{"id":8403,"date":"2016-03-03T13:24:32","date_gmt":"2016-03-03T13:24:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.prettygreentea.com\/?p=8403"},"modified":"2016-03-22T21:42:10","modified_gmt":"2016-03-22T21:42:10","slug":"5-key-tips-shopping-mindfully","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.prettygreentea.com\/2016\/03\/5-key-tips-shopping-mindfully","title":{"rendered":"5 key tips for shopping mindfully"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>We all like to treat ourselves to something new or get a bargain. Last week <a href=\"http:\/\/www.prettygreentea.com\/2016\/02\/4-pretty-dresses-sleeves\">I shared a few dresses<\/a> I had my eye on before the Blognix conference. I ended up ordering 3 dresses from ASOS and decided to keep this beauty from <a href=\"http:\/\/www.asos.com\/for-love-and-lemons\/for-love-and-lemons-geneva-mini-dress\/prod\/pgeproduct.aspx?iid=5576996&amp;clr=Cornflowerbluepr&amp;SearchQuery=Long+Sleeved+Dress&amp;pgesize=36&amp;pge=2&amp;totalstyles=115&amp;gridsize=3&amp;gridrow=4&amp;gridcolumn=1&amp;affid=10607&amp;pubref=1171&amp;transaction_id=10284eb3f6c1e1f048b8f13a548a7b\">For Love and Lemons<\/a>\u00a0(<em>outfit post coming next week<\/em>). It was was reduced from<strong><em> \u00a3210 to \u00a363<\/em> <\/strong>&#8211; I was so happy with this saving. The other 2 dresses were cheaper but the quality was terrible. I decided to go for quality over quantity and I&#8217;m very happy with my decision.<\/p>\n<p>Since starting my big clear out I&#8217;ve really cut down on what I own and it feels so good. There are a few clothes and shoes I\u00a0<em>need<\/em>\u00a0at the moment.<em>\u00a0<\/em>It makes a nice change to\u00a0<em>need\u00a0<\/em>something as opposed to\u00a0<em>wanting<\/em>. It means I can make a clear decision on what to add to my wardrobe without buying unnecessary items which may never get worn. I do have a tendency to overwear my clothes but I&#8217;m hoping that throughout 2016 I can create a capsule wardrobe with quality items that I can rotate between.<\/p>\n<p>I realise I&#8217;ve shared a fair few fashion based posts over the last couple of weeks but it&#8217;s because I&#8217;ve had a few events to go to. I&#8217;m also going to Budapest on the day this post goes live. I&#8217;ll be sure to share my new clothes with you on my return. I&#8217;m determined to start sharing outfit posts again and taking you on my journey of living mindfully.<\/p>\n<p><em><strong>Today I&#8217;m sharing 5 simple questions I ask myself when shopping mindfully.<\/strong><\/em><\/p>\n<ul>\n<li><em><strong>Do I really need it?<\/strong>\u00a0<\/em>I find it useful to make a list of the things I need before I go on a shopping trip or order anything online. This helps me to focus on those specific items and I don&#8217;t return with another hat. I have quite the hat collection already and although I wear them a lot I have no need to add to it.<\/li>\n<li><strong><em>Would I pay full price?<\/em>\u00a0&#8211; <\/strong>This only applies to sales and discounts. If the answer is no then put it down. Don&#8217;t buy things for the sake of it. Save your money and invest in something you\u00a0<em>really\u00a0<\/em>want.<\/li>\n<li><strong><em>Does it fit? &#8211;\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>When you&#8217;re trying to lose weight it&#8217;s tempting to buy something for when you&#8217;ve lost weight, especially if you think the item will be gone soon. We&#8217;ve all seen the\u00a0<em>last chance\u00a0<\/em>section in Topshop. If it doesn&#8217;t fit comfortably then put it back. Don&#8217;t waste your money. Buy something that makes you feel good\u00a0<em>now.\u00a0<\/em><\/li>\n<li><em><strong>What&#8217;s my budget? &#8211;\u00a0<\/strong><\/em>Always set yourself a budget. Decide how much you want to spend, what you need and don&#8217;t go past that. Working towards a budget in any aspect of life helps you to be mindful with the way you spend.<\/li>\n<li><strong><em>Does it make you excited? &#8211; <\/em><\/strong>If you don&#8217;t leave the changing room feeling excited then you probably don&#8217;t need it. You will find something better.\u00a0I know I really like something when I imagine myself wearing it, what I&#8217;ll style it with and how fantastic I&#8217;ll feel in it. That&#8217;s part of the reason that I think having a shopping trip and then going back for your favourite items is best. It stops you from spending too much and you&#8217;ll go back for the things you really like and need.<a href=\"http:\/\/www.prettygreentea.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/things-i-need-budapest.jpg\" rel=\"attachment wp-att-8406\"><img decoding=\"async\" loading=\"lazy\" class=\"size-full wp-image-8406 aligncenter\" src=\"http:\/\/www.prettygreentea.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/things-i-need-budapest.jpg\" alt=\"things-i-need-budapest\" width=\"900\" height=\"450\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.prettygreentea.