New experiment: I’m Not Buying Clothes for 1 year

New Experiment

I’m not buying any clothes this year. It’s been a while since I’ve done a ‘real’ experiment in my life and I feel like the time is right to start again. I’ve done a few little tweaks here and there, but for the most part I have just slightly altered comfortable patterns that I’ve done before. Part of the reason for this is that my life has been a bit out of sync this past year.

 

I have not really been able to be the person I want to be from a physical, emotional or spiritual standpoint. Life this last year has felt a little like swimming in a tuxedo; not impossible if you are a strong swimmer, but definitely not optimal. For full disclosure I have never swam in a tuxedo so I’m just speculating here.

 

I’ve neglected the blog a bit. My writing and creativity has suffered. I’ve focused a bit too much on my own problems and not being present with the people I care about the most, and when we stew in our own problems (which most of the time are first world bullshit problems anyways) we allow negativity like depression and anxiety to take hold. Anyways, enough with that crap. Life only moves forward and it is what it is. I feel in sync right now so back to the experiment…

 

The Genesis

I thought of this no clothes buying experiment after watching my son play soccer of all things. I love watching him play, and I was completely immersed in the game. He got control of the ball in the box, did a filthy pull back to shake a defender and fired a rocket into the upper 1 foot of the goal out of the reach of the goalie. As he sauntered back to midfield I stared in disbelief. Who was this kid? I realized that I don’t have many more of those moments left. He is not a little boy anymore. He will soon be a man, and before I know it he will be the one watching his kids play soccer. Life is a blink.

 

What the heck does this have to do with not buying clothes for a year? Nothing and everything. This experiment is about getting rid of one more distraction (shopping), about discomfort (I may have to learn to sew or not look as cool as I could), about fear (what happened if I pack all my underwear on a trip and the airline loses my luggage?). It is about doing something just to see if I can do it. It is about consuming less and throwing away less.

 

As I look around me there is just…all this stuff. The world is awash in things and it is suffocating us. I envy all those people with just 100 possessions or other more extreme forms of minimalism. It just seems so simple and uncomplicated. I want this to spread to other areas in my life. I want to let even fewer distractions in, not just clothes shopping. As we age our time becomes more valuable, desperately so, even as it seems to more quickly slip from our grasp. This is an all-out war against the status quo.

 

Seeking Council

Later that night I told Mrs. Happy Philosopher about my new experiment while we were folding the laundry. When she stopped laughing at me I noted a look of moderate concern on her face.

 

“You know, some of your underwear are not looking so great. Maybe you should go buy some new ones and start the clock right afterwards.”

 

Hmmmm, she had a point, but this was cheating in my mind. After all, I could just go out and buy a whole new wardrobe. How would that be a challenge? No, I would have to start right now.

 

“Look, there are 365 days in a year and I’m estimating I’ve got like 15-20 pairs of underwear. That’s like 18-24 days each, and if I wear them more than only day they will last longer with fewer washings.”

 

She was unconvinced that this was a good idea. She held up a pair that didn’t look so great.

 

“Exhibit A”.

 

I was not to be deterred.

 

“That’s not fair. Look at these – much better shape. Plus I have those two pair of travel underwear that look like they would survive a washing in battery acid”.

 

As I thought through the math though, every time there was a catastrophic underwear failure (or if they got lost or stolen), there would be more stress on the remaining underwear as the frequency of wearing would rise. I could not find a clear answer on google regarding how many washes underwear last…Who knows, I may be going commando by November.

Inventory:

clothes

I went through the closets and my dresser and took a quick inventory. I was actually amazed at how much crap I still had after round 1 and round 2 of decluttering. Why did I still have so much? Where was it all coming from?

