On A Different World, Whitley Gilbert was taught to “Relax, Relate, Release” to help deal with her issues and I have developed my own 3Rs to deal with wasteful spending – “Research, Resist and Remove.” It doesn’t quite roll off the tongue, but it has helped me throughout the years to save a ton of money.
In college I had an expensive habit of buying cheap clothes. Oh this shirt is $5? Buying it! This jacket is $20? Getting it! I ended up with a closet full of cheap ugly clothing, and spending a ton of money to boot! I hated how I dressed and was frustrated that I kept spending all of my free cash on wack clothes.
Everything changed the day I realized that just because something was on sale, did not mean I had to buy it. It took me a number of years but I have my method down and I’d like to share it with you!
Research
The first thing you need to do is Research. I have long resisted Pinterest, because I did not see the point of collecting pictures, but I have seen the light! I use it to research new trends, use boards to plan my purchases and most importantly find fashion blogs of women who have similar body types to mine so they can do all of the trial and error for me. No more buying clothes that don’t work for my petite frame and then being too lazy to return it and get my money back. My fav is ExtraPetite.com!
Resist
The next thing you need to do is Resist. I know from experience that all of my favorite stores have a pretty reliable sale rotation. If I see a full price sweater on 40% off sale at Banana Republic, I know for a fact that in 6 weeks, it will likely have a reduced price plus an additional savings. So I like to scope around, look for items that I might want to get, go home, sleep on it and then make an informed decision later. I tend to find that if I leave something in the store it is highly unlikely that I will remember the item and go back for it. And if I do, it is usually a purchase that I will never regret.
Remove
The last thing you need to do is Remove the temptation. I get a ton of marketing emails announcing sales and coupons. I found that whenever I got a 40% off the entire store email from the Loft, I lost my mind! I realized I needed to remove the temptation to shop. Now, I automatically direct all of my store marketing emails to an email folder called “Shopping.” This way I shop on my own terms, not because I received a sale email. Whenever I need or want to buy something, I go to the folder to see who is having a sale.
So remember to research, resist and remove when shopping. Lastly ask yourself this question if you find yourself in a fitting room when you’re not quite sure how you got there… Am I buying this item just because it’s on sale??
