The Closet Challenge

Hello dears! Remember how last post was a complete snooze fest and I promised I'd have something exponentially more entertaining for you all today? Well, I've got an announcement of sorts for you all! After giving this a lot of thought, and I mean A LOT of thought, I've decided to challenge myself (and my closet for that matter) to a year long shopping hiatus. That's right, I'm challenging myself to commit to no shopping for a WHOLE year. I know that seems completely insane, especially for a shopping addict like me, but frankly, that's precisely why I wanted to do it. I was starting to see how the amount of shopping I did was becoming an issue. I was spending too much of my funds on clothing and less and less of it on the things that actually needed to be paid and none of it on helping others. That fact started to get under my skin like an incurable itch. The itch of discomfort with my shopping habits started to fester like an open wound. I could see how much time I spent in stores, malls, and websites perusing and perusing clothes and it really started to bother me. Was this the person I wanted to be? That person that spent money carelessly on things that don't last longer than a season or two? That person that prioritized buying herself shoes, cardigans, and hats over paying for her own actual needs or using her money to help another? No. Not at all. I felt like the lines between wants and needs started to get too blurred. I think the moment I finally committed to the idea of going a whole year without shopping was an evening when I was attempting to put away some clothing and I realized that I had a walk in closet AND a full sized dresser and yet I still didn't have enough room for my clothes. It was that moment that made me really step back and realize that there were some people in the world that had only the t-shirt on their backs and here I was struggling to fit another item of clothing into my already overflowing walk in closet. It was honestly kind of a shameful moment for me. Anyway, the decision was made that I needed a cleanse to refocus myself. I also decided that a simple month long cleanse wasn't going to cut it this time around, either. Thus, my Closet Challenge was born. I decided to call it "The Closet Challenge" because on top of serving the purpose of getting my shopping habits and priorities under control it would also serve the purpose of putting my closet to the test. It would test whether or not I own enough timeless/versatile pieces to last me a whole year sans shopping without making me look like Granny West from the 1920's. ;)

Now that I've pitched my intentions, I might as well declare my rules and guidelines for the challenge while I'm at it, because what's a challenge without rules, right? :)

The Closet Challenge Guidelines

• No shopping from January 1st 2014 to January 1st 2015
• If I should ever happen to fall off the band wagon and make a purchase, I have to place the same amount of money I spent on clothing into my savings account. (I figure this will double the amount of money that will be leaving my pocket and therefore dissuade me from wanting to shop.)
• Anytime I'm feeling tempted to go shopping, or I catch myself spending more than 5 minutes browsing online, I have to put another ten dollars into my savings account.
• Anytime I say the phrase "I totally need" and follow it up with the name of an item of clothing another ten dollars must go into savings. 
• Put a fourth of my monthly income into savings as money I would've otherwise spent on clothing.
• Log my progress throughout the year on this here blog of mine by doing an end of the month analysis of all the different uses my money was put to without having it under the burden of my poor shopping habits. ;)
• At the end of the year, I must calculate all the money that's been put into my savings due to the Closet Challenge and then find a charity or good cause to donate half of it to.

{h&m: striped cotton shirt; Space 46 Boutique: tulle skirt; F21: studded loafers, reader glasses similar, pearl hairband worn as bracelet}

Well my dears, the challenge hast been proclaimed, the rules have been set, and now all that's left is for me to follow through on my master cleanse from shopping! I know this will be good for me, and will definitely be a humbling experience but I still can't help but question whether or not I've lost my sanity. ;) I've made a cute little sidebar button for "The Closet Challenge" as well, just as a daily reminder but also as a way to let you all join in on the quote unquote fun. ;) If any of you lovely blogger friends or readers are interested in loosing your sanity and joining me in a year long hiatus from shopping (or however long  you can commit to) feel free to grab the button and add it to your page! Let's see where this takes us!

Much love!