To keep myself accurate, I have to include the math: 31 days in January + 28 days in February + 5 days in March = 64 days. This could the be longest I have gone without making a clothing purchase since graduating from college.

When I graduated from college, I found that my wardrobe was completely wrong for a professional job setting. My college wardrobe was small and more than 80 percent second hand. So when I found my first professional job I was desperate to dress the part. Unfortunately I didn't really know how to dress the part and my finances were slim.

Of course, panic set in. I searched desperately for ideas for how to dress in a professional setting. There was not a lot of information out there. There was Dress for Success by John T. Molloy. This became a sort of Bible for me as I transitioned to the workplace.

Overnight I had to buy an entirely new wardrobe on a tight budget without real knowledge or any self awareness. Key emotions included desperation, panic, cluelessness. Of course, I shopped sales and if it looked like what might pass as professional I bought it. I bought it without a plan believing that everything would fit together seamlessly.

You can guess I developed a wardrobe of misfits that did not play well together. But I didn't clue into the underlying problem and I double downed and bought still more (still on sale).

The size of my wardrobe exploded yet I never had anything to wear. When I joined YLF, still desperate, I had a very large wardrobe and yet always felt like I was either underdressed or had nothing to wear at all. If an event (wedding, funeral, office party, theater) occurred, there was more frantic shopping because I couldn't rely on my wardrobe to dress me. (I am so embarrassed to admit this, but it is true and part of my style journey).

I never realized just how much those early years of shopping shaped my present shopping habits. It was clear that my personal shopping habits did not serve me well. They were too emotional and resulted in hugely impulsive purchases that were almost always bought on sale at the end of the season. It is no wonder that my wardrobe was characterized by a lack of cohesion.

I think the worse part was feeling like I always had to buy on sale. I never quite got over that feeling of always being on a tight budget. I set my clothing budget when I graduated and never thought to change or revise it as my financial conditions changed through time.

This Purchasing Fast was a way to put the brakes on that type of shopping. It was meant to serve as a "breather" for myself to think about my habits. This breather is supposed to help me deal with impulsivity; identify wardrobe holes; and develop a future buying plan.

I have had great success with dealing with the impulsivity. I worried that my impulsive purchases would transition from clothing to other things such as makeup, skin care, hair products, etc. That has not been the case. Instead I used that money that would have been spent on clothing to invest in an IRA. Yay for me.

I have slowly started to identify wardrobe holes: (1) summer slacks for work, (2) bottoms for hiking out west while on vacation, (3) good trail shoes; and (4) backpack. These items come out of my "clothing budget" so they will be designated as clothing purchases.

I am currently shopping for the summer slacks and the hiking bottoms. Once I find the summer slacks for work, I will develop a buying list for tops to coordinate with those slacks (micro-capsule).

I know exactly what I want/need for hiking, but haven't found them yet. What keeps hanging me up is zippered pockets. I want fast drying and zippered pockets. Zippered pockets are a deal breaker.

Over to you.