 

  • Underwear – 17
  • Undershirts – 10
  • Socks – 45 pairs (WTF? I’m a sock hoarder!)
  • Pajamas – 3
  • Sexy pajamas – 0
  • Tee shirts – 22
  • Long sleeve – 6
  • Work shirts – 19 (insanity)
  • Casual shirts with collar – 12
  • Sweaters – 7 (including awesome Christmas sweater)
  • Sweatshirts – 3
  • Running shirts/pullovers – 10
  • Circa 1991 flannel shirt/sweatshirt/hoodie – 1
  • Shorts – 7
  • Athletic shorts (includes running) – 10
  • Jeans – 4
  • Athletic pants/base layers – 4
  • Swimsuits – 1 pair trunks, 2 jammers
  • Wetsuit – 1
  • Casual pants – 7
  • Dress pants – 7
  • Suits – 3
  • Biking jerseys – 4
  • Running/biking shells – 6
  • Biking pants/shorts – 4
  • Letterman’s jacket – 1 (why…)
  • Puffy vest – 1
  • Wool overcoat – 1
  • Coats/Jackets – 4
  • Karate uniform – 1
  • Shoes – 8
  • Running/athletic shoes – 6
  • Sandals – 2
  • Hiking boots – 1
  • Cowboy boots – 1
  • Hats – 2
  • Gloves – 4 pairs
  • Scarves – 2
  • Slippers – 1
  • Belts – 4
  • Ties – 10

 

There was some other stuff too, like a cool headband with ice skates on it, a bath robe like the one Tyler Durden wore in Fight Club, baseball caps, some misc. running and biking paraphernalia, and probably some other stuff I missed, but that is the bulk of it. Are sunglasses clothes?

 

Does Not Compute

I’m actually quite horrified. I don’t feel like I buy clothes all that often, but this still seems like a lot to me. After all I have decluttered my physical stuff…twice! My series on decluttering in case you missed it:

Now in my defense, much of it is quite old – especially the running and biking gear, which is almost impossible to wear out. Many of those tee shirts were free from either races or other events (like FinCon where I got my awesome Mad Fientist and ChooseFI shirts), but how do I still have 19 dress shirts when I  work part time? And where did all those socks come from?

 

My goal is to actually get rid of about half of this stuff. A lot of it doesn’t really bring me joy, and many items I hardly wear. I will take inventory 12 months from now and we will compare.

 

Ground Rules

There are obviously many ways to cheat, and a few pitfalls and gray areas. Here are my rules:

 

  1. Buying: None. Zip. Nada. Not even something in a box of free stuff at a garage sale (it’s not free, because you spent your time and energy to get there).
  2. Gifts: It wouldn’t be any fun or very challenging if my wife could just give me a gift when something wore out. “Happy birthday! New underwear!” This shouldn’t be a problem since we don’t really give each other material gifts anymore. Actually no one has gifted me clothes in quite a while so I’m not too worried.
  3. Freebees: Much of the new clothes that come into my life are free, either through races (although I’m not running right now) or doing events like these two awesome podcasts.I will not turn them down, but I must have a one in one out rule. If a new tee-shirt comes in, one must leave. Hopefully the next podcast I do will result in some new underwear.
  4. Equipment: This is a gray area. Some sports require functioning equipment to play. For instance, if I ever get my back squared away and want to start playing soccer – I need new shoes, shin pads, socks in order to safely play the game. If I ever ramp up my running again I reserve the right to buy new running shoes when my old ones are finished. This is about avoiding injury. I will not, however buy stuff out of convenience when something else will do. I have plenty of clothes that are perfectly fine for yoga, so it would be cheating to go buy yoga pants (do they even make these for guys?)
  5. Trading: I can’t imagine I would ever trade clothes with anyone, but who knows, I may get desperate and I reserve the right to do it. It has to be an equitable trade though. It would be cheating for a friend to trade me his brand new jacket for a pair of my old socks. It would be alright for me to trade my cowboy boots for a pair of hiking boots though (my old hiking boots are on their last leg…hahaha).
  6. Borrowing: I  think this is similar to the trading. I’m not sure I  would do it unless there was an emergency. My son has a black belt I’m gonna go try on now for some peace of mind.
  7. Alterations: I have clothes that don’t fit great, and it is perfectly acceptable to pay someone to alter them. In fact, you should consider this instead of buying new clothes. A cheap shirt that fits perfectly looks much better than an expensive shirt that doesn’t fit.

