1 post tagged “challenge”

...starting March 1st, 2008, I'm officially going to swear off buying new or used clothing and shoes for one calendar year.  i'm not the first person, nor the last person, to ever take on this kind of a challenge--but i invite YOU to give it a go along with me and chronicle what ensues.

so, like any challenge, i need a few rules, besides the obvious.  here's what i'm doing:

1. no purchasing of new or used clothing with the exception of socks and underwear (thanks Carla and others) from any source (fairs, retail stores, websites, etc.)
2. buying fabric and sewing my own clothing is a-okay... but, see, i don't actually own a sewing machine, so that's a whole extra layer of complexity and fun to add into the equation.
3. the shopping embargo is limited (personally, anyways) to stuff i can wear.
4. 'renting' special occasion clothing is a-okay as well... (but i'm guessing pretty unlikely.)
5. borrowing or trading clothing with girlfriends is absolutely sanctioned.
6. alterations, dry cleaning, and shoe repair are highly encouraged.

yep.  that's it.  not too tough.  but none the less, it means giving up something that is, frankly, a big ol' habit for me.  it's unnecessary.  it's, more often than not, frivolous.  it's one of the many things that's preventing me from actually SAVING money. 

my husband and i want to buy a house.  we live in San Francisco, and it's expensive.  we really want to stay here and try and buy something, and we know we could in fact afford a pretty solid monthly payment.  yet we've been thus far entirely unable to buckle down and save.  now, i know that simply not buying clothing is not going to solve the problem.  there are a number of steps i/we can take to change our spending and saving habits, and i kinda see this as a HUGE symbolic step towards breaking my poor spending habits and making some serious change in the management of our collective finances.

this challenge, as you can see, is not entirely about pulling a nancy regan and 'just saying no' to retail therapy (my favorite anti-depressant).  it's about becoming--and staying--keenly aware of where my money goes every month.  retail therapy is only part of the problem.  but, it's probably the key contributor to my lacksidasical attitude about spending.  retail therapy always occurs in small, manageable doses that ultimately add up to a big lump of cash that i could have used for a down payment on a condo in sf for me, my husband, and my dog.