Every year I tell myself I’m going to dress better. Every year I do a decent job of putting the same exact amount of effort into my appearance. I know I dress just fine, but I felt compelled to share whatever shopping hacks/style knowledge I have in my dome. Maybe you find this useful. *SHRUGS*

For the record I can’t justify spending more than $50 on single pieces unless it's a big ticket item such as cocktail dresses, coats, outerwear or leather shoes/boots. I’m cheap, I still wear Forever21—the trick is you can’t tell its Forever21.

Shopping

Learn to shop online.
I prefer shopping online because I despise dealing with crowds and prefer to avoid the general over-stimulation. If you’re not already good at this you will need to work at it. It takes a lot of trial and error and sometimes purchasing multiple sizes of the same pieces of clothing. The trick here is to buy from retailers with free shipping (and returns) and to have patience. You’ll also need to know what colors/patterns work on you as well as silhouettes and proportions. Best of luck and God speed. I swear once you get this down you will save so much time in life. Also, boys and girls—ASOS.com is your friend. Your best friend, their sale section is always good.
Buy stuff at the end of the season.
You want thigh high leather boots? By that shit—NOW. You need a new winter coat? Cop it now, save it for next year. The same goes for clothes and shoes at the end of the summer.
Learn when the sales are.
I’m talking LEGIT SALES, not sales where they put random signs around the store and claim its a sale. Zara has a FAT sale after the new year, always. It’s difficult to maneuver through, the store literally looks like it blows up, however the savings are worth digging through (or better yet, shop online). Promise.
Don’t buy it unless you’re sure.
When I really like something I start subconsciously dancing in it, that’s the automatic “BUY” or "KEEP" sign. If I want to buy something that is usually out of my budget I sleep on it, at least overnight. If I still want it after a few days then I’m allowed to purchase it. When I was younger I would waste a ton of money on “shopping sprees” where quantity was the motivator. I was always left with unused clothes with their tags still on months later. Also just because something is on sale doesn't mean it's worth buying, you're wearing the clothes, not the price tag.

Dressing

Give yourself rules.
You think I’m joking? Nah. You have to phase shit out of your life, like screen tees. I hope you only wear screen tees to go to sleep. You can slip into laziness quickly if your closet allows you to. Personally I have to tell myself I can only wear a hoodie to work a maximum of 1x a week. 1x too lenient if you ask me. I realize this one sounds vain as fuck and like it came out of "Mean Girls," but hey if you're cool with hoodies and sceen tees then more power to you. No shade.
Build your wardrobe, slowly.
Someone wise once told me he doesn’t want things in his closet unless he is automatically fly in everything in it. First of all this is a daunting task, most of the time women (like me) will have a closet full of clothes and will tell you they have nothing to wear. You can’t build your wardrobe all at once and you can’t fill it with cheap/trendy clothes. The dream is to pull absolutely anything out and still have a solid OOTD, however that is not going to happen overnight and it takes regular updating.
Challenge yourself.
Sometimes you don’t need to go shopping. Sometimes you need to just come up with a combination of pieces already in your closet that you’ve never worn together. Maybe you need to dig stuff out or force yourself to wear a shirt you rarely choose. Sometimes you need to put on annoying ass tights and a dress—just because. Men, sorry... I don't know what your equivalent is... maybe you get through a week in nothing but collared shirts. *HEART EYE EMOJI HERE*

PS. Yeah, your laundry piles up if you have to flex in a superior outfit almost every day. I have no hacks to this except for hanging decent outer layers back up. Don't judge me. I hate doing laundry.