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Impulse buying: we’ve all done it. Maybe you can’t resist a deal, and there happened to be a sale rack chock-full of awesome tops, so you grabbed eighteen. Maybe you didn’t realize you already had a navy sheath dress, ’cause it was buried behind a winter coat. Maybe you wanted to wear your favorite blazer on a cool day, but it was dirty – so you popped into a Gap to get a similar one. And maybe you didn’t realize this morning when you got dressed that tonight you’d be having drinks with Philip Seymour Hoffman, but now that you’re on your way to meet up with him, the plaid dress you’re wearing is definitely not chic enough – so you’ve gotta get something else.

I used to be especially guilty of the latter. I’d get off work at the Art Students League, wearing scrubby clothes [because it's an art studio and I learned early on not to wear anything important there, lest it become covered in shades of chromium green and lead white], and then I’d get a text from my friends: “Dancing! You coming?!” “Sure.” So before I could meet up in my paint-splattered glory, I might have run by Forever 21 to get some new threads.

Obviously, I could have avoided this by thinking ahead: “It’s Thursday. On Thursdays my besties like to meet up to drink vodka until we can’t see and dance until we can’t stand up. I should bring my Vegas leggings to wear.” But I didn’t, which was dumb. There’s no way I can go back over my banking records to see how much this habit cost me, but I’m sure it’s a lot.

From talking to my friends, I’m fairly sure that this behavior is common, and if not this particular one, then one of the others up in the list. I know at least one boy who, in order to avoid doing laundry, routinely made trips to Urban Outfitters in college to pick up new tees and underwear. So let’s figure out why we do it, and then stop, so we can be more conscious of our fashion purchases. Right? Yeah? Okay.

  • Know what you have. Know what you need. This is why outfit photos and wardrobe clean-outs are so important, y’all – if you don’t know what you have, you have no idea what you’ll need, and you’ll invariably waste money on stuff you’ll never wear.

  • Know what you’ll be doing so you can dress appropriately. We are far past the time when your outfits corresponded to the time of day. An afternoon dress isn’t that much different from something you’d wear for dinner. Save for a house-building expedition or a formal affair, you should be able to dress for nearly any occasion in an outfit that fits, flatters you, and makes you feel great, with a killer [and comfy] pair of shoes.

  • Stick to your style. Be realistic. We made style inspiration guides to define our style trajectories, remember? This means we should all be clear on what we want to wear, but just as importantly what we don’t. There’s nothing wrong with sartorial adventurousness, but be honest – are you really going to wear that purple sequin tube dress anywhere besides your best friend’s annual tacky clothing party? Do you really have the fortitude to wear 4-inch heeled boots? Will you wear that wool coat more than a couple times a year if you live in L.A.?

  • Do your damn laundry. I don’t know how else to say it. I know it sucks. I know it’s no fun. If you’re really, really opposed to it, think about sending out your laundry [which is exactly what I'm going to do the very second I get back to New York]. Real Simple had a piece last month about how often you should wash different pieces of clothing, so give it a glance – you might be able to wear it a few more times before you toss it in the hamper.

  • Be realistic about what you can store. I definitely see the appeal of buying good quality pieces at cheaper prices, so if you stumble upon a sale, get a few items. But don’t even think about if it means your closet will burst at the seams. Storing too much clothing in a small space means that it’ll all get crushed and wrinkled, so you’ll have to do more work – ironing, steaming – before you wear it.

  • Leave your credit cards at home.If you really, really have a problem with impulse buys, don’t allow yourself even the slightest option of buying. I don’t have any credit cards anymore, but personal finance gurus recommend freezing your cards in a brick of ice in your freezer – so that you really, really have to think about whether you need something rather than just plunking the card out of your wallet.

  • Know your pitfalls, so you can avoid them. If you can’t walk past a perfume counter without buying an ounce of something, you know you need to enter and exit the department store another way. If you love lingerie but already have enough for six honeymoons, skip out on a trip to Kiki de Montparnasse. One of my terrible old pitfalls was office supplies – I’d raid the office superstores at back-to-school time for batches of neat pens, funky-colored binder clips, folders, and notebooks. I used a lot of it, but I ended up giving a lot of it away. And now that I’m trying to live paper-free, I’m really regretting all the money I spent on it.

  • Practice conscious spending. If you’re focusing on what you can’t buy, you’ll never be happy. Instead, think this way: “I’ve skipped out on buying fancy shoes this month so I can afford a trip to Paris.” “I’m paying for a sweet-ass apartment – I don’t need new clothes!” “I bought a really nice dupioni silk dress instead of buying seven tops from Target.” Conscious spending means spending on what’s important to us. And fashion is important [obvs, or else I wouldn't be writing this], but not always the most important. So think before you buy.

Do you or did you have an issue with impulse buying? How do/did you deal with it? Share your stories below!

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