 

Pain Points

As I look through my wardrobe I see a few potential areas which could be problematic. We have already addressed the underwear concern so I won’t rehash.

 

  1. Belts: I only have 3 belts that are appropriate to wear to work, 2 brown and 1 black. If there is a failure of the black belt I’m screwed. Either I stop wearing my black shoes, or I’m “that guy”. I already stretch this rule to the limits with only 2 brown belts that don’t really cover the spectrum on my shoes all that completely. I may have to trade with someone if this happens or ‘borrow’ one from my son.
  2. Shoes: In my last round of decluttering I pared down to 1 pair of black shoes, which are starting to wear out and I should probably get them resoled. Other than that I’m pretty good, although in retrospect maybe I made a tactical mistake last year when I didn’t buy the shoes.
  3. Pants: My dress pants and more casual work pants are all pretty old and some are starting to show wear. I was actually thinking about buying a couple of new pairs but that ship has sailed. I better be careful when I eat and slosh that betadine around when I’m doing procedures.
  4. Swimsuit: I better not lose those trunks because I may get a few odd looks going to the pool in my speedo jammers. Either that or I need to bulk up a bit so I can pull off the look. And no don’t ask for a picture.

 

I’m sure I will run into other ‘problems’ as the year progresses, but part of the fun in life is trying to figure things out and to try new things. I will keep you all informed of my progress. Wish me luck.

44 comments

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    • Dr. Curious on January 7, 2018 at 9:58 am
    • Reply

    At a glance I would guess you have 4x as much clothes as I do! I’m kind of surprised (as you seem to be too) given your series on decluttering. I have never formally decluttered myself, but periodically fill up a garbage bag full of old clothes for Goodwill.

    Have you seen the article by Ann Patchett on her year of “no shopping”?

    https://www.nytimes.com/2017/12/15/opinion/sunday/shopping-consumerism.html

    Happy decluttering!

    1. I was surprised at the numbers, but it really doesn’t look like all that much. Everything fits quite comfortably into a single dresser (one drawer is all running/athletic gear) and about 8 feet of hanging space (including all bulky coats and outerwear). This represents a single bar in my closet. Incidentally our closet has about 21 feet of hanging space, and I use about 1/3 of it.

      If would be interesting to count your clothes and compare. My guess is the numbers will be higher than you think, although maybe still quite a bit lower than mine. Much of my clothes are almost never worn, and honestly I haven’t bought much new in the past year, but they are nice enough that I feel silly throwing them out. I would get rid of half tomorrow and probably not notice a difference.

      I read that article a while ago. Good stuff 🙂

  1. Just had to comment as I am looking forward to following your progress. I’m sure I could find some clean spare underwear in my DH’s drawer to trade you for…(checking your list – a pair of gloves?) if you get really desperate 🙂 Good luck!

    1. Hahaha! I’m good, but I appreciate the offer!

  2. Your list is impressive. It would be cool to randomly pick 4 or 5 items each day from the list and mix ‘n match. Some adventurous outfits would surely follow.

    I have an obscene amount of outdoor gear for my cycling/running/climbing/kayaking/mountaineering obsessions. I went all of 2017 without buying a single piece of outdoor gear or clothing. You can do it!!

    1. Now that would be an adventure…might get me put on administrative leave though 😉

      All of my running/cycling gear is quite old, but that stuff just never wears out. I haven’t purchased any athletic gear other than running shoes in quite some time. Actually my last clothes purchase were a couple of thin base-layer tech shirts at Costco a few months ago, which I guess I could use as running shirts. The non-purchasing will be easy (I think), the greater challenge will be getting rid of half, although I feel it shouldn’t be too tough.

