The simple life

With the second month of my challenge almost coming to a close, I must admit I am feeling pretty proud of myself! I am so thankful for the support of my friends and thrilled with the interest in this subject, but the biggest surprise so far has been the differing opinions on the difficulty of the challenge. The women in my life have been in awe of my commitment and ability to give up shopping for a whole year, whereas most of the men have been relatively unimpressed. From my guy friends, I have heard things like....."Good! You don't need more clothes anyway" or "No shopping for a year? Big deal....I could do that easily." I can't help but wonder why there is such a gender division when it comes to opinions about shopping? So I started to think about why I shop.....here are my top reasons for shopping:

• Boredom
• To buy a new outfit for upcoming occasion
• Feeling down
• Celebrate a accomplishment
• Reward good behavior ie. I went for a run everyday this week, so therefore I deserve a new dress.
• New job=new clothes
• Weight loss/gain
• Replace an item lost/ruined
• Something to do on a rainy day
• For fun

Need I go on? The point is that women have so many more reasons to shop than men. So of course the women are more understanding of what it takes to give up such a big part of my life for a year! They don't like shopping anyway, so it would be easy to stop, right? I know there are obvious exceptions to this, but I remember reading a study in my undergrad Geography and Gender class entitled "Men buy, Women Shop". In a nutshell, the study showed that, generally speaking, men shop when they need something and would rather be in and out as quickly as possible, whereas women are more likely to enjoy the experience. I have definitely been on my fair share of mission-based shopping expeditions (you know the type.....I need a flowy, floral print shirt that buttons up and has short sleeves, in green or purple and I can't spend more than $40....then I wonder why I am disappointed when I don't find it) but I also know that some of my best finds were from aimless outings where I wandered into a cute shop on a whim only to find my new fave sweater. Hmmmmm, now that I think about it.....those are also the kind of outings that result in buyer's remorse....maybe us girls could learn a thing or two from the guys. Think about how different our wardrobes would look if we only shopped when we needed something and only bought what we loved....not to mention how easy it would be to get dressed in the morning! I think that is the other reason women find this challenge more impressive than guys. Have you ever thought about many options women have compared to men? Think about it.....every morning we choose between dress pants, shorts, skirts, jeans, casual pants or a dress then we have the options for tops....tanks, tees, blouses, long-sleeved tees, 3/4 sleeved tees, combined with something for warmth of course because I know I get cold so we have cardigans, pullovers, sweatshirts or blazers....not to mention the shoes....flats, flip-flops, sneakers, boots, or heels? Decisions, decisions, decisions....the combinations are endless and that is without even considering colour, season, style, occasion and feeling! Guys on the other hand have three decisions to make. Dressy jeans or casual jeans? Collar or no collar? Casual shoes or dress shoes? Ahhhh the simple life. Of course I am exaggerating for effect, because I definitely have a few guy friends with larger wardrobes than me and my husband has on occasion been known to take as long as me to choose an outfit! My point is that I can see where some of the guys' opinions are coming from because they see it as being easy to shop only in your own closet for the year when you have that many options! I know my husband never understands my need to buy anything new for this very reason....he thinks that the more clothes you have, the less you need to shop and buy more. I guess I am realizing that he is probably right! Most of us could probably cut our wardrobes at least in half and still have a variety of clothing to choose from. I know a lot of my friends have expressed that since reading my blog they are starting to be more aware of how much clothing they have and thinking more before they shop.......
so I hope that this post inspires you to start shopping and dressing like a guy......not literally of course. Pare down your wardrobe to what you love and wear often, then only buy what you truly need from now on! I guarantee that doing these two things will give your closet some breathing space, simplify your mornings and spark your creativity to accessorize and repurpose.
Good luck and let me know how it goes!
Lindsay

Support from fellow Vancouverite and Smart Cookie; Angela Self

When I mentioned this project on the Smart Cookies facebook page they were so impressed, that not only did they share it with their twitter and facebook followers but also one of the cookies has made special mention of my challenge in some of her online media articles. Angela Self has some great advice that might just encourage you to shrink your closet and maybe even fatten up your wallet in the process! Check out her 6 for 1 Challenge blog or the some of the Smart Cookies' articles in the Globe and Mail Investor section. It has been wonderful to have their support and I hope that it will lead to inspiring more people to live with less and encourage them to focus on adding more experiences to their life not more stuff.

Thanks Smart Cookies!

Lindsay

Are the shopping Gods trying to torture me?

