5 Ways I’m Shopping Smarter These Days

When I first decided to get serious about my finances, the question I kept asking myself was how am I going to enjoy life with all of these restrictions (or how am I going to be able to shop).

This question was also part of the reason that I decided to take a break from blogging. I had to figure out how I would be able to run a blog dedicated to style and shopping while also going hard with paying off my debt. The two just didn’t go together in my mind. So, I spent the majority of my blog break trying to come up with an answer to this question. Eventually, I decided on some ways that I could still have what I wanted, while also accomplishing this very important goal of financial freedom!

Created a strict budget

The great thing about budgets is that when you use them correctly, you never have to wonder where your money has gone. And that was a huge problem for me in the past.

Once I created a budget that accounted for all of my money down to the penny, I found that it took away a lot of stress. I then added clothes shopping to my budget because it would allow me to do something that I’m passionate about with a few restrictions. I could no longer go shopping and not think about what I was buying and what I was spending. I had to plan for my shopping trips and come up with a strategy. The pieces that I buy would have to be more reliable and versatile. Because they would be worn a lot more often than clothes I’ve purchased in the past.

Real Life Outfits, Less IG Worthy

As a style blogger, I’m constantly thinking about style inspiration and how I can provide helpful style tips to my subscribers. I know that you guys check out my blog because you enjoy the different ways that I put outfits together and I always take that into consideration when I’m choosing looks. However, somewhere down the line, I started choosing looks that were more IG (Instagram) worthy, and less of what I would actually wear on an everyday basis. That left me with a bunch of clothes that were not being worn and just sitting in my closet. No more of that!!! I want to be as authentic as possible, so I’m purchasing items that I can wear on a daily basis in my real life, not just IG worthy looks. Because we’re all “REAL” people and let’s be honest, most people do not look/dress like they do on IG in real life.

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Shop my closet

As I stated earlier, in the past I had a tendency to just purchase items that I would only wear once, then leave them in my closet never to be seen or worn again. Well, now instead of running to the stores when I want to find something to wear for my blog or to an event, I go straight to my closet first. There’s almost a 100% guarantee that I will find something in there that I like. How do I know that? Because I bought everything in there. So that must mean that I liked some of those purchases.

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Don’t purchase just because there’s a sale.

Another thing that I tend to do (and I know y’all can feel me on this) is rush to a store as soon as I see that they’re having a sale. Now, I know very well that I don’t need to buy anything. Yet, I go into the store with the intention of finding pieces just because I know their on sale. Then I convince myself that I just saved money. Do you see the irony in that thought process? I go into a store even though there’s nothing that I need from the store. I buy a bunch of stuff on sale and then tell myself that you’ve saved. That’s not even sane, but that’s how my mind works sometimes.

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The “Three Times” Rule

Lastly, I’ve started asking myself a couple questions when I’m about to purchase an item. One question is, “Can you see yourself wearing this three times or more?” Another question is, “What are three ways/occasions that you can wear this piece?” If I can’t come up with any answers, then that means that I probably don’t need it.

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Top – New York & Company Jeans – H&M Heels – Steve Madden Belt Bag – Zara

As you can see, I have a true shopping problem, smh. I joke about it sometimes but it’s definitely REAL! I’m currently having a mindset shift and I’m hoping that this shift will lead to me making smarter and more thought out decisions when it comes to spending my money.

Now, about this look.

Y’all know I am a firm believer in keeping it simple in every part of my life; especially style. So it shouldn’t come as a surprise that I love this look! It’s simple, yet slightly trendy. What I love even more about it is that all of these pieces are old, except for this top. My handy dandy black jeans are a constant go-to for me and these heels are probably going to fall apart very soon but they have stood the test of time. And I think y’all remember this fanny pack/belt bag from this post couple months ago. I love shopping at Officially Chic 😊!

Speak to you soon!

Daneisha

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2 thoughts on “5 Ways I’m Shopping Smarter These Days”

FashionNotFear says:
March 27, 2018 at 8:44 pm


Yes to these tips! Especially not buying it just because its on sale.

https://www.bluelabelsboutique.com
https://www.fashionnotfear.com

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justaddgigi says:
April 2, 2018 at 8:42 pm


Daniesha, I’m so proud of you! Seriously, you did some self-examination and actually did some correction. This takes a lot of guts! You need to pat yourself on the back, hon. As for fashion blogging and shopping, actually, there are blogs that do capsule shopping which is you buy a small number of items each season and that’s it. Then you mix and match those items. You can be a fashion blogger and not shop every week. As for my shopping, the hardest part of being on a budget is not shopping at every sale. I have a hard time not picking something new, but I always ask if I need an item. 80% of the time, it turns out that I don’t. I personally feel when it comes to fashion blogging that you can reuse items in different outfits as many times you want. It just means you have to mix it up in different and unique ways.

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