    • hatton1 on January 7, 2018 at 11:10 am
    • Reply

    I have gone 3 months without buying any clothes before. I do not think I could possibly go an entire year. I probably have enough clothes to last the rest of my life as is but I do love clothes. Not as much as when I was younger.

    1. Do the challenge with me…I dare you 😉

        • VagabondMD on January 7, 2018 at 6:31 pm
        • Reply

        If you exclude replacement running shoes, when necessary, I am in.

        I have made the pledge before and probably have gone 6 month stretches without new clothes purchases.

        I also have a rule that any purchase of a new article of clothing requires getting rid of something from the same category or of equal or greater size.

        1. Yes! Join me Vagabond! You can use my rules above or modify them in a way that makes sense to you. The more people buying less (and throwing away less) while simultaneously leaning and challenging themselves the better. I do not count running shoes as a clothing purchase if I truly need to replace them because my old ones wore out, but other nonathletic shoes cannot be replaced – I have to make do with what I have.

  3. I can’t wait to hear the update in November when you’re just wearing that wetsuit to the hospital. LOL!!!

    I’m sure you’ll do just find. Commando isn’t all that bad, every so often I get to work and out of the shower in the locker room only to realize my underpants didn’t make the trip with me. Oh well…

    Also, I’m sorely disappointed your sexy pajama count is 0?!?!

    1. And sadly, due to the purchasing ban I will be without sexy pajamas for at least a year. I do own this bath robe though…

      http://filmgarb.com/tyler-durdens-bath-robe/

      1. Maybe your next podcast appearance will provide you with sexy pajama swag. One can hope.

        1. Are you thinking of starting a podcast?

          😉

    • The Rhino on January 7, 2018 at 1:28 pm
    • Reply

    What the merry fuck!

    You own 80 shirts!

    No wonder you were compelled to sub categorise?

    18 pairs of shoes!

    How many feet do you own?

    Are you unwell? Possibly with the lord s help you can conquer this terrible affliction?

    I wish you all the luck in the world but you have a mighty mountain to climb..

    Goes without saying any further philosophical advice needs to be put on ice till this thing gets under control?

    1. You are probably right…all wisdom should be filtered through the lens of how many shirts and shoes the messenger has in his or her closet. I’m going to google how many shoes Descartes owned right now.

      I will say…the nice thing about owning 10 undershirts and 19 dress shirts is I can go a long time without doing laundry. Most of the tee shirts were free. When you run every day lots of running shirts is mandatory.

      Your shoe critique is a bit silly to me, and I can’t tell if you are joking…but I will humor you. Let’s take my shoes and analyze:

      6 athletic shoes: When you run and race, you need multiple shoes. It is more like sports equipment. I have 2 pair trail shoes (1 is fine for wearing, but done for running. I guess I could get rid of the old pair, but this would be wasteful. When I get my next pair of trail shoes these will go), 1 pair road shoes, 1 pair racing flats, 1 pair triathlon shoes, 1 pair cross-fit/weightlifting shoes (I used to do this before the back issues). I really only need the trail shoes, because I don’t race anymore, but I know when I get rid of these shoes they will just end up in a landfill. Better off in my closet in case I race again. Also the tri shoes are nice for slipping on in the summer and riding my bike because there are no laces to get tangles up in the chain.

      1 cowboy boots: Got these at a thrift shop for a themed party. I keep them around because they are badass, but they are completely unnecessary.

      1 hiking boots: Ancient. Held together with glue. Good for muddy hiking, otherwise I wear my trail shoes. I could ditch these, but occasionally they serve a purpose.

      2 sandals: 1 open toe for beach, 1 more enclosed for walking hiking (also great for summer bike riding). Both ancient. I really only need 1 pair, but they both are functional. When one or both die I will go to 1 sandal.

