In 2013 I set the intention of NO SHOPPING without necessity. So this applied to clothing and accessories (shoes, jewelry, bags). Exceptions were -traveling to Asia.
Things I bought out of "necessity":
1. A dress to wear to a wedding -happened to be on sale and fit amazingly and would totally wear it again and again. I did wear it one other time already.
2. Running sneakers -I only owned barefoot shoes and needed something to run outside in while in Thailand. They were pricey but very worth it.
3. Running socks -because I wore barefoot shoes before I never needed running socks...hmmm
4. Winter accessories -lost my hat from last year :( and gloves on a really cold day I was walking around gloveless while food shopping in Chinatown.
When I cheated:
1. Thailand -a really beautiful warm scarf and a pair of Muay Thai shorts (totally unnecessary) -this was my Asia travel exception.
2. A really nice yoga mat bag -not needed but quite useful.
Not bad! I stuck to it pretty well. What I learned from this experience is...I really don't like shopping but I really used to think I did! The less stuff I need to buy the less anxious. Going into stores to shop gives me anxiety and having stuff means I have more stuff to worry about and be anxious. One day my bestie needed to buy a pair of shoes so I went with her and all I did was try on ridiculous shoes that I would never wear but I thought were pretty to look at. Most of them I couldn't even walk in they were so ridiculously high and uncomfortable, but I thought...a year ago I might have stupidly purchased a pair and told myself I'd wear them. I'm so glad I've shed light on my weird compulsive shopping habits and even better...paid off my credit cards! Not only has this experience made me more consciously aware about my compulsive and impulsive behaviors about shopping, but made a better decision maker in my life over all. I was able to set better routines for eating and working out and I felt I have been pretty successful all year with them. It was a great year of saving money, cutting down on excessive behaviors and slowing down my thinking process instead of reacting and being impulsive. Finding what necessity actually means.
So what's in store for 2014?
1. I'm cutting down on facebook time. It's like a weird nervous twitch I've developed to check fb on my smart phone...every 5 min. I can spend an hour reading completely unimportant things about people I don't care that much about. I often justify looking at facebook to see what my cousins overseas are doing -which is why fb is great to me! But there is way too much time just looking at random unimportant stuff. So I am allotting 1x a day for 10min to look at random stuff and I've been working on hiding certain posters and highlighting friends who I don't get to interact with regularly but still want to know what their up to from time to time. I could have been spending all that fb time at an art gallery, reading a book, having tea with a friend or taking a damn nap!
2. Going to continue my no shopping. I am allowing myself a few luxury buys -I made a list of a few things I "sort of" need in my wardrobe to update it a bit and outside of that I am sticking to a buy on necessity only rule -ie running shoes are totally burned out...buy new ones.
3. Purging my closet. I got rid of about 10 bags of clothes last year -many pairs of shoes donated to friends, dresses and purses donated to prom goers in need, salvation army and the church by my moms house. It still isn't enough. I found a ton of t-shirts that I can't seem to get rid of! So I am going to force myself to do it....I already put aside 2 of them.
4. Generally I find myself so attached to the virtual world of smart phone and computer. I feel like these LCD screens are messing up my vision! Less virtual life, more real life. :)
5. Watching what I say. I have had a handful of experiences in 2013 of witnessing, being a part of or being a victim of mean girls. I don't want to be a part of it. It's so ugly, it feels dirty and no one ever benefits from it. Down with mean girls.
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