I’ve been thinking about this a lot lately. Mostly in terms of the contents of my closet; which may seem trivial and silly, but it has a surprisingly profound effect on other parts of my life.
I’ve shared my struggles with shopping addiction before. {Just typing the words “shopping addiction” looks so serious and scary, but let’s not sugar coat things.} While I’ve come leaps and bounds with my spending in the last couple of years — attributable to a major shift in priorities, a cut in take-home pay after becoming self-employed, and being too busy with said self-employment to shop — every now and then I find myself sneaking in a few too many purchases and justifying them in that old familiar way.
For instance, in the last couple months I’ve done more shopping than usual, telling myself I’m “stocking up” for Fall. Um, let’s be serious: I live in Florida, and the seasonal climate change is hardly drastic enough to require a total wardrobe overhaul. So why am I drifting back into nasty old habits?
There are a number of reasons, I’m sure. For one, as a blogger who shares her style with the world on a regular basis, I want to keep things fresh and interesting. However in truth, I think this is probably pretty low on the list; falling under other things like the stress associated with moving the business and taking on more responsibility at the shop. Â I also blame all the Gossip Girl marathons on my days off for filling my head with endless outfit inspiration, but that’s probably another post entirely.
What’s a girl to do to get things back on track?
I’ve toyed with the idea of a year-long shopping fast (my friend, Cathy, is doing one now!) but in the back of my mind I feel like taking on such a lofty goal cold turkey is somehow setting myself up for failure, perhaps to be followed by a shopping rebound of epic and devastating proportions?!
Here’s what I’ve come up with. I’m sharing it with all of you to give it legs and some accountability, since I always seem to let myself off the hook way too easily.
1. Stop purging for a while. I have a weird compulsive habit to go through my closet every few months and get rid of mounds of clothes at a time. If I haven’t worn something since the last purge, it’s outta there. Sometimes this is good (i.e., I’ll probably never end up on an episode of Hoarders) but sometimes it’s bad. In all of my well-intentioned weeding, some good apples are tossed into the fray and I miss them later. Instead of getting rid of things entirely, maybe I’ll pack them up in storage bins so I can revisit them later with a fresh perspective, and still keep my closet neat and tidy.
2. Set a budget. And actually stick to it. This is where my palms get sweaty, and I start feeling suffocated by the confines of the “B Word.” {shivers}. But here goes… for the next four months beginning in November (a quarter of a year seems doable and semi-life-changing) I’ll give myself $100 a month for new clothes, shoes, accessories, and beauty buys. No roll-overs — it’s “use it or lose it.” I’ll share every purchase on the blog — pinky promise — to keep myself honest and track my progress through February. Side note: tempting as it may be to go on a crazy spree in the last weeks of October before this budget officially begins, I’m not going to do any shopping through the end of of this month.
3. Explore new hobbies to fill the void. Sometimes I shop purely out of boredom, or to escape my hectic reality for a few hours. This spare time would be much better spent reading a classic novel, working on a DIY project, exercising, or taking a class to learn something new!
4. Find new sources of style inspiration. Confession: Every time I stand in my closet and bemoan, “I have nothing to wear,” it’s a bold-faced lie. {That’s right, Husband, I just admitted it.} Â I have plenty of things to wear, I’ve just run out of ideas for how to wear them. When the contents of my closet start to feel stale, I get the nagging itch to stock it with newness. With endless inspiration at my fingertips from my favorite bloggers, Pinterest, and magazines, I’m sure I can come up with lots of new ways to remix what I already have.
5. Take these four months to pay off all my credit card debt. I don’t have much left, but it would be even better if I didn’t have any left. I think it’s important to have some kind of light-at-the-end-of-the- tunnel when setting restrictive personal goals, and coming out of this sans credit card debt is a shining beacon of hope worthy of the small sacrifice.
Here we go!
What do you think?