Has anyone been out and about in Vancouver lately? I think that pretty much every one of my favorite stores have either a 70% off sale or 50% off of lowest ticketed price sale on now. Those are my favorite kind of sales! Well..... actually let's be honest, I love sales of any kind. However I recently learned that I may love sales more than most. I just took a quiz on the Smart Cookies website to see what kind of shopper I am. The choices are Slacker, Impulse, Zombie, Status, Yo-Yo or Sales spender ......and let's just say I fall mostly into the three latter categories. Well I am obviously a Yo-Yo spender, I am doing a "no-shopping" project for a year....enough said! I am also not afraid to spend money on designer items if I really love it, or it is an investment piece. But ultimately I am a sucker for a sale. I can't even count the number of times I have bought something because it is on sale. I didn't need it, nor did I really love it......but it was on sale! I am sure some of you can relate to this and you know that being a 'sales spender' goes hand in hand with buyers remorse. So maybe the shopping Gods aren't trying to torture me, but instead they are teaching me a lesson that shopping the sales won't save me money but being aware of what I need and only buying what I love sure will!
What kind of shopper are you? The Smart Cookies say that the best way to control your spending and experience less buyer's remorse is to know why you shop and how you spend your money. I know it sure was enlightening for me.....and actually motivated me to continue this challenge. I am sure that if I hadn't taken on this project I would have walked into those stores and bought at least one thing I would soon regret or didn't really need. So, instead..... I went for a run, called a friend and then blogged about it......who needs shopping?

A detour from my reading list....

What I have noticed so far with my book club for one is that I have been doing waaaay too much reading to keep to just 1 book a month. Since I can't buy new books and I don't want to skip ahead in my reading because then I would finish all 12 in the next few months, I have been frequenting my public library for books to tide me over until I start next months' selection. On one of my weekly visits I was surprised to see a book I have been meaning to read for months on the shelf. If you are a library-goer then you will know how frustrating it is to get popular books because the request lists are often hundreds of people long! Usually I would get frustrated and just buy it.....or at the very least wait for the book to come out in paperback to save a few bucks. That of course was before I committed to not buy books at all, so obviously I was super-excited to find the bestselling novel "The Help" by Kathryn Stockett just sitting there on the shelf waiting to be borrowed! One minor catch......this 444 page novel was in the fast read section; 1 week loan, no renewals and $1/ day fines for late returns. Not sure if I could do it but decided to give it a try anyway and as it turns out I am so glad I did because I couldn't put it down. 

I finished it just in the nick of time (with a little help from my sneaky trick: even if a book is due today, if you return it before the library opens tomorrow, they will never know). 

The book takes place in Mississippi and focusses on the relationships between white and black women in the early 1960's. We are introduced to three very different but equally unforgettable women and as their stories unfold they change the way they view one another and begin to realize that they are more alike than different. One of the best quotes in the book, is one that even 50 years later humanity can still learn from, "Wasn't that the point of the book? For women to realize, we are just two people. Not that much separates us. Not nearly as much as I'd thought". This book is officially added to the list of my favorite books of all time.....

not bad for an impulse detour from my 2011 reading list. 

Getting crafty

Some days I think...wow 1 month down and only 11 to go, I am feeling pretty good, really not finding it that difficult and completely confidant that I can do it......but there are other days when I become very aware of the fact that 1 month into this challenge is like a drop in the ocean and I start to wonder... can make it 11 more months? Then, I remember that just because I can't shop doesn't mean that I have to deprive myself of having anything new this year......I can simply get crafty and make myself something! I am going to try and do this once a month, to try and satisfy cravings for something new while also focusing on doing the things I love like crocheting, sewing or jewelry making which totally fits with this project perfectly! I want to start off small with making accessories and then as the year goes on maybe I will get more ambitious and try to make my own clothing (emphasis on the word TRY.....I make no promises about the quality). I figure one item month is good because I don't want to become so obsessed with making more things that I forget the other part of my challenge which is to appreciate what I have!

Jillian wearing the Stella and Dot turquoise earrings

January's gift to myself was something I have been lusting after for over a year......this amazing pair of turquoise earrings that Jillian Harris wore on the Bachelorette. Cute... right?

Thanks to the Possessionista (www.possessionista.com) I know exactly where I could find them (stella and dot), but having made jewelry for years I am unwilling to pay $30 for anything that I feel I could make myself for waaay less! So I headed into the bead shop and bought the materials to make them for just $9 (for the record this is not cheating because these are raw materials, not accessories).

turquoise earrings by Lindsay Trudel 

And so, I give you my first gift to myself.....slightly different than the ones Jillian wore.... but still a totally cute pair of turquoise earrings made by yours truly! I had forgotten how much more satisfying it is to make something, than to buy it in a store. I have bought accessories in stores almost without thinking because it is so quick and easy.....only to regret the purchase later. On the other hand, making an item requires planning as well as time and effort, therefore I appreciate it so much more in the end. I am proud my knock-off turquoise earrings and I am excited to tackle another project for next months gift!

Flat iron.....accessory or appliance?

Well my flat iron has bit the dust! It was on the fritz for a few months but recently took a turn for the worst and no longer is able to fulfill it's very important purpose of straightening my hair. Although I don't use it daily.....I do have naturally wavy/frizzy hair so I like to have the option of having silky straight hair when I feel like it. So I think that a flat iron is an essential appliance to have on hand for such occasions. My husband disagrees and says that it is an accessory and therefore falls into the NO-BUY category. I am now struggling with an internal debate.....is a flat iron an appliance that I can replace without guilt or is it an accessory that, if purchased, would cause me to fail this challenge? I am throwing this question out to you friends; flat iron......accessory or appliance?