the six month challenge

by Kristi Pratt

I have come to terms with the fact that I have way too many clothes in my closet. Shoes and accessories, too. I love clothes shopping, and I don’t get rid of things, which is not a good combination.

I came to this realization over the summer as I was packing my bags after working at a summer camp. I was in a frantic hurry to get to the airport, the reason being that my mom had just experienced a near-fatal accident. In that moment of packing, I felt like there was a voice saying to me, “Why do you have all this stuff?  You can’t take all of it with you, so why do you keep piling up treasures for yourself on this earth when there are so many more important things in life, like relationships and your faith?”

I have not forgotten that feeling of not being able to fit everything into my bags. Nor have I forgotten those words. And now, I am finally doing something about it.

As of January 1, 2010, I have decided to not buy any new clothes, shoes or accessories  from retail for the next six months. I will not buy any clothes, shoes or accessories from anywhere but thrift stores (now that I’m thinking about it, I think that craft bazaars might be acceptable as I am planning one for my school). But the point is, I don’t want to buy anything that is brand new, and I want to limit the excess things that I buy the most (clothes, shoes and accessories).

I thought this resolution wouldn’t be too hard since I love shopping at thrift stores, but within these first few weeks of my mission, I have been tempted to go back on my resolution. The first time was when I found a $6 jacket at Target… I almost used a gift card to buy it, finding a loop hole in my own rules, but thankfully I resisted. The second time was when my sister went dress shopping for her Winter Formal dress. I was going to go along and possibly look for a dress to buy for our Spring Banquet, without even realizing at first that would break my resolution. Thankfully I had too much homework to do, keeping me from caving in.

The most recent “almost-stumble” occurred the other day when a friend was wearing a similar pair of flats that I own. They are my favorite flats but now water leaks into them whenever I walk outside, making my feet soppy wet even if I just walk across campus. My friend told me that the very same shoes are now at Target (once again!) for $5! I was torn. At this point I hadn’t decided if shoes fit into my “thrift-store-only” list. After a little consideration, I decided that I would not buy the shoes and that shoes should be included in my resolution because my buying shoes is similar to my clothes—both are spending money on things that I do not need to spend that much money on.

I know that buying from thrift stores isn’t as good as giving up clothing purchases altogether for 6 months. However I feel better about buying from a thrift store rather than department stores because it’s like getting 2 for 1 (1 thing is used by 2 or more people). This six month mission isn’t just about seeing if I can resist deals at Target. I want to learn a little bit more about living simply. Hopefully by limiting myself to thrift stores, I will limit my consumption of clothes, shoes and accessories. I know that I do not need all the things I buy, and this resolution will hopefully be the action of my belief.