By Daniel Wallis Dec 18 (Reuters) – A Washington-based journalist has sued St. Louis County and one of its police lieutenants, saying his rights were violated when he was arrested while covering protests over the killing of an unarmed black teenager by a white police officer in Ferguson, court papers showed. Gerald Yingst, a reporter and producer with News2Share, also accuses police of defaming him by announcing his arrest on Twitter and saying he had refused a commander’s order to clear the street, damaging his professional reputation. A St. Louis Police Department spokesman referred enquires about the lawsuit to the St. Louis County counselor’s office. No one answered calls placed there on Thursday evening. Yingst was one of two people detained …

By Daniel Wallis

Dec 18 (Reuters) – A Washington-based journalist has sued St. Louis County and one of its police lieutenants, saying his rights were violated when he was arrested while covering protests over the killing of an unarmed black teenager by a white police officer in Ferguson, court papers showed.

Gerald Yingst, a reporter and producer with News2Share, also accuses police of defaming him by announcing his arrest on Twitter and saying he had refused a commander’s order to clear the street, damaging his professional reputation.

A St. Louis Police Department spokesman referred enquires about the lawsuit to the St. Louis County counselor’s office. No one answered calls placed there on Thursday evening.

Yingst was one of two people detained on Nov. 22 during one of the nightly protests outside the Ferguson police department as a grand jury mulled whether to charge Darren Wilson with the shooting death in August of 18-year-old Michael Brown.

The grand jury eventually declined to indict the officer, prompting two days of violent demonstrations in the St. Louis suburb, as well as wider protests and national soul-searching over policing.

Yingst’s lawsuit, filed on Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Missouri, names St. Louis Police Lieutenant James Vollmer as a defendant and says he is being sued in his individual capacity. It also sues St. Louis County for allegedly failing to train and supervise Vollmer, and for defamation.

The lawsuit says Yingst was standing on the sidewalk outside the police headquarters, recording attempts by officers to clear protesters from the street, when Vollmer allegedly pointed at Yingst and told a group of patrolmen to “lock him up.”

Protesters and other reporters standing alongside Yingst on the sidewalk were not arrested, it said. “No reasonable officer would have believed that Defendant Vollmer had probable cause to cause Yingst’s arrest,” the lawsuit added.

Shortly afterward, the police department tweeted, using the journalist’s official Twitter handle: “@TreyYingst reporter from D.C. taken into custody for failure to disperse. Was asked to leave street by the commander and refused. #Ferguson.”

The lawsuit, which was filed for Yingst by attorneys from the American Civil Liberties Union, accuses the county of publicly disclosing information that it knew to be false, and of harming the reporter’s professional reputation in the process. (Reporting by Daniel Wallis in Denver; Editing by Mohammad Zargham)

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Journalist Sues After Being Detained Covering Ferguson Protests

ST. LOUIS — Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster on Thursday filed a lawsuit against 13 St. Louis County municipalities, alleging they violate a Missouri law that limits revenue from traffic fines and court fees. Koster, a Democrat, said reports he requested from municipalities across the suburban county showed a pattern of substandard accounting and excessive collection of revenue from “predatory traffic tickets.” Five of the municipalities failed to file annual reports with the state auditor. Municipal courts in St. Louis County have come under scrutiny since the police killing of Michael Brown in August in Ferguson, which was not among the towns named …

ST. LOUIS — Missouri Attorney General Chris Koster on Thursday filed a lawsuit against 13 St. Louis County municipalities, alleging they violate a Missouri law that limits revenue from traffic fines and court fees.

Koster, a Democrat, said reports he requested from municipalities across the suburban county showed a pattern of substandard accounting and excessive collection of revenue from “predatory traffic tickets.” Five of the municipalities failed to file annual reports with the state auditor.

Municipal courts in St. Louis County have come under scrutiny since the police killing of Michael Brown in August in Ferguson, which was not among the towns named in the lawsuit. Subsequent protests highlighted the broken relationship between police officers and the communities they serve. Some have complained that aggressive police enforcement of traffic laws disproportionately targets people of color.

