Speaker 1: Welcome to Before Breakfast, a production of I Heart Radio.
Speaker 1: Good Morning. This is Laura. Welcome to the Before Breakfast podcast.
Speaker 1: As we approach the time of year often dubbed back
Speaker 1: to school shopping season, and as this September magazine's grow
Speaker 1: thick with clothing ads, it can be helpful to shop
Speaker 1: like you are packing for a trip. No, you don't
Speaker 1: need to bring your rollerboard to the mall. Just make
Speaker 1: purposeful selections and you will be a lot happier with
Speaker 1: your purchases. I know with COVID many of us are
Speaker 1: out of practice with packing and travel, but in general,
Speaker 1: when we pack for trips, we have to make active
Speaker 1: decisions about what to take with us, what will the
Speaker 1: weather be like, what will you be doing, what do
Speaker 1: you need to wear for that, Will you be doing
Speaker 1: laundry or do you want to do laundry? And based
Speaker 1: on the answers of that question, how many serviceable outfits
Speaker 1: do you need? The point is for your bag to
Speaker 1: contain what you will actually use on your trip and
Speaker 1: what will make you feel good and put together on
Speaker 1: your trip, but hopefully not a whole lot else. It's
Speaker 1: a good idea to shop this way too. Whether you
Speaker 1: are shopping for you or for other family members. Think
Speaker 1: about the weather for the season in your particular part
Speaker 1: of the world. What activities will you engage in, what
Speaker 1: places will you go, and what will you want to
Speaker 1: wear For that You might try jotting down some basic
Speaker 1: notes work, relaxing at home, jim out to dinner, church,
Speaker 1: and so forth. Then look at your closet. Do you
Speaker 1: have clothes suited to the weather, occasions and places that
Speaker 1: you have identified? Do you have enough of each type
Speaker 1: of clothing to make it between laundry cycles? I know
Speaker 1: my family has been surprised a few years in a
Speaker 1: row on the first cold day when we learned that
Speaker 1: our oldest has no long pants that actually fit whoops.
Speaker 1: Of course, your ability to answer these questions assumes an
Speaker 1: organized closet that lets you see all of a certain
Speaker 1: kind of item, say work pants, in one place. If
Speaker 1: that does not describe your closet, consider reorganizing so that
Speaker 1: you can see what you have. You can use this
Speaker 1: occasion to give away anything that doesn't fit or that
Speaker 1: you don't like. Once you can see what you have,
Speaker 1: you can figure out the whole holes in your closet
Speaker 1: or your kids closets and decide what you need. Maybe
Speaker 1: you could use a new pair of work pants or
Speaker 1: a nice tap to wear when you go out to dinner.
Speaker 1: Make a list of what you need, and now you
Speaker 1: are ready to shop. You can also figure out what
Speaker 1: you don't need. When you're packing for a trip to
Speaker 1: the beach. You don't throw in a pair of boots
Speaker 1: just because you like them. Well, at least you shouldn't
Speaker 1: unless you are looking to pay the airline fees for
Speaker 1: overweight luggage and to not use a bunch of stuff.
Speaker 1: Every item in your suitcase is supposed to serve a purpose.
Speaker 1: It's a reasonable bet that you will wear each item
Speaker 1: while you are away. That is a good goal for
Speaker 1: a closet too. But when we are shopping, we often
Speaker 1: buy whatever appeals to us, or we indulgence fantasy life
Speaker 1: where we will actually wear those pretty but uncomfortable shoes.
Speaker 1: On some level, that is fine. It is not a
Speaker 1: crime to own an extra shirt or two, and buying
Speaker 1: a beautiful scarf just because it's beautiful can be a pleasure.
Speaker 1: But don't forget that you lost your warm gloves last
Speaker 1: year and do need to replace them, or that you
Speaker 1: don't actually have any put together looks for your office
Speaker 1: is new business casual dress code, or that you just
Speaker 1: don't wear silettos, or that you will never be able
Speaker 1: to wear all the blueshift dresses you own, so please
Speaker 1: stop buying new ones until you get rid of the
Speaker 1: old ones. Okay, that last bit of advice is just
Speaker 1: for me. I only ever take one or most two
Speaker 1: of those dresses on a business trip, so that's probably
Speaker 1: all I really need to own in the meantime. Time,
Speaker 1: This is Laura. Thanks for listening, and here's to making
Speaker 1: the most of our time. Hey, everybody, I'd love to
Speaker 1: hear from you. You can send me your tips, your questions,
Speaker 1: or anything else. Just connect with me on Twitter, Facebook,
Speaker 1: and Instagram at Before Breakfast pod that's B the number
Speaker 1: four then Breakfast p o D. You can also shoot
Speaker 1: me an email at Before Breakfast podcast at i heeart
Speaker 1: media dot com. That Before Breakfast is spelled out with
Speaker 1: all the letters. Thanks so much, I look forward to
Speaker 1: staying in touch. Before Breakfast is a production of I
Speaker 1: Heart Radio. For more podcasts from my heart Radio, visit
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