This One Simple Trick Saved Me Hundreds on Clothes (No But Actually, It Did)

About eight months ago I signed up for Unroll.me, an email digest service. You may have heard of it — you give them your email, it scans all online subscription services for your address, and then you choose whether to unsubscribe or keep the emails in your inbox. The rest get “rolled up” into a daily digest you can choose whether or not to peruse.

Truthfully, I like getting lots of emails. It makes me feel important (maybe it makes me feel loved?). However, 75% of my emails are a limpid time suck. I wanted to be forced to only pay attention to what was necessary. It’s goofy and life-hacky to use a service to manage that, but it works. What is truly important rises to the top, and the rest is easily dispensed with in one fell swoop.

The truly magical and unexpected part of this, however, is how this hack has curbed my clothing spending. Now that I’m not being forced (against my will!) to look at every “Spring Has Sprung!” sale email from every store at which I’ve ever purchased so much as a bobby pin, I simply…forget. It’s a bit like turning off notifications for an ex; rather than the terrible heart-clang that occurs when you see him in your newsfeed, he simply vanishes into the miasmic underbelly of social media. My self-involvement is such that if the dudes aren’t popping up to remind me they exist, I basically forget all about them. Like, yup, in writing this I just remembered one I’d forgotten to care about recently and yes, neat, turns out he’s still with that girl who is definitely prettier than me, but it’s okay! I’m only reminded of that twice a year now, rather than twice a week.

So, you know, roll up your emails. If you aren’t being smacked in the face by sale offers and shiny new things on the daily, you’ll be much less likely to find a reason to buy anything. Out of sight, out of mind. It’s science.

Support The Billfold

The Billfold continues to exist thanks to support from our readers. Help us continue to do our work by making a monthly pledge on Patreon or a one-time-only contribution through PayPal.