Missouri’s Macks Creek Law, passed in 1995 and later updated, caps traffic fine revenue at 30 percent of a municipality’s budget. Any revenue exceeding the cap is supposed to be given to state schools. But many municipalities are ignoring the law, Koster said.

“The Macks Creek Law was enacted to protect Missourians from predatory traffic tickets. This problem has been felt nowhere more acutely than North St. Louis County,” Koster said.

The Rev. Starsky Wilson, chair of the Ferguson Commission, an independent panel created after Brown’s killing to study the causes and solutions to inequality and unrest, said the local courts have been a frequent topic at his group’s meetings.

“People in our meetings shared their tales of difficult times in courts, including feeling they were preyed upon by the courts, feeling they were supporting a system that oppressed them, and expressing pain because they felt like their system should protect and care for them,” Wilson said.

Rich McClure, co-chair of the Ferguson Commission, said St. Louis County has 22 percent of Missouri’s population, but its municipal courts collect 44 percent of the state’s traffic fines. “Based on what we’re hearing from our community, we will be relentless about municipal court reform,” McClure said at the news conference. “We will not let this die. We will not back down.”

Koster’s lawsuit asks that the 13 municipalities lose jurisdiction over traffic offenses until they comply with the law and be ordered to obey the law in the future.

Losing traffic fine revenue could knock a huge hole in the budgets of most of the municipalities. Koster said his goal was not to “destabilize” the communities, but to make them comply with the law.

People of the St.Louis region have complained about the court system for years. When asked why it took his office until now to take action, Koster responded, “I have been late in coming as well as the importance of the Macks Creek Law. The Ferguson situation raised it up to our attention.”

Koster said it also had been unclear who should enforce the law. “Given the concerns we’ve heard out of the community in Ferguson, out of the Better Together project, and out of the Ferguson Commission, we thought it was appropriate for our office to step into this grey area and take leadership in this and see to it that all these municipalities come into compliance,” said Koster.

See the article here – 

Missouri Attorney General Sues Municipalities Over ‘Predatory’ Traffic Fines

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit Thursday against a school district that serves children in Ferguson, Missouri, claiming that the election process for the district’s school board puts local black voters at a disadvantage. The Ferguson-Florissant School District, located in the greater St. Louis area, uses an at-large system to elect the members of its school board. The federal lawsuit claims that this system dilutes the black vote, causing blacks to be underrepresented on the board. Seventy-seven percent of the district’s students are black, but only one of the seven board members is. Ferguson and the surrounding towns have gained worldwide attention in …

The American Civil Liberties Union filed a lawsuit Thursday against a school district that serves children in Ferguson, Missouri, claiming that the election process for the district’s school board puts local black voters at a disadvantage.

The Ferguson-Florissant School District, located in the greater St. Louis area, uses an at-large system to elect the members of its school board. The federal lawsuit claims that this system dilutes the black vote, causing blacks to be underrepresented on the board. Seventy-seven percent of the district’s students are black, but only one of the seven board members is.

Ferguson and the surrounding towns have gained worldwide attention in recent months following the shooting death of Michael Brown, an unarmed black teen, in August. After Brown was killed by Ferguson police Officer Darren Wilson, there were widespread protests in the area and the district delayed the start of school by more than a week. In November, after it was announced that a grand jury would not indict Wilson for Brown’s death, the district again canceled classes in the face of renewed protests.

The ACLU lawsuit was filed on behalf of the Missouri NAACP and the district’s black residents, according to an ACLU press release. The complaint charges that the at-large voting system violates the Voting Rights Act, as it “impermissibly denies African-American voters an equal opportunity to participate in the political process and to elect representatives of their choice.”

While more than three-fourths of the district’s students are black, the area’s voting-age population is majority-white. The ACLU suit contends that the district’s at-large system results in the black vote getting drowned out. It calls for a new system where the district is broken down into sub-regions, each of which would elect one person to the district school board.

“Elected officials in the Ferguson-Florissant School District have not been responsive to the particularized needs of the African-American community,” the complaint reads. “For example, the Board has been insufficiently attentive to issues of educational equity facing African-American students in the District.”

When asked for comment about the lawsuit, a spokesperson for the district told The Huffington Post: “The Ferguson-Florissant School District is reviewing the lawsuit filed today by the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU). We hope to issue a statement in the near future.”