      2 casual shoes: 1 leather and 1 cloth. I wear these both all the time.

      6 dress/work/leather shoes: I really only wear three of these with any frequency and they are relics of when I was working full time. Three of them are nice, three are cheap. When they wear out I will keep the good ones. If I didn’t have a job that required nice looking shoes I would keep three: Black, dark drown, light brown.

      Whatever though, none of this really matters, I could get rid of most of the shoes and not notice. I could donate stuff, but really the most efficient way to use stuff is to wear it out. I think of it this way. Years ago I mindlessly purchased a lot of clothe/shoes/stuff, and now it is my job to actually use it.

      PS: I found THREE more pairs of shoes since I wrote this article. I have two pairs of biking shoes (1 for my road bike and 1 for my mountain bike – different cleats) and a pair of water shoes I was forced to buy in Jamaica when I was doing this cool river hike.

      Don’t judge me…

        • The Rhino on January 8, 2018 at 12:18 am
        • Reply

        I tend to always be joking. Though sometimes even I can’t tell.

        My grandma once said to me, ‘Rhino, your not as funny as you think you are…’

        She was a wise old owl.

        In the spirit of adventure I itemised all my clothing. Crikey, more than I thought! 20 shirts, 8 shoes. (2 cleated cycling shoes obviously – winter/summer, mandatory)

        The things we own end up owning us, palahniuks endlessly quotable book so rightly tells us?

        1. Haha! You are quite correct, which is why we must constantly detach from our stuff. The frightening thing to me is that these are the AFTER decluttering numbers. 20 shirts is admirable. Well done sir, I aspire to this.

          This poor guy has over a hundred!

          https://recoveringshopaholic.com/2013/02/12/what-is-a-normal-sized-wardrobe/

          You have given me an idea. I am not allowed to buy anything in a particular category until I cut the number in half (even after the year is up). In other words I cannot buy a new dress shirt until I get down to 9 or 10, can’t buy new shoes (exception – running shoes) until I get down to 9, etc. This will force me to wear the less used items and wear them out or give them away. One of my problems is I use a few things until they fall apart, then I buy replacements instead of wearing what I already have.

    • wendy on January 7, 2018 at 1:43 pm
    • Reply

    That does seem to be a fair bit of clothing for one person (that’s allotta footwear! 3 suits!?)…

    Liz at Frugalwoods made it 3+ years with a clothes buying ban but I don’t think she published her starting list… and she did accept handmedowns, borrowing, etc…of course, she had a pregnancy in there too…

    Now I really feel compelled to go count all of my clothes… I usually buy when something actually wears out (some holes cannot be fixed), but sometimes I think the t-shirts are breeding in the dark…

    It will be cool to hear your ongoing (monthly?) report on this…

    1. Without a job or athletic hobbies I would have way less shoes, hahaha!

      Actually I have 2 suits (navy and charcoal gray) which are very old, and a jacket which is a bit newer. I needed suits for interviewing (medical school, residency, real job). This was not negotiable. You will not be hired/accepted if you show up to a residency interview without a suit. Maybe it has been done before, but I never saw any guy in anything other than a suit. Maybe I could have gotten away with one, but I have two. The jacket I bought for my high school reunion and wear it to other fancy stuff because it is more fashionable than the suits, and it fits me better. As long as they fit, I will keep the suits until they are unwearable. A decent suit is expensive and I would prefer to never buy another one. I have actually started wearing the pants from the suits to work, as they are nice pants and I felt they were going to waste just sitting in the closet with the jacket 🙂

      Liz is my hero. She takes this stuff to a level that makes me jealous…and she is one hell of a writer. Anyone reading this comment go read her blog right now – so much good stuff there! Ii think she just wrote a book too.

      http://www.frugalwoods.com/

      And YES! Count your clothes! It is a pretty eye opening experience. And I agree, I can’t figure out where all these shirts are coming from!

