Accountability

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Resale Shopping – How’s That Working for Me?

Years ago, I used to love watching “The Dr. Phil Show.”  I had watched him on “The Oprah Winfrey Show” and liked the no-nonsense, tough love approach he used with people.   One question he posed frequently to guests who kept doing the same things over and over again was,

How’s that working for you?”

That question really cut to the heart of the issue.   We often keep repeating behaviors out of habit or because we’re not sure what else to do, but how many times do we stop to ask ourselves if something is really working for us or not?

Resale Hits and Misses

Resale Shopping

Are those low-priced items in resale stores really “good buys”?

Today’s post represents me doing just that.  For a number of years, I have shopped at resale stores.  I love the “treasure hunt” aspect of it and the possibility of finding something beautiful and unique at an amazingly low price.    Of course, I shopped retail, too.  Let’s face it; I pretty much shopped all the time and few shopping avenues were not on my list.   But in addition to being a general shopaholic, I definitely became a “resale-o-holic.” Continue reading →

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Wardrobe “Benchwarmer” Update – September 2014

The year is almost 75% over and I have yet to do a wardrobe “benchwarmer” update, so now’s the time!   For those who are new to this blog, I have defined a wardrobe benchwarmer as any item that only gets worn once or is not worn at all during the course of a year (see this post for more information).

Benchwarmers

This isn’t the type of “benchwarmer” this post is about…

Wear Statistics and Starting this Blog

Of course, I want to wear my closet pieces far more than twice per year, but I had to start somewhere.  When I launched “Recovering Shopaholic” in January 2013, I had close to 300 garments in my closet, so most of them weren’t being worn all that often.   At that time, I had been tracking what I wore and how often for two years and the statistics were pretty abysmal:

  • In 2011, I had 112 garments and 11 pairs of shoes that were either worn once or not at all.
  • My 2012 numbers were even worse, with 125 garments and 21 pairs of shoes achieving “benchwarmer” status.

Continue reading →

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January through June 2014 Purchase Analysis – Part Two

You know you’re a numbers nerd when you have to break your purchase analysis post into two parts!   In the interest of not having epic length posts on this blog that put my readers to sleep, I thought that would be the best approach.

Crunching the numbers

To refresh your memory, last week’s post covered my basic numbers for January through June 2014, what I still own, my best purchases, and my buying mistakes.   Today’s post addresses the rest of the story:  those items that are currently in “benchwarmer” territory and why, my first impressions of my July and August purchases, and some conclusions and questions for you. Continue reading →

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January through June 2014 Purchase Analysis – Part One

If you’ve been reading this blog for a while, you know I’m big on tracking.  I believe that tracking can be highly beneficial for recovering shopaholics, as well as anyone who wants to shop smarter and better utilize the wardrobe pieces they own.   I’ve been tracking how much I spend, what I wear, and how often I wear it since the beginning of 2011, and this year I added photos and an outfit journal to the mix.  I also decided to look at what I’ve bought and whether my new items have become wardrobe workhorses or closet “benchwarmers.”  All of these types of analysis can help us make fewer buying mistakes in the future.

Purchase Analysis

Do you review your purchases later to see if they were good or bad?

It’s been four months since I last did a purchase analysis, so it’s high time for another one!  Last time, I reviewed the purchases I’d made from January through April, but it was probably a bit premature to analyze my most recent acquisitions at that time.  In truth, since I did my post on May 5th, the jury was probably still out on everything I had bought during April – and perhaps for the March buys as well. Continue reading →

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August 2014 Accountability Update

Before I dive into today’s topic, I want to thank all those who answered the question I asked at the end of my August useful links post.  It seems that most of you like the current format of one large links post at the end of each month, so that’s what I’m going to continue doing.  I may also post some links on a specific topic once in a while (I’m planning one on accessorizing soon), but for the most part, I’ll compile articles I think you might like and send them to you on a monthly basis.

Now it’s time for my August accountability update.  Most of you are familiar with my monthly accountability reports, but here’s the drill for the newcomers:  I’ve committed to posting monthly accountability updates to keep myself honest and on track with my wardrobe and shopping goals.  These posts include what came into and left my closet during a given month, what I wore, and how I did with my shopping budget and rules.

Shopping Accountability Updates Continue reading →