The district was created in 1975 through a desegregation order, and encompasses a number of neighborhoods by design. Still, decades later, the district remains effectively segregated.

The ACLU complaint also addresses recent protests in the area, and what it identifies as extreme, militarized police measures.

“There is also a significant lack of responsiveness to the needs of the African-American community on the part of other local government officials,” it says. “These protests were triggered by a number of events following the shooting that signaled local officials’ disregard for the needs of Ferguson’s African-American residents, including the police department’s initial refusal and delay in releasing the name of the shooting officer; and the police department’s excessive response to peaceful protesters, including the use of tear gas, armored vehicles, assault rifles, and military uniforms.”

Continued – 

ACLU Lawsuit Says Ferguson School District Discriminates Against African-Americans

When Eric Garner was held in a chokehold on Staten Island on July 17, 2014, by New York City police officer Daniel Panteleo, he yelled 11 times, “I can’t breathe.” The medical examiner’s office ruled Garner’s death a homicide caused by “compression of the neck (chokehold), compression of the chest and being forced to lie in a prone position during physical restraint by police.” A Staten Island grand jury decided not to indict officer Panteleo or any of the other officers present that day and did not hold them responsible for the chokehold death of Eric Garner. Those who caused his death are free to live without facing any charges. Eric Garner’s last words ring loudly in our memory: “I…

When Eric Garner was held in a chokehold on Staten Island on July 17, 2014, by New York City police officer Daniel Panteleo, he yelled 11 times, “I can’t breathe.” The medical examiner’s office ruled Garner’s death a homicide caused by “compression of the neck (chokehold), compression of the chest and being forced to lie in a prone position during physical restraint by police.”

A Staten Island grand jury decided not to indict officer Panteleo or any of the other officers present that day and did not hold them responsible for the chokehold death of Eric Garner. Those who caused his death are free to live without facing any charges. Eric Garner’s last words ring loudly in our memory: “I can’t breathe.”

“I can’t breathe” has become a slogan for the people, led by young African Americans, who have taken to social media and the streets to protest the killing of unarmed African Americans, challenging a system that fails to indict and calling for greater equality.

African Americans have a degree of freedom but not equality. There is still a long road ahead to achieve equality for all those who are not white. As long as some Americans inherit advantages from institutions — banks, schools, housing and health care — others will inherit disadvantages.

The dying words of Eric Garner symbolize our situation. “I can’t breathe” speaks from the grave and describes the circumstances faced by many who are being choked by a system that treats different races and classes of people unequally.

When the banks of black and brown homeowners drove them into foreclosure, we couldn’t breathe.

When inner-city hospital trauma units are closed to those without insurance and the poor are denied access to Medicaid, we can’t breathe.

When inner-city residents are denied access to public transportation to get to where the jobs are, we can’t breathe.

When inner-city schools have a lower tax base to support public education but students have to take the same exams as suburban kids with a stronger tax base, we can’t breathe.

When they changed the formula on PLUS loans loans, poor and black parents couldn’t breathe.

When student-loan debt is greater than credit-card debt, students can’t breathe.

When corporations we support will not advertise with black media, black-owned media can’t breathe.

When Silicon Valley locks us out of boards and corporate suites and locks us out of employment, contracts and entrepreneurial investments, even though we disproportionately use their products, we can’t breathe.

When banks cut off lending and investment to African Americans, they cut off our breath; but the government gave failing banks oxygen tanks with no obligation to help those who paid for the oxygen.

As inequality persists, many are left in the dark, desperate for life and breath. Sometimes in the darkness we turn on each other rather than to each other. To restore our breath we need an investment in equal justice. The “gatekeepers” — the police — can’t sidetrack us when what is needed is a development plan to offset inequality.

The police are the “gatekeepers” in our judicial system, where, too often, police profile, judges have their hands bound by unfair mandatory-sentencing laws, and jails exist for profit. Police initiate the process of racial profiling and then go to court to prove guilt. Suddenly the cost of proving innocence, often without costly legal representation, causes one to spend years in pretrial detention. The time spent in jail and crimes committed do not correspond for the poor. Private prisons use prison labor to make money and politically disenfranchise their captives. Some 5.8 million ex-felons can’t vote. The journey from profiling to extensive prison time to political disenfranchisement is a tortuous journey.

