Fictional heroine Annie Valentine knows a thing or two about style. She shares her top tips to give you a fabulous wardrobe on a budget

Babes, having worked as a personal shopper for longer than I even want to think about there are thousands of things I could tell you about shopping for clothes and looking great.

OK, it's a recession, so time to be a recessionista. Less is more. We're going to buy less, own less and spend a lot less time shopping. Alright?

First off, nearly all the women who come to me for advice have far too many clothes and they spend far too much time shopping. You don't believe me, do you? But it's true!

There is no use shuffling off to the shops every weekend and coming back with one or two cheap bits hoping this will transform you into Angelina Jolie. No, this makes you Imelda Marcos, darlin'. She may have owned one thousand pairs of shoes but she looked like a little oink oink in all of them.

We don't have bottomless bank accounts, so we are going to be much smarter shoppers. We are going to sort through our wardrobes BEFORE we shop. No more coming back, bags bulging, to realise we already have most of the things we've just bought.

From now on, we are going to go clothes shopping four... well, maybe eight, OK ten, times a year - with a LIST, with a plan and eeeeek, with a budget. Yes a budget. It's taken me some time to get the hang of a budget, but believe me girl, if I can, you can.

So, you're going to look at your annual income and work out what you can afford to spend on clothes in a year. Be honest babes, there's no point owning five slinky dresses if you can't afford the heating, not to mention the mortgage, the holiday, the car insurance, the groceries and everything else life requires.

Let's say you come up with a figure of £700 for the year. I know, darlin', it sounds bad. But, bear with me. You have to. We all have to. This is the credit crunch, doll, we have to stick to our budgets and stay within our means. Anyone who's lucky enough to still have a credit card is not allowed to max it. And at 16 per cent interest, you'd be flipping MAD.

Less is going to have to be more.

OK, so you take your annual budget and you divide it in two: Spring/ Summer and Autumn/ Winter. Summer clothes are cheaper, so let's say £250 for S/S and £450 for winter.

Stop panicking! You do not need to buy a whole new wardrobe for that! No one needs to start from scratch unless they've been in a house fire (think of the insurance money) or they're Susan from the X-factor.

You do not, repeat, DO NOT splurge your entire budget on a designer dress for a fancy event. That is a fashion crime! I know girls who blow £900 on some mint green Versace number they wear once. ONCE. Then it hangs in the cupboard while they wear ratty old coats from New Look every day of the winter.

You will do this the other way round, babes. You can blow £400 on a superb coat that you wear for FIVE winters in a row, saving you loads of money, then you go to Primart for the Versace-a-like plunging number, because who cares if it falls apart after opening night?

Now, stop thinking about what you'll be blowing your budget on and pay attention. Before you spend one penny, you are going to go through your Spring/Summer or Autumn/ Winter wardrobe (yes, it is important to sort your stuff out like this, you can't wear black boots and black jackets all summer, even if you do live in Britain).

You're going to resuscitate as much in there as you possibly can. Stains? Treat them. Repairs? Do them. Would a higher hem work? Some beading? Could you dye that blouse a brighter colour? Cobalt blue? Fuchsia? Would new ear-rings perk it up? Sometimes new hair can make everything in the wardrobe look better.

Wash, iron, hang or fold every single precious item properly. Even your scarves. Make it look just as tempting as a lovely shop in there. It is a shop, your own personal shop where everything inside fits and suits you, so love what's there already.

OK. Now bags and shoes. Round them up, babes, slap on the Amy Winehouse because they're all gonna go to re-hab. You are going to wax, cream, nourish and polish that leather, brush, clean and spray that suede. There will be re-heeling, there will be crushed tissue paper stuffing. Rebuild your broken relationships here, remember how much you LOVED these darlings when you first got them. Cherish, respect and you will get the love back.

If you've splurged, you must treasure! Spray those shoes every time you wear them, put them on shoe trees and let them recover. Do not put your packed lunch and flask into your Mulberry. Are you out of your mind? Carry that bag on your arm or in your lap like a newborn baby.

You need the right clothes for your life: if you's an office girl you need gorgeous office clothes. If you's a home worker, you need fantabulousa jeans. If you never go to weddings, then why the flaming heck have you got ten wedding outfits and ten blooming feathery hats in there? To eBay, the money goes to your wardrobe budget. To a charity shop and the money goes to people who need it much, much more than you do.

Mix it up in that old wardrobe. Try some new combinations out. I love purple with yellow, brown with pink, posh jackets and jeans, old dresses with bright new leggings. Get all your clothes out and mess them about like a real stylist.

Only when you are absolutely sure you need something new... and it's going to go with at least FOUR things you already have, are you allowed to go out and spend with your budget money. Take it in cash babes, that way you'll be clever. You'll say: 'ooooh, if I buy the one that's £35 pounds instead of £40, I'll be able to get that darlin' little necklace as well'. Instead of just lobbing everything into your basket and handing over your card.

Try Oxfam. Seriously. Last time I was in there I saw a perfect suede mini and an Ugg handbag, a fiver each! You work hard for your money, girl, don't let it slip through your fingers.

Think quality, quality, quality! Yes you can shop on the high street, but only for things that are well made. If it falls apart after the first wash, rips when you sit down or bobbles on the first wear. Take it back!

No more wandering round the shops just 'to look'. If you look, you will blooming well find! I know this because I hang the stuff up to make it look so blooming gorgeous you are practically committing hari blooming kiri in the changing room at the thought of not owning it.

Get some new hobbies. Go to some interesting places where you can wear your fabulous new re-susced and re-habed outfits: art galleries, cafes, bookshops, restaurants - with all that money you saved on shopping you can treat yourself.

Because you're not shopping every weekend, you can visit some of those people you never have 'time' to see. Enjoy their compliments at the lovely new you.

Shopping is not the thing. Looking gorgeous is the thing.

Spending all your time shopping is a bit sad, spending all your time looking irresistibly fabulous is fantastic!

Carmen Reid's How Not To Shop, starring Annie Valentine, is out in August (Corgi £6.99). Find out more at www.carmenreid.com.