Luxe Minimalism for the New Shopping Year

A new year always means a new year of shopping for me.

In the past I have tried and failed at pretty much all of the following:

• Not shopping at all
• Not shopping until Black Friday
• Shopping only for secondhand items
• Shopping with only $2000
• Shopping only what is on my Wish List (LOL.. that grows)

…none of it has worked.

I asked for some advice from fellow style shoppers and the general consensus I got was:

Umm.. why are you even trying to limit yourself?

You clearly don’t need to (financially).

What’s your motivation? If you can’t find the motivation and the challenge in it in your heart, you won’t ever stick to it.

Touché.

So I have been batting around lots of other ideas, challenges, things I can do to get myself to shop less in the future (not just next year) and had to dig deep.

WHAT MOTIVATES ME WHEN I SHOP?

Reasons why I shop:

• To get more variety
• To build different outfits
• Because I am bored with what I already own and wear all the time
• Because I am bored, period.
• Because I am stressed from family / work
• Because I see such good DEALS and can’t let it go
• Because I am tempted by style bloggers & newsletters
• Because I like to window shop online on my free time

Out of all of those reasons above, stress and boredom are real triggers for me.

When I am either of those things, I go window shopping online just to see what they have.

WHAT ARE MY MAIN SHOPPING TRIGGERS?

I have come to the conclusion that boredom, stress and temptation is the greatest reason why I spend.

That trio of emotions = Bad for my wallet

I see other cute outfits on style bloggers (cosy cocoon sweaters & plaid shirts tucked into pencil skirts!) .

I look at my wardrobe and think: I could use a wrap coat right about now.

I get stressed and to calm down, I head over to a site online that happens to have a sale, just to see what is on sale.

BOOM! .. I buy.

I buy things to try them on (or just to get free shipping) with the full intention of returning them but end up loving them, so I keep it.

Part of the problem is also that I cannot easily access my wardrobe. It is in the bedroom and our bed it up against it *sigh*

I need to either move my clothes out, or at least do a Summer / Winter wardrobe and put my summer things away so that I have a smaller subset to choose from.

WHAT CAN I DO?

REMOVE TEMPTATION

• Unsubscribe from ALL retailer emails
• Stop going into the mall or just into my favourite shops to see what’s new
• Stop reading style blogs with the intention to buy the exact outfit
• Avoid going to online shopping sites just to browse

If I can’t see it, I will not know it exists to be purchased.

FIND ANOTHER STRESS / BOREDOM RELIEVER

• Eat chocolate instead (LOL!)
• Clean something (e.g. microwave, stove, fridge)
• Go and hunt down Baby Bun and terrorize him with Mommy Roars and Mommy Nibbles…
• Read through my extensive book library on my Kobo Glo (time to rediscover my e-library!)

I need to find another outlet for my boredom.

I know reading is my best bet.

REVIEW WHAT IS IN MY WARDROBE

• Flip through my items and clean it out
• Sell what I don’t want to wear any more in consignment and put that money into a savings account specifically designated for THE BIG PURCHASE (whatever it is.. or I’ll call it the CONDO FUND)

I need to re-focus my energies on a truly big purchase which would be our condo.

RECREATE ALL MY DESIRED OUTFITS WITH WHAT I ALREADY OWN

• Recreate outfits from Pinterest / Instagram with what I already own
• Challenge myself to recreate outfits I love from style bloggers with things I already have; I pretty much have all the patterns, checks, florals & plaids I can find
• Blog about these: Style Inspiration to Style Recreation (New Series)

I need to learn how to use what I already own instead of trying to hunt down for that PERFECT striped shirt I saw on So-and-So the other day, when I already own at least 10 other striped shirts in  various colours, shades and lines.

So I am calling this: LUXE MINIMALISM.

I will give myself only 3 outs.

3 outs meaning 3 things I can buy for the entire year.

Once all of the “outs” are gone, then I’m done.

*bites nails*