Wait, You Are Giving Up Shopping for a Whole Month?!

Yes, you read that right! Every year, my mom and I give up shopping for the entire month of January to prove that we are conscious (or, at least for me, somewhat aware) about the clothes that we already have in our closets. Now, if you know me, you would think that it was a joke and I couldn’t possibly stop shop for an entire month, but I do! Continue reading for the true reasons that I take part in this and the benefits of No Shop January.

During the month of January, every store is just trying to get rid of their winter inventory to make room for the new spring clothes. Since I started working for Anthropologie, I’ve seen how quickly the turnover is for each season. The clothes that are full price will soon be on sale in a matter of weeks. So, the next time you are shopping during the month of January, just remember, you are either buying the clothes on sale that no one wanted for Christmas or the returns that people made after Christmas. If you are interested in reading more detailed reasoning behind my “No Shop January” and conscious consumption click here!

To make this challenge a little easier, I look at the benefits of not shopping, which there are many! For starters, I’m definitely saving a lot of money. This money can be used for other things like my spring break. I am choosing to spend less time shopping in stores and more time shopping in my own closet. I even used my shopping time for cleaning and found some new clothes. I’ve been so bad with keeping up with what I have in my own closet because I’ve been so focused on the new trends that are out there. A great way to not only virtually see what I have in my closet, but also to plan ahead with what I am going to wear is with an app called Finery. Thanks to Finery, I can see every type of clothing I have on my phone, as well as coordinating outfits ahead of time and put it on a calendar. It will also match my current style to different ones out there so I can get more inspiration on how to wear my clothes. This month, my focus is to try to update the app with the new clothes I got and start planning out my outfits daily to avoid last minute stresses about what to wear for a certain occasion/event.

Lately, I have also been really interested in the Rent the Runway monthly subscriptions from hearing all the reviews from college students. Instead of constantly buying new clothes and not being able to fit them in my closet at college, the RTR subscription allows for 4 items at a time, then they can be shipped back for return at the end of the month for 4 more new items. I feel that this is such a good way for college students to save money, time and space and have a wider selection of designer brand clothing to choose from. I am really looking forward to experimenting with this!

P.S. if you ever decide to give up something, like shopping, it’s not the best idea to challenge yourself by going to the mall. I went to the Garden State Mall right after I finished writing this, and as soon as I walked into Zara (one of my weakness stores), I found a jumpsuit that I absolutely loved. My first mistake was walking into that store thinking I was strong enough, and my second mistake was trying the jumpsuit on. I wanted to buy it so badly, but I didn’t. I even called my mom, who told me to stay strong and walk away. I knew that if I bought it, I wouldn’t have been able to publish this post saying that I’m not shopping for a month. So, I put it down, shedded a tear and walked out of the store.