      I will likely update this post rather than post a new one and give it a shout on social media (Twitter, Facebook), so follow me somewhere for updates 🙂

        • wendy on January 7, 2018 at 6:08 pm
        • Reply

        I’ll poke back to this post occasionally…. I’m one of the weird ones that doesn’t have Twitter, FB, Instagram, Snapchat, etc etc. 🙂
        I have a barebones LinkedIn profile and that’s because (like your suits) it’s needed for work.
        Now I’m off to count clothes….
        Cheers!

        1. Excellent. When I update I will mention it in recent posts, deal?

  4. Oh man, I think I would be equally (or more so!) horrified if I took inventory of my clothing. I probably should… I’m already scared…

    Like you, much of my wardrobe is years old, well loved (er… used/tattered/faded/torn) and/or second hand. Not terrible, but I do have wayyy too much and should recalibrate. My biggest purge struggle is the “but I might use it” syndrome. And when I think of a shopping ban (again, an excellent idea!), I know I’d probably have trouble in the athletic wear department because I legitimately wear through that stuff! That being said, you are making me think and I may join you… maybe 😉

    Happy New Year, Mr. Happy Philosopher! I hope you and your family are doing well 🙂

    1. We are doing great, and as you can see I have a plethora of footwear to walk/run with you if you visit us!

      Join me in this experiment, and write about it on your blog 🙂 You can follow any rules you like. Athletic shoes and clothing are a gray area. I consider it a cross between clothing and sports equipment and feel exceptions can be made (see rule 4 above). The point is to be more mindful of consumption, and more grateful for what we have. If you wear through all your running socks and the choice is to not run or buy socks…just buy the socks! My wife runs so much she actually does wear through her stuff, but I’ve not yet been able to truly destroy one of those synthetic running shirts.

      The “but I might use it” or “Just in case” is a problem for me as well. It is hard for me to throw things away if I feel I can get more use out of them, mainly because I don’t like to put things in landfills. I know it’s great to donate, but the most efficient way is to just wear things out ourselves. Who knows, maybe I can push this longer than a year and get down to a “reasonable” amount of stuff.

      🙂

    • DadsDollarsDebts on January 7, 2018 at 8:25 pm
    • Reply

    Good luck amigo…I just bought a new wardrobe but not out of choice. My only other desired purchase now is a blue suit…figure i need one on hand for weddings, etc…Since i am building intentionally I have my wardrobe down to 8 dress shirts, 2 khakis, one pair dress slacks, 2 gym shorts, an assortment of 6 t shirts, 5 white t shirts, some boxers, socks, etc. 2 belts…

    Anyway, it is low and good to go…I am digging it for now. Will check back with you every time you post about this challenge.

    1. It is unfortunate the circumstances you were thrust into minimalism, but I look forward to reading more about your experiences with it. In particular I’m curious if you reset at a much lower level or if things slowly start to creep back in.

  5. This is quite a task that you have set up for yourself. Even just taking inventory seems like a lot of work. But sometimes you need a little imposed discomfort in order to push yourself to the next level. I also love Accidental Fire’s idea of mix and match, creativity at its finest.

    And to answer your question, yes, they do make yoga pants for men.

    1. You are correct, there is quite a selection on Amazon (and some of them seem like they could do double duty as sexy pajamas)!

    • Mike H on January 8, 2018 at 2:47 am
    • Reply

    The underwear is a tough item. I’m a fan of comfortable cotton boxers and can’t buy the brands I like in Asia so I end up stocking up when I visit the USA every year or other year. This last trip there weren’t many comfortable shorts to choose from so I’m feeling a little anxiety over that. Otherwise, I think that I would be up to this challenge in 2018. I normally only get new clothes when the previous ones wear out.

    -Mike

    1. Excellent. The more the merrier. Feel free to make your own rules and exclude underwear from the challenge. I do not want to induce underwear anxiety in anyone!

