I laid out all my outfits for the upcoming week and labeled each pile with a post-it note indicating the day of the week the clothes are intended for. I’m not OCD, I swear. I only did this because I thought it’d help me get dressed more quickly in the mornings.
This exercise has also helped me see that I really don’t need any more clothes. Sure, there are additions that I’d like to have, but on the whole I have enough tops & bottoms to put together 2 weeks worth of business casual outfits with basically no repeats.
So – six months without shopping for clothes? I think I’m really going to try and do it. Not even for the save-money aspect, but because I’d really like to learn to be content with less stuff, declutter & simplify, and appreciate what I have instead of aimless wishing for something else. After the six months is up, I hope to have a nice little cash cushion and a more thoughtful approach to my purchases.
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I admire your clothes buying freeze. Six months!
I probably don’t need any more clothes either, well maybe a couple things for work. I need to just buy those and go on no-buy as well. This is gonna be hard, girl!
I discovered planning ahead works well for me too. I have more than enough clothes but when you’re trying to hurry and pick out outfits in the morning nothing seems to work right. At the very least, I’ve been planning the night before but sometimes it’s for the week. Either way, good luck with your 6 months…. I might take that challenge too!
Good luck!
I want to join you on that 6 month hiatus. But can I go shopping first? LOL
Sigh. You amaze me! I really, really hope you can do this, if only to encourage me to try the same. Your reasons are so good that it really has got me thinking.
Keep us updated, and seriously: any tips like the laying-out-clothes thing are much-appreciated!
i know PRECISELY what you mean! i really really do not NEED new clothes…i just want them. i must do this hiatus!
Go for it! Since June 2007, I haven’t bought myself any new clothes except for a pair of black opaque tights to wear with skirts during the winter. I also ask for specific items of clothing, like “a pair of pants,” “a pair of black gloves,” for Christmas or birthdays. Other “new” clothes I get through clothing swaps, which is an idea for you too, since you mentioned you wanted to keep down the clutter.
I don’t know if I can say it gets easier with time. I still lust after pieces of clothing, but I think by now I can rationalize that I have enough clothing to get me by, and since I understand where my money is going (an apartment fund), it’s easier to stay away from the shopping mall, even though shopping was one of my favorite activities just a couple of years ago (and still would be, if I could afford it!).
Stick with it! You can do it! Just remind yourself where your money is going instead of clothing you don’t need!
We’re all here to support you! It’s good that you’re taking this in stride, and making it public will only help you feel more accountable! Good job and let us know all the details!
Even if you buy one thing, it’s still better than how you did things in the past.
I started doing this year as part of a new year’s resolution — laundry on Saturday if I’ve got enough clothes to warrant it, then on Sunday I check the weather forecast for the week and write out a schedule of what I’m going to wear each day based on the temperature and whether or not it will rain. Then I put these outfits in the front of my closet, separated from the rest of my clothing in order to find them more easily in the mornings. So far, so good (except when I take a weekend trip and throw that little schedule off!).
I admire your efforts not to buy clothes for 6 months. I’m doing something similar by picking something every month for the next year to give up — e.g. coffee, clothes, movies. Good luck!