Sheila Sims Iding
It’s a year-long commitment made to simplify my life. That’s right…a whole year…all with the goal of making my life more simple. It’s the 3rd time I’ve done it. The 3rd year I’ve done it. Not in a row. That would not be simplifying. That would be torture. I usually take a few years off before I attempt it again. It had been a couple of years so on January 1, 2011, I made the commitment for the third time. I took this one step to simplify my life: do not buy any new clothes for one year. No new clothes for all of 2011.
I first read it several years ago in one of those “Simplify Your Life” books. It caught my attention because it seemed absurd. But the more I read the more I fell in love with the reasoning. It tried to convince the reader that if you go one year without buying any clothes you will save time, you will save money and you will save anxiety and frustration. It proved to be so true that I have done it 2 times since. I am actually immersed in the 3rd episode of “What Not to Buy”….buy NOTHING!
So…here are the many ways this one act…this one commitment has made my days…my year…my life…more simple:
1) Time saved shopping: When I go to the mall (which isn’t very often nowadays), I don’t go to any clothing stores. I go to Barnes and Noble. Maybe the Hallmark store. I don’t have to worry about the Yonkers coupons and if they will work or not. I don’t have to hope for a 30% off at Kohl’s. I don’t shop there. Macy’s sale (and presale) mean nothing to me.
2) Time saved catalog-ing: If you know me you know I LOVE my catalogs. I get a bazillion of them. (So much for saving trees.) And I “window shop” and turn down corners and post-it note my favorites. Now I leaf through them quickly and dispose of them. Except for J Jill catalog. I still window shop and window shop and window shop. There are no turned corners and no post it notes. Just a well perused catalog ready for recycling. No need to put it in “that” wishful thinking pile. Or wait-for-the-next-paycheck pile. Or wait-for-it-to-go-on-clearance pile.
3) Time saved online. Delete, delete, delete. I don’t care if JJill has 25% off. It doesn’t matter if Lands End has free shipping. And the clearance email won’t be opened either. I not only save time buying things online, I save time “shopping” online. I don’t even open the emails for clothes. Delete, Delete, Delete.
4) Time saved agonizing: What should I get for that wedding our whole family is invited to? (Maybe something that will look good with their suits for a nice family picture?) What should I get for Tim’s graduation from Loyola? Surely another Master’s Degree calls for a special outfit. What about the ceremony after the completion of the intense month of writing for the MSU Red Cedar Writing Project? A special dinner, a special class, a special outfit? Well many fun and special occasions came up this year and instead of agonizing what to where, when to shop, how much to spend…there was no agonizing. There were no new outfiting.
5) Time saved “fixing”: I didn’t have any outfit that needed “fixing” up with accessories or a button or bow here or there. Mostly, I didn’t have to return anything. I didn’t have bags in the back of my car waiting for me to find the time and energy to return them. I didn’t have any boxes by the back door to send to work with Pat for his UPS driver to return. I didn’t have to try to match a jacket for that dress or fancy sweater for that skirt. There is no “fixing” the new outfit. There is no new outfit.
6) Time saved guilt-ing. No guilt about money spent. No buyer’s remorse. No buyer. No guilt about time wasted at a mall or trying on clothes. No guilt about the outfit that didn’t fit but it was kept anyway just in case those few pounds fall off and you can fit in it. No guilt about buying the more expensive one and instead of the clearance one. J Jill is my guilty pleasure…but no guilt this year. No J Jill.
So you can see the benefits of this year commitment. You can actually see how it does save time, money and emotional fees of clothes shopping. One of the unexpected pleasures came the first time I did it. My birthday is in December and I desperately needed a new navy blue turtleneck. I couldn’t buy one so I asked for one for my birthday. I cannot tell you how excited I was to get a navy blue turtleneck for my birthday that year. I was thrilled. I wore it the next day like it was a new J Jill ensemble.
Another unexpected pleasure was not caring about wearing the same thing to the wedding, to the graduation, to the baby shower, to the fancy dinner. It truly doesn’t matter who has seen it before, if you wore it the last time you were with that group of friends or if you now have a “standard” fancy outfit. I really don’t think other people know what you wore to the last wedding. It probably only matters to the “wearer” and this year, it didn’t matter to me. That was an unexpected liberation…and simplifying in itself.
I could still buy shoes but it seems most shoe purchases are to complete some new outfit. My outfit “completion” was complete so shoe shopping was not as much fun. (Although I tried hard.) It also didn’t include accessories so I had fun buying some scarves and some Vera Bradley purses. Admittedly I probably had too much fun with the Vera Bradley purchases. It was my coping skill. And I probably can now go a year without buying Vera Bradley anything.
It’s nearing the end of the year of this simplifying commitment and it is getting long. Target always has some cute top or something calling to me. The Sunday ads aren’t as much fun. The closet is getting old. There is a simple joy in the feeling of wearing something new that first time. It does put an extra skip in your step. I still have a hankering to go to JoAnn Fabircs and buy some material and make a NEW skirt or two…and I still may. December 31 is a long way off. Having said all that…my life has been simplified. My days have been easier. My bank account has been strengthened. I encourage everyone to try it. Maybe just for ½ year, or a season, or a month. It really does simplify more than you know. When was the last time you were thrilled about a navy blue turtleneck from Target? It is simply simplifiying.