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/things-i-need-budapest.jpg 900w, https:\/\/www.prettygreentea.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/things-i-need-budapest-300x150.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.prettygreentea.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/things-i-need-budapest-768x384.jpg 768w, https:\/\/www.prettygreentea.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/things-i-need-budapest-370x185.jpg 370w, https:\/\/www.prettygreentea.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/things-i-need-budapest-570x285.jpg 570w, https:\/\/www.prettygreentea.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2016\/03\/things-i-need-budapest-770x385.jpg 770w\" sizes=\"(max-width: 900px) 100vw, 900px\" \/><\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p style=\"text-align: center;\"><em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.shopbop.com\/kanken-backpack-fjallraven\/vp\/v=1\/1573047243.htm?folderID=2534374302055388&amp;fm=other-viewall&amp;os=false&amp;colorId=91236\">Fj\u00e4llr\u00e4ven Backpack<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.schuh.co.uk\/womens\/converse-all-star-chelsee-shearling-hi-brown-and-stone-trainers\/1923526650\/\">Brown and Stone Converse<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"http:\/\/www.marksandspencer.com\/secret-slimming-ruched-front-tankini-top\/p\/p22427814?prevPage=plp\">Navy Tankini Top<\/a>\u00a0|\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.shopbop.com\/kiver-bootie-h-by-hudson\/vp\/v=1\/1568037847.htm?fm=search-viewall-shopbysize&amp;os=false\">H by Hudson Booties<\/a>\u00a0<\/em><\/p>\n<p>This collection of items has been put together with my trip to Budapest in mind. This post will be live on the day that I set off for my weekend break. Keep an eye out <a href=\"https:\/\/twitter.com\/prettygreentea\">on Twitter<\/a>\u00a0to find out what I decided to treat myself to.<\/p>\n<p>I&#8217;m trying to decide between a pair of booties or good old Converse to take with me. I think I&#8217;ll end up going for a fresh pair of Converse because they never let me down and are ideal for long walks. However, the booties are H by Hudson and Shopbop have their spring sale on. Now would be a good time to invest in some quality boots. You can check out the\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.shopbop.com\/ci\/3\/lp\/discount-promo-coupon-code.html\">full details<\/a>\u00a0but basically you just need to be armed with the code:\u00a0<strong>BIGEVENT16 to get up to 25% off your order.<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>I also need something to swim in at the thermal spa and an easy to carry bag. I&#8217;m keen to get a tankini and swim shorts from M&amp;S. I&#8217;ve used them over the years and the quality has always been good. Finally, everyone keeps insisting that I need a backpack. I have memories of keeping as far away from backpacks at school. I know they&#8217;re very on trend right now and of course, they&#8217;re practical. Phil uses his\u00a0Fj\u00e4llr\u00e4ven regularly. Maybe it&#8217;s time I join then club.\u00a0Do you use a backpack? Should I make the change? It would mostly be for day trips and gym visits.<\/p>\n<p><strong><em>Do you shop mindfully or do you prefer to buy all the things?\u00a0<\/em><\/strong>There&#8217;s no right or wrong answer to this. We all have different priorities in life.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>We all like to treat ourselves to something new or get a bargain. Last week I shared a few dresses I had my eye&#8230;<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":8409,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1327,1328],"tags":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prettygreentea.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8403"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prettygreentea.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prettygreentea.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prettygreentea.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prettygreentea.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=8403"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.prettygreentea.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8403\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":8411,"href":"https:\/\/www.prettygreentea.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/8403\/revisions\/8411"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prettygreentea.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/8409"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.prettygreentea.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=8403"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prettygreentea.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=8403"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.prettygreentea.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=8403"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}