As we recognize the institutional inequalities in our system, we must transform the conversation and the agenda from “freedom” to “equal opportunity” to “equality.” As people march around the nation crying out against these disparities, we must put focus on the 85 richest people in the world who have as much wealth as the 3.5 billion poorest. From consciousness raising because of consistent acts of injustice, we must go from demonstration to enforcement of just laws (e.g., EEOC) to needed new legislation. We also need a budget and an investment to even the playing field. If, on a football field, blacks had to run 12 yards for a first down because of racial or class profiling, and whites had to run only eight yards for a first down because of inherited white advantage, everyone would see the white advantage and the black disadvantage and no one would consider that “equal.” Yet, economically, that is precisely where African Americans and other minorities find themselves: inheritors of historic disadvantage.

Injustice leads to chaos, which strokes abnormal behavior. We do not merely need a conversation about racial unevenness. A conversation can reveal but will not fix the racial disparities. We need a plan, goals, targets, timetables, adequate taxes and an investment budget. The Kerner Commission Report had an action plan and a call for adequate taxes in order to make an unprecedented investment in our people so that we can overcome the disparities and achieve economic justice. For Roosevelt it was a New Deal, for Kennedy it was Profiles in Courage and support for civil rights, and for Johnson it was a Great Society, a War on Poverty and economic opportunity.

President Obama must put forth a plan that will challenge Congress and the country on the advantages of justice and the high cost and disadvantage of injustice. If we are to be true to the American promise of equal protection and equal opportunity in the Preamble of our Constitution, this must be done. Fifty years ago we were fighting for freedom. Now we have achieved a degree of social freedom but not economic equality.

All people have the right to breathe. All have the right to education and medical care. We cannot allow an unequal system to suck our breath away. Breath is life.

The inscription on the Statue of Liberty affirms the importance of breathing in creating a United States where diversity is honored, all receive justice and equality reigns. “Give me your tired, your poor, your huddled masses, yearning to breathe free. The wretched refuse of your teeming shore. Send these, the homeless, tempest tossed to me. I lift my lamp beside the golden door.” Breathing is deeply rooted in what Americans claim and who we aspire to be.

The vision of the United States is that all people have a right to breathe free whether they are born poor or rich; black, white or brown; male or female. Yet too many of our citizens struggle to breathe free when their breath is taken away with the disparities. The police are among the gatekeepers who control the flow of oxygen.

We are approaching Dec. 21, the darkest night, the winter solstice. We must recognize the source of the darkness in our lives, which is imposed by those who design and impose systems and structures of inequality.

In light and in darkness, many of our sisters and brothers stand in solidarity with signs that read “I can’t breathe” at worldwide rallies and demonstrations and in other public venues. Christians in our country and around the world also look to the celebration of Christmas — a day of light and life, possibility and hope. In these dark times Christmas reminds us that it is the Spirit of God who gives us breath and gives us life. We need to share the light and life with others so that we can all continue to work for freedom, justice and equality.

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‘I Can’t Breathe’: Eric Garner’s Last Words Symbolize Our Predicament

Congratulations go out to these newlyweds! Ashlee Simpson and Evan Ross are expecting their first child, E! News reports. Us Weekly confirmed the news as well. This will be the first child for the couple, but the second for Simpson, who has a 6-year-old son, Bronx, with ex-husband Pete Wentz. The Huffington Post has reached out to the pair’s reps for a comment on the baby news. Simpson, 30, and Ross, 26, tied the knot in a private ceremony on Aug. 30 at the Connecticut home of the groom’s mother, singer Diana Ross. The actor told E! at the “Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1” premiere in November that he…

Congratulations go out to these newlyweds!

Ashlee Simpson and Evan Ross are expecting their first child, E! News reports. Us Weekly confirmed the news as well. This will be the first child for the couple, but the second for Simpson, who has a 6-year-old son, Bronx, with ex-husband Pete Wentz.

The Huffington Post has reached out to the pair’s reps for a comment on the baby news.

