Mary Carlomagno shopped. She shopped after work, on lunch hours and on weekends. She shopped at sample sales, chain stores and designer outlets. She shopped for purses, shoes and clothes.

But one day, she looked in her closet and noticed something: “I had $1,000 worth of merchandise I’d never worn,” recalls Mary, 39, of Hoboken, N.J.

So in February 2003, Mary decided to quit shopping, at least for the month. Her book Give It Up! chronicles Mary’s efforts to stop shopping and lose her other vices — including coffee, chocolate and watching too much television.

Kicking the Habit

Mary kicked shopping in much the same way you might get over a bad breakup: She removed all reminders of her former love. She started with a hard look at her three double-closets. Once she figured out which impulse buys she still could return, she took them back to the stores right away. It wasn’t easy. “At first, it was like taking a toy away from a child,” she admits.

Alternatives to Shopping

To avoid splurging, Mary kept busy. Jaunts to Loehmann’s with friends were replaced with a yoga class or a trip to the gym. She also kept working at scaling back her wardrobe, purging until she could fit everything in one closet.

Besides the healthy bounce in her bank account that resulted from not spending, Mary was able to earn money and give back at the same time. She took bags of things that she no longer needed to consignment shops, where half the proceeds from the sales of Mary’s goods went to her and half were given to local charities. Mary also donated professional clothing to Dress for Success (dressforsuccess.org), which provides disadvantaged women with professional attire.

Setting Limits

“Not shopping got increasingly easier and the benefits were pretty amazing,” says Mary. So amazing, in fact, that when her month of doing without was up, she never went back to her shopaholic ways. Today, if she finds something she likes, she’ll walk around the store with it for a while instead of rushing to the register. “I can usually talk myself out of it,” she says. Mary also abides by what she calls the “two-week rule.” If she buys something and doesn’t wear it within two weeks, she returns it.

“I’ve never once regretted not buying something,” says Mary, who now helps shopaholics and organizationally challenged folks through her company, Order. (orderperiod.com). “It’s much easier now deciding what to wear.”