No-Buy January

As a bit of a personal challenge, I decided to go the month of January "without buying anything."  I put that in quotes because there were obvious exceptions.  Case in point, groceries.  Beer counts as a grocery, if bought at a grocery store.

I guess it would be better to say I went the month without buying anything frivolous.  The main thing I wanted to focus on was clothing, because I've been doing a mini wardrobe overhaul for the past few months (still ongoing), and it was starting to add up.  Additionally, I've been spending more at restaurants than I would like to lately, so I wanted to limit that as well.

It was interesting.  For one thing, it wasn't nearly as difficult as I thought it would be.  Since I knew I wasn't going to be buying anything, I spent a lot less time browsing, both online and in stores, than I have in past months.  This proved challenging when I went to Nordstrom Rack to help Joe exchange a shirt.  I found this cape, at an amazing price of only $60 or so, marked down from well over $200.  I love the color, it felt very nice/soft, and I've wanted a cape for months now.  But I told myself, "Self, you already have a nice coat and you don't actually need a cape.  If you're going to spend money, it would be best spent on something else."

I'll be honest, I spent about an hour that day in a funk.  But I got over it.  Besides, I'm secretly hoping Nordstrom Rack will have a "Clear the Rack" sale so I can go see if they still have it, for an additional 25% off...

Beyond that, I never found myself upset that I couldn't buy something.  And it's not like I went on a major shopping spree once February came.  After spending a month of not really looking for things to buy, I don't feel the urge to compulsively browse online stores as much anymore.  Doesn't mean I'm done buying things forever, of course.  I still have some serious issues with my wardrobe and I'm looking for new pieces to replace the ones I don't like, or that just don't go with anything else I own.  But taking a month off gave me a chance to actually think about what I have and what I want, and where I have major gaps in my wardrobe.  So now I can focus on filling the gaps, rather than just buying things because I think I might need it.

I will admit, the month wasn't perfect.  I've been on a massive Sims 2 kick lately, so I decided to buy the remaining expansions that I didn't already have.  It probably could have waited, but I was also buying the games used, so there was a chance that if I waited longer, the cheap ones would be sold and I'd have to buy a more expensive one.  That's the defense (excuse) I'm giving, but I will say I don't regret it because I've had a lot of fun messing around with the new games.

Additionally, Joe and I went out for dinner twice.  The first was before I even decided to do this challenge, and it was something we had been planning since December anyway.  I had a $10 gift card from my birthday, as well as a second, stackable coupon for a free appetizer.  I like almost $20 of free food.  The second time, we went out with a bunch of our friends to watch a football game.  I think it's important to have a balance between saving money and being social.  Even if I go out to eat on occasion, I can still put aside a decent amount of money each month.  I'm not trying to be cheap; just frugal.

So overall, I would say the challenge was a success.  No, I wasn't perfect.  But I was able to cut down on absentminded browsing of online stores, which will undoubtably cut down on future spending if I keep it up.  I was able to think more critically about what it is specifically that I don't like about my current wardrobe.  As an added bonus, I received a nice boost to my net worth.  And that, to me, is a lot more satisfying than buying a cape.  (Though I still really, really hope it's not sold out at my Nordstrom Rack...)

Dressing for Success: Harder Than it Sounds!

My boyfriend, Joe, recently started his first real job.  His usual outfit of t-shirt and jeans or t-shirt and basketball shorts was no longer going to cut it thanks to a laid back, but still business casual, dress code.  In the past couple weeks, he's built up a respectable base wardrobe with collared shirts and khakis.  Jeans are ok, so our next mission is to find him some better fitting jeans, but that man is impossible to buy pants for.

Every week day, I get to watch him go off to work dressed like the brand new yuppie he is.  And then I look down at what I'm wearing.  And I get sad.

See, working in a chemistry lab, your dress code is:  long pants and no open toed shoes/sandals.  There's really no point to dressing nicely.  With my luck, the first day I wore a nice new shirt, I'd probably spill acid all over myself.  Not that I've ever done that so far (knock on wood) but that's just how life goes.  So 95% of the time, I'm in a t-shirt and jeans.  But come on, I'm closing in on 25.  I shouldn't be shopping in the junior's section anymore!  There's gotta be some sort of compromise between looking nice but still casual enough for a lab, right?

What I'd love to do is box up half of my current wardrobe or more, donate it, and go on a massive shopping spree.  I don't know quite where I'd go, though.  Kohl's and JCP are two of my go-to cheap clothing stores, but then I have to deal with the fact that if I try to shop in the "misses" section, I'm pretty much limited to styles which come in an x-small.  I'm not trying to brag here.  I don't normally complain about "vanity sizing" but it's a bit ridiculous.  I don't care much for my own sake because I can almost always find something that fits, but I am by no means "extra small."  There are people out there who are much smaller than me - what do they do when they want to shop for something outside the junior's section?

Sorry, tangent aside, I just want to find a way to dress a little nicer than I currently do without having to worry incessantly about ruining the clothes in lab.  Well, I say that, but here's what I bought on my last shopping trip:

- yoga shorts (They're longer than the ones I currently use as pajamas, making them acceptable for public!)
- crop top (it's summer and it's hot, wah wah)
- muscle tank with neon rainbow zebra on it (wah wah hot summer, plus gym shirt..?)
(all from the junior's section)

So, as it stands, I still haven't solved the problem of what to wear to work.  I'm going to keep trying, and in the meantime, I'll still just be wearing band shirts and my rainbow of v-necks...