How do you reduce spending?

I normally think of myself as a low spend person, but certainly not very frugal. I'm not a spendthrift either, as I like to get a lot of my items on clearance, online consignment, or from ebay where it's super cheap.

Unfortunately...recently my husband gave me a "talking to" about reducing my discretionary spending. He said we weren't broke, but we're not rich either and we need to be more mindful of where we put our money. I get that, and I agree with it.

The thing is, I know I need to reduce my spending but I always find some way to justify it. For instance, I lost 30 pounds and a lot of my clothes stopped fitting me...they looked very baggy and unsightly, and some were so big they'd look unprofessional at the workplace. I sold them to an online cosignment, or have donated some and we'll get a tax write-off. If it's not that, then I justify it by saying I'm updating my wardrobe because I'm over 30 and a lot of the items in my closet wouldn't be appropriate for me to keep wearing anymore. Whatever it is, I always seem to find a way to justify it by saying "I'm buying it cheap."

It's still a problem because I am still spending money. I took some time to think about why I'm doing it, and I think it's because I'm trying to fulfill an emotional need. I don't have a lot of friends, I don't have any female friends who I could hang out and spend time with. My life is basically going to school, taking care of errands, looking for a new job, spending time with my husband, and health care.

Does anyone else ever have this problem? What did you do to catch yourself when you were out at a store and thought "oh, that would be so nice to have"? I've thought of asking myself, do I NEED it or do I just want to get it on impulse? Asking myself that question doesn't always work because I always find a way to use whatever I'm buying lol. It's kind of pathetic, and I need some pointers.