      • VagabondMD on January 8, 2018 at 5:36 pm
      • Reply

      Once you go wool, you will never go back to cotton. 😉

  6. I love your reconciliation with how you’ve been feeling and taking action on a new plan to challenge yourself. I did my own No New Clothes for a Year experiment over a year ago and it was a huge game changer for me and how I looked at buying clothes. I’m tempted to do it again this year after having a year of buying new clothes again and collecting more than I need. I’d love to have you on my podcast to share your story and journey, please let me know if you’d be interested! (http://lifelonglearningpodcast.com)

    1. I would consider doing a podcast, especially if there are free clothes involved 😉

      1. If you like to wear women’s clothing, we have a deal!

        1. I sent you an email. My mom and grandma dressed me up as a girl one Halloween, and I think I pulled the look off pretty well. I’m not so sure now though. I’ll stick with men’s’ clothes 😉

    • VagabondMD on January 9, 2018 at 7:33 am
    • Reply

    I think there should be monthly accountability updates, for THP and anyone else participating, on this thread.

    1. Agreed. Maybe I should make that a requirement for reading the blog – a statement attesting you will not purchase any clothes 🙂

    • VagabondMD on January 9, 2018 at 8:09 am
    • Reply

    Crap, I just received the email announcing one of my favorite clothes deals.

    https://jungmaven.com/products/10-for-150-hemp-tee-assortment

    Must. Resist. Tempta…

    1. I’m here to support you in your time of weakness brother!

  7. Ive done this a for a bit now and it’s not bad at all. Aside for the initial impulse to buy new clothes, having a minimal selection makes things so much easier. One tip to mention, if your an exercise guy, you’ll definitely need a good stockpile of undies (esp if you’re a runner). 😉 good luck!

    1. Well, I have 17 pair. Let’s all hope that’s enough 🙂

    • Astrid on January 14, 2018 at 5:28 am
    • Reply

    You will be fine. I think the concern about clothes wearing out between now and December are overblown. Think about how long the crap in your closet has lasted until now, likely years some decades. Or think about how long you thought about buying new underwear, shoes or pants etc until you actually had the time or inclination to buy then. Surely in some cases many months had passed before you got around to it. I was without black pants for 18 months and I managed fine. I really wanted black pants but wanted a certain fit and material which I could not find. But I managed 18 months without a basic pair of black pants! Who would have thunk? You work part time, you could just wear the same outfit or set of outfits repeatedly like I do. This whole year I bought only two pairs of pants (one black- hurray!) and sneakers- that’s it. Mostly because I refuse to accept my post baby weight and am STILL after four years convinced I will somehow lose it all. Sigh. But you have more than you think, case in point, we went on vacation this past summer. Two days before the trip I realized I hadn’t bought anything for myself. I was too busy packing for the kids and tying up work loose ends before our two week sojourn, etc. Instead of rushing to the store I simply started packing with the idea that i would identify the gaps and buy accordingly. There were no gaps. I had enough and it all fit.

  8. Love this – I’m on my second year of this now! It is tough to do.

    Why am I doing it?

    Debt Pay off!! I’ve declare a war on debt and this is one of my sacrifices for paying it off!

  9. Well, it’s late October. I have really enjoyed this challenge. I can’t say that I have pitched a complete shutout, but I have only purchased a t-shirt, three pairs of underwear, and a pair of rain pants that were required for an outdoor excursion. (Unfortunately, they were the most expensive pants I ever purchased, and even more unfortunately, as wet as we got, they soaked through.) I am still declaring victory, as I purchased much less than I normally would.

    I have already mentioned to my wife that I am thinking of doing it again next year! I am going to exclude shoes, but only when I need to replace them.

  1. […] was motivated by The Happy Philosopher this past week. He initially posted about buying no new clothes for 1 year, but after realizing how many clothes he has (seriously 45 pairs of socks!) he decided he had to up […]

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