Goodwill Tunic-$3, Target Pants-$9, Adidas from TJ Maxx
(By the way I shopped my closet-end of May in St. Louis)
I decided to stop shopping for a year. I made this pledge on April 1, 2013 and still have quite a ways to go. As I let go of old habits and old (negative) thoughts to make room for new things I am amazed at how much time and money I am gaining by dropping my shopping habit.
I love clothing, shoes, coats, and jewelry. Basically, I love everything that adorns the body. When I get dressed in the morning or for an event I think of it as a transformative experience. In one day I can go from being a studious worker bee, an athlete, or a vixen depending on what’s happening and where I’ll be going that day.
At this point I am pretty sure that I have saved a minimum of $600 dollars by not shopping since April 1, 2013. I may have saved even more than that because I also have saved a lot of time and energy by not going shopping. I’ve also save a lot of cash on not spending money on snacks or meals out during each shopping expedition.
I am amazed at how easy it is not to go shopping and I am excited to see how long I can keep my wardrobe fresh and exciting while staying focused on debt repayment. I am surprised to discover that I am capable of rediscover discipline in different areas of my life that aren’t related to work. I work in an easy going industry and luckily I work in an office where fashion is a non-issue and when I do dress up it is commented upon. I am finding that I’m dressing up more as I am feeling happier about life in general.
It’s interesting to note that as I rotate my clothes and wear items that had previously languished in the back of the closet for months people are amazed by all of the “new clothes” that I have. Again proving that people aren’t looking as closely as you think at the clothing that you’re wearing and that you need a heck of a lot less than what you currently own.
Right now I’m starting to think about my Fall wardrobe and what will be “on-trend.” I have a pretty extensive winter wardrobe because I live in Colorado and it tends to stay cold for awhile. The only thing I’m worried about is boots and as mentioned previously I have a plan for that…will keep you posted.
As I take time off from the act of consuming goods I find that I spend a lot of time thinking about my role in a consumption driven society. There are those who argue that people who stop consuming will slow down the economy. I think that’s stupid. The money that I don’t spend on shopping I’m actually spending on bill repayment, doing nice things for my mom, and travel. These activities make me really, really happy. I’m happy about getting rid of bills and having a lot less crap to deal with. The travel is a no brainer and it’s great to do something that makes my heart sing without a negative consequence. In the past I was notorious for traveling with barely enough money or kind of broke. Now when I travel if it’s not work related I only spend cash and have more than enough money available to me during the trips.
If you are trying to simplify your life, save money, or help the earth, then I encourage you to do a No Shopping Challenge. You don’t have to do it for a year but at least a minimum of 5 weeks. Why 5 weeks instead of 4? Why not. If you can stop shopping for 4 weeks why can’t you stop for 5 weeks?
Here’s how a No Shopping Challenge works:
- Get fed up with being broke. Or, you just think you have too much crap.
- Make a pact with yourself that you want something in your life to change
- Try to quantify the how much you’ve spent on fashion related items since January
- Be either really pleased that it wasn’t too much or freak out because it was more than you expected
- Decide how long you will do the challenge
- Commit
- Go to your closet and organize it. A clean closet has tons of possibilities
- Give away some of your clothes. You probably have too many.
- Look at some current magazines and create some outfits that are “on-trend”
- Get excited about the money you’re saving
- Panic for a few days
- Finish the challenge, think about how much money you really saved!
Good luck and let me know how it’s going 🙂
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Good for you Michelle! I’m probably the one person out there who could probably use MORE in my wardrobe. I did do a little shopping in June which gave me a few extra tops to wear, but my wardrobe is still pretty shitty. 🙂 With the exception of workout clothes. I seem to have no shortage of those. But for right now what I have is good enough. I’m sure you look fabulous in everything you own!
It has been a very freeing experience and I can’t believe how much time I’ve saved in addition to money. I have a ton of exercise clothes and winter stuff!! I love coats specifically and have around 7-8 months to enjoy wearing them. If I make it to LaLa Land this year we’ll go shopping!
Hey Michelle – for starters, that outfit is really cute! Goodwill for the tunic? Wow, I think I’m missing out. It sounds like you’ve done an amazing job of shopping your closet and saving a ton of cash! Kudos, friend, you’re doing great!
Thanks! I used to shop at “Magical Goodwill.” There is an amazing Goodwill in my area. I don’t go there now…but, if I did I would find some amazing clothes. It’s crazy but I don’t think I fully utilize what’s in my closet! So, the challenge is a bit easier than I would have expected. Winter will be a lot more difficult because I love buying coats and boots. I wear them for a long period of time so I always look forward to Fall/Winter Shopping. Oh well. Am loving the extra free time and cash! Totally worth the trade off.
Great job on not shopping! I don’t shop frequently, but when I do I tend to over spend! I put back half the items I was going to buy yesterday, and I’m pretty proud of myself for that. 🙂
How are you estimating how much you’ve saved by not shopping? Did you estimate what you spent monthly within a certain period of time?
As time has passed it has gotten a lot easier. Basically, I looked at my shopping activity on Mint.com and then I went through my receipts. I had estimated that I’d spent around $600 dollars from January through the end of March. I thought about all of the other things that were more important to me that I could do with that money. Then I realized that if I continued spending at that pace it would have been several thousand dollars by the end of the year. Maybe even three thousand. I make o.k. money, but if I’m serious about paying off the debt, then I couldn’t justify that spending. It has been a really freeing experience.
Good luck with your challenge, Michelle! I am on a shopping ban myself, I can’t remember the last time I bought any clothing. To be honest I don’t need anything, I’ve got a closet full of things I can wear, and it seems so do you 🙂 Here’s to no shopping!
I can’t believe how many clothes I have and I have been downsizing! It’s ridiculous. I spoke with my Grandma about when she was little and how many clothes did she have. She came from a large farm family and they basically had to sew everything-even their undies. Which makes sense because mass manufacturing of clothing started in the mid-late 1940’s. I think she had around 5 dresses and no pants. I have to ask. Anyway, I have 1,000 times what she had and she was perfectly happy.
If you keep notes on what “not” spent… adds up! Can wear my “old” clothes on trip to Paris!
I can’t believe how much I haven’t spent. I also find it ironic that I’ve given away several additional bags of clothes and still have a ton to wear!