If you had to categorize people into “savers” and “spenders,” I would definitely be in the latter category. I love to shop, and while I am responsible with my money, let’s just say that my building concierge and I are on a first name basis. There’s rarely a day when I don’t have a package with my name on it waiting for me. When it comes to shopping, I tend to spend the most on home decor, clothing, and makeup + skincare — and I do 99% of it online, hence all the packages.

Over the last several years, I’ve made a very conscious effort to be ruthless in my returns. I’ve always been good at returning things on-time, but I wasn’t always been the best about being honest with myself when it came to whether or not I loved an item that showed up at my door. For instance, I’d love a dress online, know in my gut it didn’t work in person, but decide to keep it anyway hoping that somehow it could work — only to wear it once or twice before donating it or selling it on Poshmark. Now, I have to really, really love something for it to stick around.

To complement my ruthless approach to returning, lately, I’ve been making of a more concerted effort to consciously shop. So around the start of the month, I think about where I want to spend some of my discretionary income — whether that’s a new dress for a wedding I’m attending or a pair of beautiful candlesticks from anthropologie (I bought them, by the way) to style my new sideboard. Instead of impulse shopping, I want to make sure I am actually spending my money on things that I really want and have thought about.

Through this particular self-betterment endeavor, I’ve realized, it’s all too easy for me to be influenced by social media — namely, watching other’s Instagram Stories.

I’ve caught myself often over the last few months impulsively adding things to my cart — like this Sofia Richie inspired J Crew number — after I’ve seen an Instagram Story. While that particular J Crew dress is super cute, the habit of watching Instagram Stories and ending up with something in my cart I had no intention of buying is something I’m trying to break myself of. So now, whenever I see something on Instagram Stories that I’m tempted to buy, I’ll add it to a note on my phone. If I’m still thinking about said item two or three weeks later, I’ll buy it — but feel much better about my purchase because there was conscious thought behind it, and not a doom scroll. If it’s sold out after by the time I’ve made my mind up, it wasn’t meant to be.

So, I’m curious — are you easily influenced to shop on Instagram? Definitely something to think about — I didn’t realize how tempting Instagram Stories were for me until I paid conscious attention to it, and now, I realize just how much content out there is trying to sell me something. (Stating the obvious here, but still!)

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On a related note, wanted to share a few things I’ve (consciously) bought recently and would highly recommend:

Bissell Steam Mop: y’all, let me just say, cleaning my floors has never been so fun. I love this Bissell Steam Mop — that I was actually influenced to buy off TikTok. It disinfects and cleans your floors with steam from water; there’s no additional cleaning product needed! The first time I used this, I was so impressed with how much dirt it picked up from my floors, which I was regularly cleaning already. At under $100, this is a must-buy. (My mom also got it and loves it!)

Hatch Alarm Clock: somewhere along the way, I became a big snooze button enthusiast and it is so hard for me to walk up in the mornings! My sister bought the Hatch Alarm earlier this year and has been singing its praises ever since, so I finally got one. I love it! I have it set so that a “sunrise” starts 30 minutes prior to my alarm going off, and most mornings, that light wakes me up naturally. If it doesn’t, the Hatch Alarm has a wide variety of soothing sounds you can wake up to. You can also use it as a white noise machine or create a wind-down routine before bed.

Stanley Cup: I usually do not get suckered into the latest water bottle trend as I am a Tervis tumbler loyalist and primarily drink out of those around the house, but I wanted a water bottle I could take to work and easily leave in my car. Enter, the Stanley Cup. I got the 40 ounce size in the color rose quartz, and while it is comically large, it really does do a great job of keeping my water and ice cold all day.