Simpson, 30, and Ross, 26, tied the knot in a private ceremony on Aug. 30 at the Connecticut home of the groom’s mother, singer Diana Ross. The actor told E! at the “Hunger Games: Mockingjay – Part 1” premiere in November that he was keen on starting a family with Simpson.

“We’re working on it,” Ross said. “I would like it. As many as possible!”

Cheers to the happy family!

More here:

Ashlee Simpson Pregnant With Second Child

If you’re struggling with what to get your Reddit-obsessed friends for the holidays this year, maybe it’s time to admit who you are and go all in on Internet jokes. You don’t even need to create your own. Many of the Internet memes you already love have been transformed into everything from clothing to gadgets, thanks to the creative types at Etsy and Zazzle. Don’t be embarrassed to go full-on nerd with your more casual friends either. Memes were everywhere this year. Even your mom and dad surely remember #AlexFromTarget and Pharrell’s hat?

If you’re struggling with what to get your Reddit-obsessed friends for the holidays this year, maybe it’s time to admit who you are and go all in on Internet jokes.

You don’t even need to create your own. Many of the Internet memes you already love have been transformed into everything from clothing to gadgets, thanks to the creative types at Etsy and Zazzle.

Don’t be embarrassed to go full-on nerd with your more casual friends either. Memes were everywhere this year. Even your mom and dad surely remember #AlexFromTarget and Pharrell’s hat?

Jump to original:

13 Totes Adorbs Gifts For Your Internet-Obsessed Frenz

Growing up poor can affect a child’s behavior and school performance. Research has found that the brains of students from poverty-stricken environments can even function differently than those of their more affluent peers, due to developments that inhibit the poorer children’s ability to problem-solve and pay attention. However, a group of researchers from the University of Texas at Dallas think they have found a way to counteract some of these issues, helping bring low-income adolescents up to speed with their more affluent peers. A research team led by Dr. Jacquelyn Gamino worked with a group of over 900 middle school-aged adolescents from various socioeconomic backgrounds in the Dallas area to try and …

Growing up poor can affect a child’s behavior and school performance. Research has found that the brains of students from poverty-stricken environments can even function differently than those of their more affluent peers, due to developments that inhibit the poorer children’s ability to problem-solve and pay attention.

However, a group of researchers from the University of Texas at Dallas think they have found a way to counteract some of these issues, helping bring low-income adolescents up to speed with their more affluent peers.

A research team led by Dr. Jacquelyn Gamino worked with a group of over 900 middle school-aged adolescents from various socioeconomic backgrounds in the Dallas area to try and determine the impact of a specific learning intervention on these students. The students were split into two groups: students who participated in the cognitive intervention program and those who did not.

Students who received the cognitive intervention designed by the University of Texas at Dallas’ Center for BrainHealth completed 10 different 45-minute sessions in the course of a month. During these sessions, students completed group interactive exercises and written activities, with the aim of teaching them how to extract main ideas from text and analyze that information. The students also took pre and post-intervention exams.

“It’s really the cognitive steps you and I take quite naturally to understand information and get to the big picture. We walk [students] concretely through various stages,” Gamino said. “We start by helping them focus on what’s most important by deleting what’s least important, we help them chunk information … get them to think at a higher level.”

After completing the cognitive training, Gamino told The Huffington Post that “kids in poverty showed as much improvement in them, even though they started out lower than kids not in poverty, which is good news.” A paper recently published in the journal Frontiers in Human Neuroscience outlines the results of the study.

She continued, “A lot of research is showing that kids raised in poverty — their brains are not developing at the same rate as kids not in poverty, potentially due to environment, stress level, etc. … [Research showed that] kids in poverty who had deficits going in could overcome deficits.”

Gamino said that the steps taken in the cognitive intervention could easily be integrated into a normal school setting in a way that she believes would benefit all students — regardless of socioeconomic background. The study notes that the researchers conducted the interventions amid an educational backdrop where “assessment frequently requires merely a regurgitation of facts” and “students are often more focused on memorizing huge quantities of information, rather than contemplating meaning.”

Gamino said the team specifically decided to target seventh- and eighth-grade students because it is an age where the brain is still capable of rewiring — especially in regards to the frontal lobe, which is the last area of the brain to develop. The frontal lobe is the part of the brain that helps regulate decision making, control and problem-solving.

