Lately, I have gotten into reading minimalist blogs and fashion blogs. The former instills in me an urge to get rid of all my stuff and lead a simpler, less cluttered life and the latter makes me want to buy a whole new wardrobe for a more stylish me. Oops.
Instead, I decided to do something different. I’ve read that if you are having trouble deciding what to keep and what to donate / throw away, try this little experiment:
- Pretend that all the clothes you own are on sale.
- If you want to keep particular piece of clothing (say, a sweater, a skirt, or a pair of jeans), you must spend $1 to “buy back” the clothes.
- If you are not willing to spend even a dollar on something, it’s a fairly good sign that that item isn’t doing much for you.
That is what I will do. Every piece of clothing and every pair of shoes will go through the same treatment: Am I willing to pay $2 to “buy it back?” All the money that I am willing to spend to buy back my clothing will go into my Galapagos Fund.
If you would like to join in on the Great Buy Back My Clothes Experiment:
Leave a comment with the following information: (1) the dollar amount of each piece you are buying back – I chose $2, but it’s all up to you, (2) where the money you spend buying back your clothes will go, (3) what is the one piece of clothing / accessories you’d like to add to your wardrobe.
Submit a picture of your outfit (state how much you “bought it back for”) to me by Wednesday, September 22. I will put up the pictures and let the readers vote on the best outfit. On Wednesday October 6, I will announce the winner, who will receive a $25 gift card to TJ Maxx or Marshalls, thanks to the generous PR folks over there.
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This sounds like such a good idea, but I am just not up for it right now.
Buy back clothes are always a great way to get some extra income. They have stores all over the place. I'm just not comfortable about buying some one elses clothes and wearing them
What a great idea!
I also love minimalism blogs, fashion blogs, and of course PF blogs. You’ve developed a great way to combine the best of all three! Will definitely try this over the weekend!
Love this idea. I'm game. I'm also in the same camp as you on the "minimalist, frugal living" AND "fashion blogs" reading. Hence I'm in the middle of a fashion challenge called the 15:30. I selected a mere 15 pieces of clothing to wear for the entire month of Sept. I have several blog posts on it, I won't link to them directly here but they're easy to find if you're curious.
I'll pick out a buy back outfit and submit it. I have no problem buying secondhand clothes, but I am having problems finding someone to actually buy back my clothes. Consignment shops are not abundant in my section of Houston.
Hi there! 15 pieces sounds MUCH more manageable than the 6 items of less campaign I see floating out there.
I am excited to see your buyback picture! Just to clarify, you don't actually have to find someone to buy your clothes. If you want to keep a particular piece of clothing, you are "buying it back" from yourself by putting that $1 or $2 into something you are saving for. Does that make sense?
Oh yeah, I got that part. I was kinda just responding to the other commenter who mentioned buy back stores are an excellent way to make extra income. They actually aren't that easy…generally they are super picky and like I mentioned there aren't many where I am.
Kids clothes, on the other hand, are pretty easy to resell.
What a terrific idea. I recently went through a lot of my stuff and donated a bunch of clothing. (I still have my closet to do, but that's going to have to wait.) I'd love to participate, but realistically I won't have the time over the next couple of weeks. Good luck to whoever wins the gift card!
Out of all the minimalism blogs, I think I like miss minimalist the best, she's actually really nice and not "elitist" like a lot of the minimalist bloggers like *some* of them, they think they're so much better because they're minimalists. She's not like that, she's actually cool. She also doesn't sound judgmental either, and that's really nice
I've enjoyed reading Miss Minimalist. Sometimes it seems as if minimalism has turned into a competition (Who Can Own Fewer Stuff), and it's nice to see bloggers who acknowledge that we can embrace some of the tenets of minimalism without being dogmatic about it.
Oh I forgot to mention I also like reading The Everyday Minimalist blog by that girl who runs Fabulously Broke. Hers is good too and she's nice as well. =)
Yeps FB is awesome!
LOL. I just saw you linked to me as a bad influence for your finances. =D
My pleasure. *bows*
This buy back experiment sounds interesting. I'll give it a try next time I have to go through a major closet purge.
You might be a bad influence for my finances, but you're a great influence for my style.
Yes the buy-back experiment is pretty fun. I'm already setting out things to donate.
This is an awesome idea! Personally, I think I need to do at least $2 or $3 to really get myself to make some tough decisions. I dread going through clothes which I do every couple of years and maybe this well help my cause next time. Thanks!