Living Without
Today I read an interesting NY Times article called"Shoppers on a ‘Diet’ Tame the Urge to Buy." It's quite fascinating. Heidi Hackemer started a global project called "Six Items Or Less" where participants were to choose six pieces of clothing that they would wear over a period of one month.
It was an experiment to see if the way you dressed really had an effect as well as having the added benefit of making you shop less. Interestingly, the article mentions that not many people realized you are wearing the same six pieces throughout the month. Not even her husband, (who does the laundry) noticed!
Shopping, therefore, is really to fulfill yourself. If you don't notice, others won't.
Six pieces is hard. However, if you're on a budget, I think the best way is to just go through your wardrobe and decide what clothes you really need or don't. If you are lacking something, you can get it, but don't use it as an excuse. However, if you already have everything, just give yourself a time period of what to shop and what not to shop until when.
Of course it's easier said than done.
Two years ago, I counted how many pairs of shoes I had. I was surprised..I had over 35 pairs of shoes. I could wear a new one everyday for a month and still have leftovers to change during the day. I thought I shopped less than a lot of people, but I still had A LOT. Shocked, I donated the old ones that I hadn't touched for years, got back some valuable room space and cleaned out my shoe cabinet. It felt good. Even so, I still have some brand new ones I haven't had the chance to wear!
Bags, I haven't counted. I definitely have A LOT.
I tend to shop a lot and on impulse, so the only way I can stop myself from buying more than enough shoes or bags is to give myself a set timetable. This year's resolution: No working shoes nor bags. I have more than enough. I want to live in a minimalist style.
So far it's been six months and I've been surviving pretty well. I have not bought a bag nor any shoes for work. I still have more than enough shoes and more than enough bags. Some are still untouched at the back of my closet. The rest of the year should be fine.
I hope I can keep this up. Having too many things become a burden: What to keep, what to donate, what to do with it all? I'm running out of storage space. I have to clean up the place, I have to put things in order. Buying boxes to fill them up, and then having to buy even more boxes. Then I need a bigger room to store everything. It's a vicious cycle.
If I don't have anything, I won't have to bother with all these problems...Won't that be bliss?
It was an experiment to see if the way you dressed really had an effect as well as having the added benefit of making you shop less. Interestingly, the article mentions that not many people realized you are wearing the same six pieces throughout the month. Not even her husband, (who does the laundry) noticed!
Shopping, therefore, is really to fulfill yourself. If you don't notice, others won't.
Six pieces is hard. However, if you're on a budget, I think the best way is to just go through your wardrobe and decide what clothes you really need or don't. If you are lacking something, you can get it, but don't use it as an excuse. However, if you already have everything, just give yourself a time period of what to shop and what not to shop until when.
Of course it's easier said than done.
Two years ago, I counted how many pairs of shoes I had. I was surprised..I had over 35 pairs of shoes. I could wear a new one everyday for a month and still have leftovers to change during the day. I thought I shopped less than a lot of people, but I still had A LOT. Shocked, I donated the old ones that I hadn't touched for years, got back some valuable room space and cleaned out my shoe cabinet. It felt good. Even so, I still have some brand new ones I haven't had the chance to wear!
Bags, I haven't counted. I definitely have A LOT.
I tend to shop a lot and on impulse, so the only way I can stop myself from buying more than enough shoes or bags is to give myself a set timetable. This year's resolution: No working shoes nor bags. I have more than enough. I want to live in a minimalist style.
So far it's been six months and I've been surviving pretty well. I have not bought a bag nor any shoes for work. I still have more than enough shoes and more than enough bags. Some are still untouched at the back of my closet. The rest of the year should be fine.
I hope I can keep this up. Having too many things become a burden: What to keep, what to donate, what to do with it all? I'm running out of storage space. I have to clean up the place, I have to put things in order. Buying boxes to fill them up, and then having to buy even more boxes. Then I need a bigger room to store everything. It's a vicious cycle.
If I don't have anything, I won't have to bother with all these problems...Won't that be bliss?
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