However, Gamino said that the cognitive interventions seemed to impact female and male students differently. Although seventh- and eighth-grade girls showed significant improvement on assessments after participating in the interventions, only eighth-grade boys did the same. Gamino said results may be due to the fact that boys are thought to develop later than girls.

“I think we all know people who are very immature, who make bad decisions and don’t control their emotions. They haven’t developed the ability to use their frontal lobe to the full potential,” Gamino said. “The more we know from neuroscience, the more we know we can activate certain parts of our brain to make those connections become stronger. We have kids doing pen-and-paper tasks that help them use their frontal lobe.”

The team now wants to expand the data they’ve collected by seeing where these kids end up over time and how they perform on subsequent standardized tests, according to a press release about the research.

Original article:  

Researchers Think They Have Found A Way To Help Close The Achievement Gap

An unnamed producer wrote in an email to Sony chairman Michael Lynton that films with black actors — using Denzel Washington in The Equalizer as an example — don’t perform well because the international audiences are “racist,” according to documents found in the Sony hack.

An unnamed producer wrote in an email to Sony chairman Michael Lynton that films with black actors — using Denzel Washington in The Equalizer as an example — don’t perform well because the international audiences are “racist,” according to documents found in the Sony hack.

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Sony Producer Says Black Actors Shouldn’t Have Lead Roles Because International Audiences Are Racist

It’s the holiday season, and you know what that means: It’s time to talk strategy. No, not the kind that will help you beat out the throngs of crazed shoppers to score the best deals on this year’s hottest gifts. We’re talking about a strategy session to help you kick the not-so-stellar shopping habits you may have built up over the years — and adopt some savvier ones instead. And although everyone could probably benefit from a smart-spending lesson or two, today, we’re talking to you 20-somethings. While you haven’t had all that much time as an adult to establish your shopping routines and habits, you’ve had enough time to start developing some. To make sure …

It’s the holiday season, and you know what that means: It’s time to talk strategy.

No, not the kind that will help you beat out the throngs of crazed shoppers to score the best deals on this year’s hottest gifts.

We’re talking about a strategy session to help you kick the not-so-stellar shopping habits you may have built up over the years — and adopt some savvier ones instead.

And although everyone could probably benefit from a smart-spending lesson or two, today, we’re talking to you 20-somethings. While you haven’t had all that much time as an adult to establish your shopping routines and habits, you’ve had enough time to start developing some.

To make sure you’re setting yourself up for financial success in the decades to come, we rounded up five money experts to share their top shopping tips for reforming the most common bad consumer habits.

Bad Habit #1: Debt-Financing Your “Wants”
Think back to when you were in high school. You probably couldn’t help but play the comparison game — or run out to blow your allowance on the coolest new gadgets the second that the popular kids bought theirs.

Hey, we’re not judging. This mentality is normal, says Michael McCall, an Ithaca College consumer psychology professor and expert on spending patterns and debt. “Historically, people have always wanted what they can’t afford,” he says.

But this becomes a real problem when you continue to habitually indulge such “keeping up with the Joneses”-style patterns into your 20s, falling into a cycle of debt in the process — a bad habit with big financial consequences.

“At this point in your life, you don’t want to take on any more debt or go into a marriage with too much of it,” McCall says. “Debt is now preventing people from achieving milestones in their 30s, like becoming homeowners.”

So this is precisely why your 20s are prime time to nix this habit in favor of a more future-oriented financial mind-set — before you hit your high-earning years and start dreaming of such major money goals as starting a family.

Which brings us to the cardinal rule of shopping to adopt right now: If you haven’t budgeted for a “want” or can’t comfortably tap your weekly flexible spending account to pay for it, don’t buy it — regardless of who else is sporting it.

Your not-so-distant future self will thank you.

RELATED: 3 Recovered Debtors Confess: How I Dug Out of Debt — and Stayed That Way

Bad Habit #2: Succumbing to Sales Deals
It doesn’t matter whether you’re scouting out home goods, hardware or food — hitting up the store without a game plan can be a risky move because strategically placed clearance items, buy-one-get-one deals and glittery “extras” can tempt you into purchasing more than you really need.

