If you haven’t been following along or if you’re new around here (hi!), I decided to throw out the rule book for resolutions in 2019. Rather than making a laundry list of things I need to change about myself all at the same time, I’m giving myself mini challenges throughout 2019 to see what sticks – and what I learn along the way too. You can get a little more background and see my list of challenges in this post right here if you want to catch up. This month, I’ll be sharing how I’m giving up shopping for a month!  Outfit is from clothes I previously owned! Boots // Skirt // Shirt {similar} // Vest {similar} // Necklace // Purse 

Giving up Shopping for a Month Challenge:

Alright friends, challenge #2 is on! I survived my 2019 challenge #1 of giving up sugar for a week, and now I’m onto my next act – giving up shopping for a month. Oh boy, please wish me luck on this one…

Giving up shopping for a month is definitely going to be a challenge, and I debated if it was something I should do for a full month, or only just a few weeks. While I hate to admit it, I definitely have an emotional connection to shopping, especially with clothes. When I’m stressed at work or need a little quick fix, shopping is usually my outlet – whether it’s online or browsing shops on Michigan Ave in downtown Chicago. I have a closet full of clothes and nothing to wear – a plight I’m sure a lot of you can relate to. Rather than lamenting on what I don’t have, I’m choosing to focus on my closet full of clothes, and getting a little creative when it comes to pulling together outfits for the blog over the next month.

A few weeks ago, I watched the True Cost documentary on Netflix that documents the massive tool the fashion (and specifically fast fashion) industry is taking on our world and the workers in third world countries making them. I knew it was going to be a hard documentary to watch, but I had no idea how gutted I would feel afterwards. While I always knew fast fashion had a dark side, but I never really understood the real cost of a cheap $20 shirt, and the impact that purchase has on workers working in terrible conditions in third world countries like Bangladesh and Cambodia and the environment. I don’t want to get too preachy, but it’s a really important movie to watch – and it made me really think about the people behind the shirt you wear one day and get rid of next season. Oh – and if you think donating your clothes makes it better, it turns out that only 10% of donated clothes ever get sold, most get shipped out to other third world countries for them to deal with. Anyways…watch the movie – I was heartbroken/gutted/inspired all at the same time – and definitely kicked my butt into gear to get myself mentally ready for a shopping hiatus.

Okay, so – like any good challenge, I need some guardrails to hold myself accountable and make sure I actually follow the rules.

My Giving up Shopping for a Month Guardrails:

What’s not OK when giving up shopping for a month: 

• No clothes or shoe shopping
• No shopping for beauty products
  • The goal here is to use up all my current products before buying new ones!
• No accessories shopping (which I’m highlighting because if I don’t, I might cheat…)

What’s OK when giving up shopping for a month: 

• Only buying necessary items I run out of or don’t have (toilet paper, dental floss, all that good stuff)
• Buying food is A-OK, girl’s gotta eat! But I’m going to try to limit the amount of money I spend at restaurants since I tend to eat out a lot.
• Public transportation is OK, but trying to spend less on Ubers/Lyfts since I’ve been overspending on transportation these days
• Can purchase experiences – like tickets to a movie, a nice restaurant meal, or tickets for an upcoming trip in March
• Technically, I’m going to say gifted clothes are OK – but I’m not banking on having a ton of gifted items at the end of January/February 🙂

I’ll plan to write a post at the end of February, sharing how giving up shopping for a month goes for me! In the meantime, I’ll still be blogging with outfits, but I’ll be sharing posts with items I already own rather than any new pieces. Time to get a little creative with my closest, which is a good challenge to have. xx