Last Friday, I went shopping for the first time with my new purchase limitation.  For the entire year of 2013 (and maybe longer), I am only allowed to buy one item of clothing and one accessory per month.  The reason for this rule is so that I can learn to be more deliberate with my purchases, pare down my over-sized wardrobe, and better use what I have.  I also hope to cultivate more of a “quality over quantity” attitude.

Limits Over “Cold Turkey”

As I mentioned in my shopping rules for 2013, the reason I chose not to go “cold turkey” with shopping this year is that I feel it’s easier to stop doing something completely than to learn to work with reasonable limits.

I have done “shopping fasts” in the past, but they did not really help me to stop my compulsive shopping habit.  I have found that my approach is either feast or famine; I’m either not shopping at all or shopping compulsively and buying far too much.   I believe that allowing myself to shop but limiting how much I can buy (not just by dollar amount, but also by quantity) will do far more to heal my shopping problems than a complete shopping hiatus.

Continue reading →