How to Stop Binge Shopping

“Just one more order, it’s not a big deal.” “It’s on sale so I might as well get a couple right now.”

Sound familiar? These and many others are the thoughts of compulsive shoppers, something seen commonly all year round but specifically around the holiday season. Wherever you look, there are deals and promotions, tempting you to shop ‘til you drop, but this year, that might not be the best idea. It’s important to understand when you’ve bought too much and when this binge shopping is simply hurting your wallet and providing zero benefit. As dopamine gets released when a purchase is made, the need to constantly feel this release of dopamine explains the consistent urge to shop. So how do you work around this? 

Find Something To Replace It

As silly as it sounds, find a new hobby or interest to replace shopping. You keep shopping to feel the satisfying release of dopamine, also known as the “feel-good hormone.” There are many other activities that give you this same release of dopamine, however, and it would be worthwhile to find one that benefits you. Listening to music or dancing to it gives a strong boost of dopamine. Exercise also has that same effect. If you can walk hours and hours in a mall, you can walk for 30 minutes on an inclined treadmill to stay fit and give your mind that same amount of dopamine.

Look For Deals

The next tip is rather than shopping all year round, wait for good deals that come at certain times of the year. This prevents you from shopping multiple times a month, and reduces that number to just a couple times every few months. It’s also simply a good way to save your money by waiting for deals to shop. Some of the best times to shop when lots of deals will be present include November-December (holiday season), as well as other holidays including Easter, Memorial Day, and the 4th of July. Another tip is to alternate the types of clothes you buy in each season, to maximize your budget while spending as little as you can. Most winter clothes will go on sale as it gets warmer, so stock up then rather than waiting for it to get cold again. Do the same for summer clothes and stock up as summer begins to come to an end. Find more holiday deals here.

Learn To Rewear Your Clothes

Another important tip is to make sure you get the most out of the clothes you already own and paid good money for! Before buying new tops, get a good four-five wears out of the ones you already own. One trick that I like to use is to hang all your clothes on hangers in your closet, which also allows you to easily see what items you own.

After going through your clothes the first time around, get rid of clothes that you don’t wear anymore, aren’t trendy to you anymore, or aren’t your size anymore. Next, after each time you wear a piece of clothing, put it back on the hanger and put the hanger facing the opposite direction on the rack. After a couple months of rewearing your clothes, you’ll begin to see which hangers have yet to be turned the opposite way, allowing you to see which items of clothing you don’t wear often. This also helps you to learn which styles of clothing you tend to gravitate toward, to narrow your shopping choices the next time you go. 

Learn How To Thrift

Another great tip is to learn how to thrift. This will save you so much money in the long run, and also helps you from contributing to adding more clothing and items into the fashion landfill. Thrifting is a great way to get another use out of second-hand clothing. Once you learn how to properly clean and sanitize thrifted clothes, you can make going thrifting a regular thing! Here are some tips to learn how to get accustomed to regular thrifting and more tips on how to properly clean your secondhand clothing!

Remember

Shopping is a great stress reliever and a fun experience, but not always the healthiest. Learn to shop effectively and not constantly just to get that little dopamine boost. Wait for the best times to shop and even better sales. Use the clothes you already own in your closet to your advantage and use whatever tricks you can to learn how often you wear these items. Learn how to effectively thrift so that when you do go shopping, you can limit what you buy while also not spending a lot. Now I’m not saying shopping often is a bad idea, just do it healthily and happily!