Not a damn thing.
In fact, I could happily get by with a lot less.
On New Year’s Eve, my girlfriends and I were chatting about paring down; specifically, the KonMari method that has people across America tossing three-quarters of their closets and cupboards into Hefty bags, driving them to the nearest donation center, and proclaiming “minimalism!” as the new gospel. The “no excuses elimination” method (AKA, throw out all yo’ stuff!) is a little extreme for me, but I do believe in a good old fashioned closet cleaning to refocus your style.
Since The Great Purge of 2013 that concluded my quarter life identity crisis and ushered in a new era of mindful consumption, I haven’t needed any intense de-cluttering. But while I shop with intention and carefully consider most purchases, I still fall into retail therapy traps and have, um, abundance issues. I’ll always be a work in progress.
My theme for 2016 shall be: fewer, better things.
I toyed around with different ideas to reign in my over-buying in the new year. A shopping fast? Meh, too restrictive and prone to failure; like “giving up sugar” and then housing a sleeve of Oreos because you deprived yourself and lost your mind when you got your hands on them. You know?
I need moderation over deprivation, so I’m thinking about adopting the ‘one in, one out’ rule for the year.
Here’s the (super simple) gist:
If you buy something — a piece of clothing, a pair of shoes, a handbag — a comparable item from your closet gotsta go. No excuses.
This won’t work if you have a ton of stuff lying around that you never wear; it’s easy to give something up if you don’t really care about it. But! If you’ve thoughtfully purged your excess and culled your wardrobe into a collection of pieces you love to wear, you may take a beat before pulling the trigger on a new purchase.
I think my closet and I are finally at a mature, loving place in our relationship where this could be really effective.
What are your thoughts on the “one in, one out” rule?
What do you think?