Lesson Learned

I finished my 21 day challenge today. No clothes, shoes, or jewelry for 21 days. I did it, with the exception of one small faux pas I made on Saturday when I bought a small, Eiffel Tower charm from the scrapbook store. I am blaming it on being out of sorts. My guard wasn't up at the scrapbook store.

I learned a lot about myself the last 21 days.

First, I realize I love clothes. A lot. I always have. There is no getting around that. From the embroidered Guess shirts and the Girbaud jeans of my youth, up to the much more gorgeous and grown up styles of today I crush over, I have had a love affair with clothes for many, many years.

Second, I realize I can now afford pretty much whatever I want, whenever I want it. Slowly over the years, debt and bills have melted away. Gone are the student loans, the diapers, the extra car payment, the day care, the just out of college salaries. I haven't had to think or question what I spend, as there is generally enough there to sustain my shopping sprees. Pair that with a sense of entitlement that I earn a good salary and I shouldn't have to justify my spending to anyone has been very dangerous. And naive. And spoiled.

Third, I wanted to figure out what was fueling my constant shopping binges. I realized a lot of it was emails I got from my favorite stores advertising deals, free shipping, the latest trend. I started deleting them the second they hit my inbox. I also found a "support" group online. JCrewaholics has made me laugh and realize there are many out there with my obsession. Dying to meet the owner of this site. Their banner contains a picture of the Eiffel Tower, a J Crew catalogue, a BMW key, an iPhone, a super great pen, and tickets to an art museum. My Doppelganger of obsessions is somewhere out there:}

So, how to stop needless spending on clothes for the most part I can't even remember or possibly only wear once? The thought...just because you can, doesn't mean you need to. Or should. And real thought should be put into every financial decision you make.

I am taking away a renewed sense of caution and thought to purchases. To spending money. We had a valuable lesson arise during my 21 days. Shane was forced to take a 40 hour furlough from work. He can take the 4 shifts over the next few months, and luckily this won't hurt us, but gone now are the easy and somewhat reckless attitudes toward money. Being in HR has opened my eyes to the fact that the recession is beyond scary. I have seen layoffs in the news I had never fathomed would be possible, jobs outsourced or outpaced by other workers. Shane's furlough brought me straight down to earth as I never thought would.

So, for now I can't say I will never purchase another article of clothing again, but I will be smarter. I will wear things a few times (at least), get creative in my closet, and assess every penny I let out of my wallet. I realize I am a lucky girl. We are beyond blessed and I need to be focusing financial blessings on long term goals for myself, my family and my community.

Good luck with your goals. Will keep you posted on some of my new ones soon!