The Good Life Crew

Four ladies living busy modern city-based lives trying to make their own small difference to the world

Friday, 16 February 2018

My Shopping Ban: January 2018 Update

2018 is the year that I don't buy any clothes or shoes; this isn't a New Years Resolution, it's just my little way of trying to see if I can break a few bad habits in 2018 as I have "enough".  I have another blog called Around the World in 80 Pairs of Shoes so you would think I would have a terrible shoe shopping habit but between shoes and clothes, my biggest expense is actually clothes...maybe the blog needs to be renamed to Around the World in 80 Dresses.

My Shopping Ban: January 2018 Update

Last year I started to track my spend weekly and holy moly, I didn't realise where my money was going till it was staring right back at me from a scary looking excel spreadsheet.  Accountants are notoriously bad at managing their own personal finances and I hold up my hand in shame but 2017 was a total turning point for me and I've broken quite a few bad habits and learnt a few wonderful tips which I'll share soon!

What my spreadsheet told me was eye opening especially when it came to shopping...I spent over £1000 in the first 3 months of 2017 just on clothes...yes clothes!!!  In my defence, I was doing a major revamp of my wardrobe as I'd gained quite a bit of weight and had clothes that no longer fitted but I was holding onto, just in case I ever got skinny again...aren't we all guilty of this?  In the end, to feel better about myself I bought some new clothes that actually fitted me comfortably (and I didn't worry about the size label as this means nothing these days due to the stupid vanity sizing that seems to be a universal problem!) and focussed on feeling better about myself.

My skinny clothes were either sold via eBay or I dropped them off to a charity shop or shelter depending on what they were.

After my wardrobe revamp, I continued to buy a few items here and there when I didn't need to...and at the end of August I realised this had to stop.  It wasn't doing my finances any favours or the environment!

Mass Consumerism 

When I was travelling through Africa back in 2003, we visited a clothes shop but not like the western world knows it. We had a fancy dress evening one night in Malawi and we had to dress up...we visited a shop where there were just fields and fields of clothes in huge piles that the locals were sifting through.  You know when you donate clothes, well this is apparently what happens to some of them...and they are wrecking the precious local clothing market in the process.

I was an avid reader of fashion blogs but 2017 was the year that I noticed how bad fast fashion really was in blogging! And it started to upset me in so many different ways...buy this now before it sells out....buy it, buy it, buy it...I actually started unfollowing bloggers that I had followed for years as they had joined the mass consumerism carousel that is spinning way out of control!  I just wanted to throw a few questions back like: what is the quality of the material like, how many washes do you think it will last for and how much do you think the person who made that garment was paid and what are their working conditions like on this £25 top?

I started to look at ethical clothing brands in the United Kingdom and was shocked how few there seemed to be.  I made my first clothing purchase from Thought Clothing...a beautiful denim midi skirt which I've worn a number of times and I love.

One of the reasons that folks don't purchase ethical clothing is the expense however I bought my skirt for £25 and as it's such a classic style, I'll be wearing it for years to come.  Just like major retailers, many ethical clothing brands have sales which makes the purchase price easier on the wallet...or you could look on eBay.

Slowly I started to look at the social responsibility pages of major fashion brands and it's amazing how some brands are really trying to make a change however others just don't care.  Yes sometimes these changes are just fancy words and you do wonder if companies are really trying to really make a difference.

Enough is Enough

I realised last year that I had "enough"...most of us have "enough" but we continue to spin around on the mass consumerism carousel just because it's available and it's there whenever we're having a bad day.  I probably have enough clothes and shoes to last the next 25 years at least so I'm going to have a year off buying clothes and shoes...I do realise that I may have to purchase replacement items and if I do then I will try and source them from ethical companies or via ebay...however first I am going to try and fix items before trying to replace them.

How did January go on the Shopping Ban?

Sooooooo....did I make it successfully to the end of January with purchasing no shoes or clothes...hmmm...yes and no!  I accidentally bought a lovely pair of suede over the knee boots from Russell & Bromley...if you want to see email marketing at it's finest...they sent me a sale email and I had made the purchase within minutes all with a few simple clicks.

These boots were gorgeous...and I was determined my chunky calves were going to fit in them but alas no...I tried 3 times...I even had a magnesium bath to see if this would reduce the fluid in my legs (I was desperate!).

Now I should point out these boots were £395 on sale....yes £395 and I didn't even flinch when I made the purchase.  I eventually told myself they had to be returned...however it started to snow so I thought maybe this was the big mans way of telling me that I needed to keep the boots...after I gave myself a stern talking to...I took a trip to Cambridge to return the boots for a full refund...I almost cried as I said goodbye to the boots.

What did I learn from this blimp...that it's so easy to be sucked in by good email marketing...they are trying to part you with your hard earned cash so unsubscribe to all the shopping emails and fast!  I thought I could trust myself but I learnt a valuable lesson, you can't.  

In the end I successfully didn't buy anything...the boots were safely returned (there were tears!) and I go into another month with a happier bank account, less clutter and a feeling that I can succeed in not buying anything for 12 months...I can totally do this for me and the environment.  1 month down...11 to go!

Have you tried a shopping ban?  Did you succeed?  Do you have a tips?

Kelly xx


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