Catherine’s no-buying-until-July plan: how’s it really going?

Like a number of the FIFI bloggers (and of course inspired by Mina, who did it first and showed us all how it’s done), I have been on a no-buying-clothes plan. I started July 1 (after a flurry of late-June orders of jeans). It went very well, and even felt relaxing. I could look all I wanted and not have to stress about did I really need this or that? That question was already answered– no, I didn’t need it, and I wasn’t going to buy it. I found my online browsing drop as well. All this was to the good.

Come January 1, I decided to re-up: no clothes buying (with some exceptions: underwear, bras, replacement of much-needed items, etc.) I mean, why not? My closet and chests of drawers were still pretty full. Cleaning out my closet revealed some clothes I had ordered but never worn, which was kind of like delayed shopping (or something). So I was good to go for the next six months, right?

Honestly, it’s not that bad. But I did buy some things. Two pairs of shoes. Here they are:

The first purchase was because my sister and niece have these (in different colors), which I borrowed and wore over the Christmas holidays. I didn’t even hesitate– I ordered those suckers right away! The blue Dansko clogs were a different matter. I was, well, bored and unsatisfied with my work footwear. I wanted a pick-me-up for my feet. After several instances of abandoning online shopping carts, I finally did the deed. And honestly, I’m super happy with both of these purchases, despite the double transgression.

What does all of this mean– for my no-buying plan, for me as a person?

For my plan, I’ve resumed it. Yes, I admit, once I breached the online credit-card-use barrier, there was an initial “oh, what the hell” response. But I’m not an all-or-nothing person. By that, I mean that I know that adhering to the nothing-part of buy-nothing is pretty hard for me. But, buy-almost-nothing has been much easier than I thought. Yes, I have been doing more online browsing lately. I think that’s a function of late-winter doldrums rather than actual desire for more clothing. So I’m letting myself do that. The nice thing is, I haven’t bought anything. That feels good to me, and it feels like the right thing for me– resticking to the no-clothes-buying plan until July 1.

I’m thinking about how this pattern relates to my physical activity and other self-care resolutions. Two things come to mind, First, since all-or-nothing plans don’t suit me (maybe they don’t suit most of us), a some-of-something plan might be better. Second, I’ve been having trouble sticking to my exercise plans during February and March (except during spring break visiting family). Doing a little activity has been the most I’ve been doing. Well, okay then. Noticing what’s easier to do and when it’s easier is helping.

Hey readers, how are your all-some-none resolutions and plans going? I’d love to hear from you.