I'm so happy that I am participating in this forum now and will have company and support for SYC!
The reason I am SYC is that I have blown my quite generous 2011 clothing allowance almost completely and it isn't even the end of July! I LOVE to shop and usually do it at least once a week, not to mention a few days a week online. I have TONS of clothes and need to utilize what I have before buying more. Even if I hadn't blown my budget, I think it would be a good idea to take some time to really use and evaluate what I have so I could buy based upon needs, not just impulses.
One thing I've been doing this year that has been helpful is logging how often I wear everything I have. I do this in three ways:
1) I turned all of my hangers the opposite way (facing out instead of in) on January 1. As I wear something, I turn the hanger inward. That way, I can see what I'm not wearing and try to incorporate it into an outfit.
2) My husband came up with a great idea to hang tags (the ones with string and a cardboard tag) on each hanger. As I wear something, I put an X on the tag. That helps me to see what types of items I wear so I can buy more of those types of items and less of the types of things I rarely wear. This has been amazingly eye-opening and helpful for me!
3) For items that don't have hangers (shoes, jeans), I have a chart on a clipboard and make the Xs there. I update this chart on the computer periodically.
Increasing my awareness is helping me to buy smarter, but it isn't helping with my overall problem of buying too much. I know that I sometimes shop for the wrong reasons. I shop to get a "high" or to fill a sense of inner emptiness. I feel a boost from shopping and love the shopping environment (surrounded by newness and possibility), even if I don't buy anything. I love the "hunt" of shopping and seeing what I can find. I shop at all price points, from thrift to designer. I usually only buy the higher-end stuff if it's on sale (I bought quite a bit at NAS, for example), but I am good at finding deals.
I often wonder if I should turn my shopping passion into a career because my career is not exactly thriving at present, but I worry that I will potentially get worse (shop more) if I am more immersed in that environment. For now, I keep a soft focus on looking for a possibility to make lemons from lemonade in that respect, but my main focus is on learning not to buy so much.
I have a wonderful wardrobe, but I can't stop myself from wanting more. For example, Mo's red focus and subsequent outfits have me really wanting more red items. I would love a red pair of pants or a red skirt. I have to stop wanting so much. I tell myself, though, that if I still want this red item next month and I can find an item at a low price, I can get it. I am trying to widen the gap between wanting and buying because I often just forget things down the line.
I could write and write on this topic and am actually thinking of starting a blog about it. Maybe my struggle and resulting insights could benefit others. For now, I will just write here on this forum and take comfort in knowing I am not alone!
