I needed to find something hot pink for an event that I am attending this weekend.  So I went to shop at my boyfriend's (inside joke with the hubby) aka Ross! I love Ross!

I especially enjoy days like today where I had plenty of time for this hunt.  I went up and down every clothing aisle.  Unfortunately, I never spotted anything hot pink, but since I was already there, had the extra time, and actually could use more dress clothes I was picking out things that were my taste and style & putting them in the cart.   At the end of it all I had about 18 clothing items that consisted of shirts and pants.  

Not only would it have been pretty expensive to go ahead and purchase everything, history tells me that even though I picked them out does not mean I will like them once I get them home. 

How many of us have clothes in our closets with the store tags still on because we have never wore the items? Check your closet right now & count how many you have.  How does that even happen? Didn't we see those cute jeans at the store & think they were so cute that we just had to have them. 

Here's the answer.  We loved them on the hanger, but not on us.  And that's ok. We don't have to love them on us. However, in order to keep our closets tidy we need to only have the things in there that we love & will wear.  We need to have a reasonable amount of clothes for the space we have. If we don't love it then it needs to go.  It's that simple! Now let's talk about a few preventative ways for this not to happen in the first place.

1) Don't buy out of your emotions. Yes, we do actually all need clothing, but if you find that you are getting a high out of buying lots of clothes then feel guilty later when you come down from that high because you have overspent then you may want to look to friends and/or other resources for help. In these situations, there is could be a deeper issue involved. 

2) Try on the clothes at the store before purchasing them. Do not bring anything home that you did not try on at the store. Make this a new rule for yourself.  First, that you always try on everything & then secondly that you absolutely love it on YOU. This will drastically increase the likelihood that you will wear it. If you purchase them on-line then try the items on immediately & return them ASAP if when you try them on you don't LOVE them on YOU.

3)If you love it, but it's a little tight still don't buy it.  But you say that you plan on losing a few pounds. It's always about NOW when we are purchasing our clothes. Does it fit you now? Does it feel amazing now? Is it something you love on YOU & you can wear right now? Why? Because if you don't lose the weight then you have a piece of clothing that is basically just being "stored" in your closet.  You have a piece of clothing that will stare at you and make you feel like a failure that you haven't lost the weight yet.  And you have a piece of clothing that once you do finally decide to get rid of it you will have lost money. Even if you sell it you normally will not receive the original ticket price.  And doesn't this process sound daunting when you could prevent the entire scenario by not purchasing that item to begin with if you don't love it on you & can wear it right now.

4)Plan your clothing purchases. Keep an inventory of all your clothing & what pieces go together.  As you need a new piece or pieces, for example, maybe you need some business clothes due to a new job. Make a list of what you need beforehand to help keep yourself buying what you truly need.

My trip to Ross was for something specific but it turned out to be for all kinds of things since I did not go in with a very specific list for the dress clothes I need. The good news is I decided to put almost everything back because I knew that I needed to make my list & be more intentional about my wardrobe so that I will avoid having things in my closet that I am not using.  I hope this has been helpful and encouraging to help you keep things tidy!