And in addition to potentially busting that air-tight budget you’ve defined, stylist Anna Akbari, founder of the Sociology of Style, warns that there’s another downside to letting your impulses get the best of you in the sale section, especially when it comes to clothes shopping.

“Often, impulse sale purchases don’t become your go-to pieces,” she says. “Or, worse yet, you purchase something without it being a proper fit, so you either feel guilty for not wearing it or don’t feel confident when you do.”

Bottom line: It’s not a deal if you never end up using it.

So before you even hit the stores, come prepared with a list of what you really need to buy — rather than what your eye spots on the racks — and get in the habit of sticking to this practice, says Jon Lal, a spending expert and founder of BeFrugal.com.

In fact, “spending your time planning a purchase means you can search for coupons and sales [on what you want] before you buy,” he says. This means you can sniff out just the deals you want, rather than letting the “half off!” tags control your wallet.

RELATED: Discount Deception: The Sneaky Truth Behind Store Sales

Bad Habit #3: The “Buy What I Need Now” Mentality
Most people wait until they run out of a household item — paper towels, cleaning supplies, toothpaste — before restocking their cabinets. But this practice can actually lead you to overpay in the long run, says consumer products expert Kasey Trenum, author of “Couponing for the Rest of Us.”

A better shopping strategy, Trenum suggests, is to plan your shopping list a couple of months out.

“Buy eight to ten weeks’ worth of items that your family regularly uses when they are on sale, and with a coupon if possible,” she says, noting that the three-month timespan is the typical sale cycle. So by the time you run out of those supplies, you can restock — at a discount.

“By doing this, you can easily save half off retail prices,” Trenum adds.

Bad Habit #4: Letting Emotions Dictate Your Choices
People have a tendency to treat themselves by shopping when something good happens in their lives… or when something bad occurs. Or they’re bored. Or depressed. O.K., for some, almost any emotion is a good reason to shop.

But before you turn 30, it’s time to find smarter ways to reward yourself — and handle negative emotions — that don’t involve wasting your hard-earned cash because your troubles (and stress levels) won’t disappear as you age.

“Treat impulse purchases the same way you would an indulgent snack or dessert when you’re following a healthy eating plan, and give yourself a set amount of time to make sure you really want to indulge,” says Lal. “For example, step away from the item for an hour or two, then reconsider if it’s a purchase you are making because you really want it — or if it’s simply a quick fix to better your mood.”

This isn’t to say you can never indulge — you just have to be smart about it. Lal recommends setting aside a small amount of money each month into a savings account that you can tap guilt-free whenever you want to engage in a little retail therapy. This way, you’re not really overspending — you’re dipping into savings that you’ve already budgeted for.

RELATED: 8 Emotions That Can Sabotage Your Finances

Bad Habit #5: Not Investing in Basics
Here’s a motto for you: “When in doubt, invest in staples.”

It’s one of Akbari’s favorite mantras for budget-conscious shopping because while basics aren’t always the most fun to shop for, they will stand the test of time, as opposed to the trendy finds you’ll pay to update every year.

For both women and men, Akbari suggests investing in three key staples. The first is nice denim: dark, fitted and not too distressed. “You can wear them nearly every day and no one will notice,” she says, adding that you can expect to pay upward of $200, but nice Levi’s can run for under $100.

Second, you need sturdy and attractive outerwear, and you should expect to pay at least $300. “It’s what people see you in a huge percentage of the time when it’s cold,” she says. “[Plus], it’s worth it to invest in good construction and high-quality fabric.”

Finally, invest in black boots. “It’s likely you’ll wear them more often than not half the year, and if you care for them properly, they can last for years,” Akbari says. “Watch for sales, and you may be able to snag an off-season pair for cheap, but prices typically range between $250 and $400.”

Can’t live without a little flair? Play with your accessories. “Patterned hosiery, a studded belt, glasses with colored frames — these subtle pops are usually more cost-effective than bigger items, especially since you can still use the same neutral base,” Akbari says.

And this good shopping habit isn’t just reserved for clothes. You can apply it to other purchases, like home décor. For example, you can buy neutral furniture, pillows and bedding, says Akbari, and then incorporate floral arrangements, accent plants or a colorful throw to add a visual point of interest.

