I’m feeling very fidgety and spend-y.
This would be a good time to check in with some updates on my no buy year. It’s now 6 months into my no buy year, I can’t really decide if it is going well or not. I’ll tell you why and you can decide. Also, I’ve now realized that there are people checking on me and I am accountable to them.
Let me just put this out there first; my main reason for not buying anything this year is not finance, it’s my mental state of mind that I wanted/needed to conquer. Last year I spent quite a number of times binge shopping, just because I wanted to divert my mind, because I felt like it and mainly because I felt I didn’t have enough clothes. I just got fed up of always wanting more when I already had enough clothes, but didn’t want to repeat clothes on holidays, for occasions etc. I’ve got a huge wardrobe in my house, which is full to the brim and another huge wardrobe in my mother’s house, that I usually clear out 3-4 times a year and yet is still full. This is not even a humble brag. It’s mostly old clothes that I’ve been hanging on to hoping I would fit into again at some point. Yet, to be honest, it’s not even the biggest wardrobe I have seen. I know of people who have so much more than I do. But I don’t care about that, it’s my own attitude towards shopping that I wanted to change. I don’t have a problem with spending, I have a problem with appreciating what I have, and this is what I needed to change.
In January this year, went cold turkey and decided I was going to stop shopping and started a capsule wardrobe out of my existing clothes. I wanted to get as much wear out of all my existing clothes as possible. I feel the urge to add a bit of a disclaimer here. What I created is anything but a capsule wardrobe. To get rid of clothes that I’ve been holding on to (just because I want to see a full wardrobe all the time) was an achievement on its own. I got rid of clothes that I saved for thinner days and ill-fitting clothes that were gifted that I held on to for donkeys’ years. I also managed to separate my winter and summer clothes. If you know me, you will know that I’m forever freezing and will gladly wear jumpers and winter coats in the middle of summer in UK. In my defense, UK summers are deceiving and a disgrace, except for this year.
Having said that, in terms of not buying any new clothes, I have truly been doing quite well so far. Especially when I’ve been back home to Malaysia and India and had a holiday in Spain in the last 6 months. I thought India especially was going to be tough since I was going for a wedding, and said weddings are no easy feat. I had to make a schedule on what to wear 3 times a day for 4 days! My mother bought me a saree for the main wedding day, I ended up ‘borrowing’ my mother’s saree for another day and got a Punjabi suit as a gift from one of my aunts. Initially I was going to allow myself to do some shopping in Malaysia and India. I justified that it’s not often that I would get to go back, everything is much cheaper and better there, especially the Indian wear, it’s a one-off thing etc. However, I avoided the shopping malls in Malaysia and India like a plague. *A well-deserved pat on the back for myself for achieving that.
Every time my husband complains about the only pair of black jeans I now own/fit, I keep reminding him that I can’t do any shopping this year. It’s fine, it’s not torn, I can still wear it despite it not being fashionable. Still proud of myself for holding on to my principles.
What I’m not really proud of at this point is that I’m desperately counting down to the end of the year. I’ve planned out a budget for my year end shopping, started preparing on how much to buy next year (read; planning on a whole new wardrobe), and where to go shopping. I am very aware that this is deemed as cheating. I am lying to my own self by saying that it’s ok to plan for end of the year shopping, as long as I don’t buy anything this year. The challenge was only to reduce/stop shopping this year, next year doesn’t count!
This evening when I was extremely upset that I couldn’t buy anything, I told my husband I was feeling very spend-y and needed some motivation to keep me grounded. He says, “Let’s go shopping together!” How does that even help?!
NO! I am not going to lose to myself! I refuse to lose to myself! Only 5 more months to go!
