So one of my New Year's Resolutions was to give up shopping for clothes/shoes/purses for the month of January. I know, what a sacrifice, right? But for those who know me, it really was a challenge. I even visited one of the country's biggest malls during my trip to Arizona, with an amazing H&M (and post-Christmas sales!). There were times I thought I would cave and buy something, but because no one believed I could go a month without new clothes, I wanted to prove myself. (Yes, I'm ridiculous.)
What I did find is that if I think more about what I'm going to wear, I have a closet full of great options already. I have dozens of shoes I rarely wear, so why buy another pair when I can try to use those? I have clothes with the tags still on them, so I need to wear them, or donate them away to make space. I worked hard to put outfits together this month, based on what I already had, which was definitely the smarter way to do things than buying new items.
I saved myself many times from shopping sprees. After a one-time yoga class, I felt the urge to run out and buy tons of workout/yoga clothes; I haven't done yoga a single time since. I've filled shopping carts online with clothes I want, but never clicked "Buy", and I completely forgot about wanting them. I've seen something that I wanted, then went into my closet to see if I already had something similar, and lo and behold I did! So I'm starting to see that I need to do a better job controlling myself while shopping, or at least remembering what I do have to put outfits together instead of buying a ton of random trendy pieces.
That being said, this month was not without some retail therapy in other areas, so I'm pretty sure I didn't save myself money.
Rambling about the stuff I bought this month.... It felt like I could justify buying other things if I wasn't buying clothes. Since I cut my hair short, I splurged on a really nice Chi straightening iron. I also put an amazing in-dash touchscreen system in my car that includes a Garmin GPS, Bluetooth for phone, iPod hookup, DVD player... I went into the store only needing an iPod hookup and new GPS, but when I found out my car would need an entirely new radio (the model wasn't very adaptable) I went all out. Was it worth it? Absolutely, the system is amazing; I had money set aside from the past year of working to pay for it, so even though it was a huge cost, I was ready. Other purchases? Souvenir Native American earrings in Arizona, a Cuisinart Griddler for the kitchen (replacing the late George Foreman grill), a few Sephora items, and a whole bunch of fabric for future sewing projects. The fabric is amazing and will likely last me all year, at the rate I'm sewing, but I got some great deals online and have no regrets about it.
But now that the shopping freeze is over tomorrow, I'm actually not in a hurry to go out and buy more clothes. I did do another sweep of the closet to donate items to Goodwill, creating a bit more space. But now I think I'll think more before I buy, and have an idea in mind of pieces I actually need.
I read about a similar challenge: 30 for 30 (http://kendieveryday.blogspot.com/2011/01/30-for-30-winter-edition.html) on a style blog linked to by Jessica of What I Wore. You can only choose from 30 pieces of clothes to wear for 30 days, and no shopping during that time...dunno if I can do it but I'm thinking of giving up clothes shopping for Lent at least.
ReplyDeleteIt wasn't easy, but I think that giving that up for Lent would be a definite sacrifice/challenge!
ReplyDeleteI'm not planning on any clothing purchases, except maybe some long-sleeved shirts. The weather in the South has been really chilly and I was totally unprepared; I got rid of so much winter clothing after leaving Indiana. I have a billion short-sleeved tees, but not enough LS shirts.