RELATED: Renter’s Guide to Renovations: Are These 7 Common Upgrades Worth Doing?

Bad Habit #6: Ignoring Seasonality at the Grocery
It can be hard to resist the urge to stock up on goodies like strawberries in the winter — even though they cost twice as much and taste half as good. But such instant gratification isn’t worth it for your taste buds, your budget — or even your health.

“Produce is always cheapest when you shop in season, especially if you can buy locally grown produce,” says Maura White, a deals pro at Savings.com. “If the produce doesn’t have to travel far to the store to get into your hands, it cuts the cost.”

Bonus: Fruits and vegetables lose nutrients once they’ve been picked, giving you another reason to avoid off-season produce that traveled halfway around the world before hitting your store’s shelves.

There are certain foods you can buy year-round: potatoes, apples, carrots, lettuce and mushrooms, for example. But these produce favorites are better bought seasonally: butternut squash and pears in the fall, kale and pomegranate in winter, corn and green beans in spring, and berries in summer.

RELATED: Grocery Budget Clinic: 6 Hacks for Smarter Meal Planning

Bad Habit #7: Buying Big-Ticket Items Year-Round
Want to save hundreds — maybe thousands — on expensive purchases, like appliances, winterwear and even gym memberships? In the same way that you should scout produce deals by season at the grocery, Trenum says scoring discounts on big-ticket items is as easy as familiarizing yourself with seasonal sale cycles.

For example, winter coats and outerwear typically go on super sale in February, since stores need to make space for lighter spring jackets. And September is an ideal month to buy outdoor furniture — at 50-75 percent off regular price! — since colder weather is about to roll in.

Saving up for a particular purchase and want to know the best time to buy? Scope out sales with resources like DealNews, which curates the best deals in various categories year-round and frequently publishes month-by-month buying guides.

Bad Habit #8: Scoffing at Renting
The outdated belief that buying is always better than renting is just that — outdated.

These days, you can opt to rent a number of pricey luxury goods — art, sporting equipment, fancy outfits and even jewelry — for a specific period of time, rather than blowing your budget on a single-use purchase.

“The items we [use] every day are the ones worth investing in — far more so than special-occasion pieces,” Akbari says.

So while paying $100 to rent a gown for your cousin’s black-tie wedding or skis for your upcoming winter getaway may seem like you’re throwing money away, a pricey purchase that sits in your house unused is even more of a waste.

Sites like RenttheRunway and BagBorrowOrSteal offer high-end clothing and accessory rentals for when you need a red-carpet-worthy outfit but don’t want to pay the accompanying price tag. Others, like Spinlister, let you rent such items as bikes and surfboards from other people.

For the go-to items you use every day, Lal says it’s wise to spring for higher quality — even if it means paying more up front. When you spend a little more on a nicer item — say, a pair of well-crafted winter boots — they’ll last longer than a cheaper, lower-quality item that you’ll need to replace before next season. “Over time, this will actually save you money because you’re shopping smarter,” Lal says.

Bad Habit #9: Falling for Online Shopping Deals
Fact: It’s really easy to spend money online. From daily newsletters that lure you in with coupon codes to flash-sale sites tempting you with today-only deals, scoring an amazing “get” is just a click away.

There’s no doubt these digital deals have their advantages — if you’re in the market for a particular item.

“But if you were living without an item before you knew about an online deal for it, you will continue to live without it — and have more money to use for perhaps wiser purposes,” White says.

Now, we’re not suggesting you forgo the convenience of online shopping. But if you just can’t combat the allure of instant shopping gratification, it’s time to opt out — before the thrill gets the best of your budget.

Start by unsubscribing from newsletters, and removing your payment information from your favorite sites — so you won’t be tempted to mindlessly shop.

While these tiny moves may not feel like they’re having a big impact now, kicking these types of habits while you’re young will pave the way for smart spending down the road — allowing you to reap the benefits of having more cash for future money goals. Your 40-year-old self will thank you.

RELATED: The Shopping Embargo: My Annual, 8-Week Buying Fast

This post originally appeared on LearnVest.

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9 Bad Shopping Habits You Should Ditch by 30