How to Successfully Keep Yourself from Shopping

Back in April 2017, I suddenly realised that I had stopped buying clothes for a whole year—without meaning to. For a girl who spent the years previously purchasing an average of 2 items of clothing a month, it was quite a revelation and groundbreaking revolution. I was surprised to find how easy it was to stop buying clothes completely and how little need I had for new items of clothing—and I guarantee, you will also feel the same.

For the most part, it felt really effortless, because I wasn’t planning on going on a long streak without shopping at all, but it might not feel the same for you, if you’re interested in deliberately trying to do so. I believe, however, that there are a few things you can try to make it easier on yourself and successfully keep yourself from shopping.

Here are a few tips I thought would be helpful, if this is your first time—or if you haven’t been able to stick with it this whole time.

First and foremost, I find wording to be of utmost importance. Calling this commitment of yours a “shopping ban” can result in massive failure, as it will influence you into thinking that you’re restricting or repressing yourself from doing something. Perhaps you can try changing your perspective on it; instead of focusing on the thing you’re not doing, maybe you can channel your thoughts into things that you are doing.

Here are some suggestions of mine: “purchasing adjustment,” “wardrobe curation,” “personal style review”—and many more you can really think of. These terms will allow you to focus on really looking at your clothes and why you love them or no longer gravitate towards them. We both know this isn’t just about the shopping, but about the issues that come with it—limited space, textile waste, financial problems, to name a few—so let’s uproot it from the ground!

When it comes to changing a habit, it’s best to do it gradually and not go cold turkey. If, for instance, you usually buy clothes once a week, you could probably try to commit to no shopping for a whole month. By the end of that month, you can expand it to three months, and then six months and then a whole year.

Try to build on the time frame and not get too ambitious at first, so as not to intimidate or put unrealistic pressure on yourself. Always remind yourself that the best things take time and it’s okay to stumble every now and then, just always be determined to improve.

Start small and grow from there is always better than starting with a bang but not burning as long. It’s okay, every good thing requires progress. Hey, before you know it, it won’t even require an effort anymore.

Another great way to make it through is to distract yourself with fun wardrobe-related challenges. You can try challenges that encourage you to wear more of the clothes that you already own—something like the 10×10 challenge or Fashion Mixology or simply wear everything you own at least once, before re-wearing anything. Not only will you be overly familiar with everything in your wardrobe, but they might actually give you some new ideas on how to wear your clothes.

Personally, for me, it helped to document various ways I’ve worn my clothes, as it’s made me more aware of the full potential of the items I own. Aside from that, you can also challenge yourself to alter your clothes—perhaps by re-colouring, re-styling or adding new details. The idea is to really embrace what you have and learn to appreciate it.

Often times when we go shopping, it is not about the clothes itself, but something within ourselves that needed fixing. Perhaps it’s a way to relieve stress from work or great dissatisfaction with our lives right now—and so we go on retail therapy. But it will only feel good for a second before reality hit you with the mountain of unused items or deteriorating finances—and you end up feeling even more stressed out in the long run.

When the mood comes over you with the need for a pick-me-up, why not try some other way to go about it? Perhaps you can find a new hobby, like going for a swim, painting something nice or reading a good book—the last one is definitely my go-to, to be honest. Not only will your wallet thank you, but you will also be dealing less damage to the greater environment and your psyche.

After all is said and done, no matter the outcome, please be kind to yourself. Nobody—not even the Dalai Lama—can change overnight; great things take time. So you didn’t go a whole month without buying clothes, but you have bought less clothes—pat yourself on the back.

So you didn’t complete a challenge and wore something outside of your 10×10 wardrobe, but you have learned new ways to style your pieces—give yourself a high five! So you still go to retail stores to check out new items, but you walked out without buying anything the first few times—applaud yourself! You’ve done pretty well, keep going. It’s okay if you didn’t do perfectly, we all stumble at first, but always keep trying to improve yourself. 

Every triathlon athlete will know: you may get tired and feel like a failure at any point in time, but the important thing is to never stop moving forward.

What are some ways that have helped you keep your shopping in check?