As most of you will know by now I have been on a weight loss journey since the beginning of the year and whilst it has been great to see the changes in my body I have had to start going out to buy smaller clothes.

I said at the start of this journey I was only going to buy items I really need when I really need them because if not these next few months & years could be costly for me and I don't want to spend a load of money on pieces of clothing that aren't going to fit me after a month or two.

This year my mindset has changed on a lot of things and one of those things is how I shop. I used to just buy for the sake of buying and I have realised that I need to stop that as so many items I own still have tags on them plus I could save so much money buy reigning in my spending habits when it comes to clothing. There is no point me going and buying a £30 t-shirt or hoodie when I might get £5 worth of wear out of it.

I know that I am going to need to buy new items fairly often such as jeans and trousers as they need to fit me better than they have been doing, I don't want to have to pull them up every 5 minutes, but I don't need to buy expensive jeans, for the length of time they are going to fit me I may as well stick to Primark ones. Where as with t-shirts sometimes you can get away with that oversized look and I can always re-purpose them if necessary so I shouldn't be buying them often at all. As I say though I am still going to treat myself every now and then but I am just going to redirect those treats from clothing to other aspects of my life ie, tech, sneakers or jewellery. Plus if I put some of the money I save from not buying clothing to one side when I reach my goal weight I can go on a shopping spree for clothing in my size and feel like all the hard work of losing weight and not buying as much clothing has paid off whilst not feeling like I am emptying my bank account when I do need to totally redo my wardrobe.

So if like me and you are on a fitness & weight loss journey maybe take a look at carrying out the following steps to save you money whilst you try to achieve your goal. These are the things I am going to try stick to when I do need to purchase clothing or just when I go shopping so I don't waste money...

If I do want an expensive item I am now going to wait until it comes in the sale. If I forget about it by the time that happens did I even want it? Or was it just going to be an impulse purchase? Plus if I can pick up any of the essential items I need in a sale and save a bit more money that will be perfect. Just by shopping in the sale I could end up picking some better quality items for less money than picking up a lower quality item.

This is a big one for me as I usually see an item and get sucked right in and spend a fortune on what I need. So once a month I am going to go through my wardrobe, try items on and see what I need and what I have plenty of. By doing this I can make a list on my phone of things that I need so if it isn't on the list when I go shopping I will skip right past it. By doing this I can manage what I have and also make sure I don't spend on things I already have plenty of.

This is a big one for me as I am trying to save and by shopping on a budget whilst I am losing weight I am going to end up saving extra money ready for a big shopping spree when I hit my goal no matter how far away that is. I am thinking maybe having a £50 a month budget for those items I do need but anything I don't spend I will also put to one side ready for that big shopping trip or another treat I have been wanting.

Other ways I am going to control how many clothes and I have is by not holding on to them for the sake of it like I normally do. There will be 4 options when I declutter my wardrobe, on a bi-monthly basis, keep, sell, donate and here is a break down of how those categories are going to work and how

This is going to be those items that still fit me or can be worn oversized. I have boxes full of clothes in the loft that I need to go through too so the item will only be staying if it fits and still fits my style. There is no need to keep hold of things for the sake of it anymore. The item is going to need to be in good condition too.

This is for those items that aren't good enough to donate or sell, instead of just throwing the item away I am going to see if I can re-purpose it in any way. For example some t-shirts I could end up wearing as pyjama tops same with jersey shorts, they could be just for lounging or sleeping in. My grandad also uses my old Primark t-shirts as dusters and for waxing & varnishing furniture so I can send them down to his house for him to use.

If an item can be donated I will donate it, instead of an item being sat around not being worn I would rather have someone get the money worth out of it and benefit from it. I will donate items to friends/family or local charity shops as there are plenty of them around here.

Some items that are of higher value or still have the tags on and are in great condition I am going to start selling as the money I make can go towards new clothing in the future so it will feel like I aren't spending my money on items when it comes out of that money.

So there you have it that is how I will be shopping whilst losing weight so I aren't wasting money anymore and aren't purchasing too many unnecessary items. I hope you find this post helpful, let me know if you have any other ways you shop whilst losing weight so that you aren't being wasteful.