when I shop but I actually tend to wear neutrals much more.

I need to have once in a while a crazy, showy standout item - this winter it's my coat - but most of my purchases should be fairly neutral building blocks, made from best possible materials.

Anything anyone else here has learned from past excesses?

My heart needs to beat a little faster when I put it on and I need to focus on the item, not the label or the price tag. I keep it for a week and if I still love it and it tones with my other clothes it gets a home.

But I order and send back masses of stuff - I have about £3k worth of stuff to return at the moment and it will all be returned today. I only kept about £100 worth of stuff.

Frugal, things I am starting to realise include the fact that, by now (I am 40), I know when I try something on and it feels fabulous that I should buy it disregarding (within reason) the cost, as I think that happens very rarely but is priceless when it does.

Also, dresses are a really easy win for me as I feel comfortable in them, they need less co-ordination in terms of putting an outfit together, and I think it is actually a more cost-effective way of dressing.

Thirdly, the absolute joy (and relief) that comes from having clothes that fit, make me feel confident and enable me to get dressed for a variety of different situations without going into meltdown while standing in front of my wardrobe in my underwear cannot be underestimated. Last Autumn, I tried out my 'buying less but better' approach and it worked really well. In September, I knew that in the run up to Christmas I had a lot of social stuff going on that I needed a really gorgeous outfit for - theatre, opera (first time ever, completely wonderful!), good restaurants etc - I thought about it carefully and bought one dress that I knew would work for everything. It was expensive (for me anyway - £160 with a discount code), but the absolute relief that I felt of having something that I knew was a good fit, kind of glam but not 'fussy' was amazing. Admittedly most of the times I wore it it was with different friends or DH so they didn't know I had worn it loads of times -not sure how I'd feel about wearing the same thing over and over with the same group of mates.

So what I'm ultimately realising is that instead of feeling enslaved to buying clothes, what I am actually seeking is clothes that work for me and my life, and make me feel good. What a simple thing to realise - what a shame it took 40 years and so much wasted money to reach that revelation

I'm like many of you - Pin what I like, buy it in the Jan and June sales, plus the odd impulse bargain, then take it slow.

I do buy more than I need, but love my clothes, and make fewer mistakes than I used to. I am a ruthless returner, which helps. Although, arguably, wiser, slower shopping should result in minimal returns . I do pad my online orders for free delivery, which is probably stupid as it means I am not valuing the time it takes to return the excess item/s.

Thanks for sharing your shopping experiences, I'm understanding my habits a lot more as a result!

I had the bare bones of a wardrobe at the beginning of Autumn and bought a few good things (I call £100 a 'very good' thing) and was really happy but as Winter went on and I got colder I bought two very cheap cardies from EWM plus a crew neck jumper because I had nothing to wear indoors to stay cosy. They were all £15 each in the sales, lambswool and a bit itchy but they are nicer than hoodies for indoors.

I also bought three 'fine' knits from CC so now my wardrobe is fuller but they are not items I LOVE, which makes me a bit cross.

I like Hopefully and saurus's method of 'not much but planned and good quality'

I would rather have a cashmere sweater in 'my' colours that fits perfectly than these misshapen woolly mammoths but the cat ends up sitting on me most evenings anyway and they're disposable

So, now you can see how I go from 'wardrobe that I love and fits me' to 'making do, it's cold, the cat sheds all over me'...

frugal I feel like a sheep too at times, I didn't know I 'needed' so much stuff :( In truth, I don't!

I didn't know I had so many things 'wrong' with me until S&B! I'm only half joking.

I know it's my own issue and I shouldn't compare myself to others but if someone puts up a pic of their skin saying how bad it is or whatever, I can't help looking at my own and wondering if I should be more concerned with mine if that is what constitutes 'bad'.

I do find S&B really helpful though and enjoy it 95% of the time. Just wish people would stop saying how awful they look.

Sorry. I know that wasn't the point of the thread but it was following on from your 'sheep' comment.

Spending wise I have managed to stop buying the latest must have the past couple of months. The babyliss shite hair cured me of that.

I feel the same at times coumarin Mostly I feel inadequate and needy and after that I feel vain and self-obsessed.

Maybe a break from all this is required - surely my main goal of finding a lipstick that suits me is a tad fluffy in the grand scheme of things!

Trouble is I become obsessed by it, spend a lot of time and money and still feel inadequate because I'm sure there's a better one out there

The point of the beauty and fashion industry is to make you feel inadequate and to make you feel that just buy purchasing a few things everything will change.

I knowingly know this but still get sucked in.

Someone earlier suggested getting offline, taking a walk, reading a book or getting immersed in a box set of DVDs or something. It does help

Sounds like a good idea frugal :)

Escargot it can be a nice shallow escape from more serious problems sometimes. Browsing make up, musing over which shade of pink you like the best or pottering around a make up counter where everything is beautifully packaged, glossy and perfect looking. It's a harmless distraction.

I think the problem starts, with me, when my anxieties about serious stuff get projected onto the little things so I can get overly invested in finding the perfect cleanser. As if that'll make everything ok again. If that makes sense? It's not a conscious thing but I do become aware if it sometimes and that's when I back off the beauty forums and shopping sites and do something else.

Sorry if that was a bit deep.

Pinterest is a great way of getting a shopping fix without parting with any cash. I've got an amazing wardrobe on there! (And a gorgeous house, perfect meals and fantastic holidays. )