I made it, guys! I really did this thing. It’s been one full year of NO shopping.

That’s 365 days of the earth around the sun, and your girl didn’t go shopping once!

For those of you who have been following along, you may remember that it was exactly one year ago, as of yesterday, when I embarked on this challenge wearing this very same thing. 

For those of you who don’t know, here’s the story…

Basically, I must’ve been complaining about not having anything to wear and my hubby was talkin’ a lot of smack on this particular July morning in 2018, so he said “You don’t need to go shopping. You have tons of clothes. I bet you can go one whole year without repeating an outfit even once.” My dumb ass (or actually smart ass, in retrospect), took this as some kind of dare, so I said, “That sounds like a challenge!” And there began my journey.

Outside of hair, nails and basic maintenance (aka beauty products), I haven’t been shopping for any clothes or shoes online or in stores for ONE WHOLE YEAR. Gasp!

So how did I do it?
It was actually a lot easier than you might think.

First, I organized all the clothes I already own. Ok, so real talk, “organized” is a pretty strong word. It was more of an explosion in my closet. I basically threw clothes and shoes everywhere so I could have one big view. There were things with tags still on them, for God’s sake. 

*Side note: This is how ridiculous I am. I buy things because they’re pretty, knowing the whole time that I don’t “need” whatever these things are. And they often just sit in my closet for months before I even remember that I have them. This is the number one reason I had to stop my madness. I mean, my hubby didn’t exactly put the challenge out there. He was just talkin’ ish. And to be honest, I’m not even sure if he 100% believed that I would actually go through with it. But guess what?!

Boo YA!!!!! I did it! Self-imposed no shopping challenge complete!

Anyhoo, back to the how: once I threw all my clothes everywhere, I had easy access to see all that I had to work with. I just started mixing and matching things I’ve never put together before. And of course there are classic closet staples, and funky oldies but goodies that are always in rotation, so they obviously made the cut.

I came up with a new outfit pretty much everyday, and maybe there were one or two times that I repeated things. And OMG, with all the crazy rain we had this spring in New York, I don’t know how I would’ve made it through the challenge without my trusty skinny black jeans. Dress them up or down, and change the look instantly with the right shoes and accessories (which I also already have a ton of…but I digress)…

If anything, this challenge has made me realize the things that I DO actually need.

I could use a nice pair of summer sandals. I’ve been rocking the ones from last summer but they’re pretty beat up from walking around the city streets so much. I also wouldn’t mind another pair of black jeans from Express. I never realized what a necessity they are until going through this challenge! We’ll see. Either way, stay tuned for a reveal of whatever my first purchase will be.

At the end of the day, this challenge was not as hard as I thought it would be, considering how many things I already own, which is kind of embarrassing in all honesty. The biggest challenge was definitely when I had to run into Zara or H&M to buy gifts for my nieces. I had to dig deep for some serious self-control during those moments running into two of my favorite stores…ay ay ay…

The good news is that it’s finally over and I made it. All in all, my biggest takeaway has been self-growth and increased awareness that I already have everything I need. Plus, think of all the money I can save for travel!  Ka-ching!!!…Incentive!!!

Now onto the next little nugget…

With the self-imposed challenge now over, my son and husband actually came up with a new idea for me: Budget no more than $100 a month to buy clothes or shoes. Here’s the cool thing –  anything I don’t spend in a given month rolls over to the following month, which would then accumulate, and give me $200, and so on and so forth, if I so choose to spend it {joy!}. The idea intrigues me, and clearly I can do this, so I’m in!

I’m kinda like Marty McFly when you call him chicken. 

What did you say to me?!

Stay tuned for a whole new lifestyle tweak! Your girl is now on a budget! Who am I?

#PlotTwist

xo Karen