Not buying clothes 2024

[Nonewclothes2024]

I need to stop buying clothes.
I have far too many.
I feel overwhelmed deciding what to wear every day.
I wear a uniform to work.
I have deleted all shopping apps.
I am unsubscribing from shop e mails.

Anyone else ?

Yes I have that many things. Over 100 dresses for instance.
My things don't really have chance to wear out.
I've put three bags out today. Old t shirts nothing worth selling.

Same. Always looking for the next thing.
But all the clothes I've got , I've thought that about at some point.

I think the phrase 'shop my wardrobe ' is excelllent.

Maybe we need some kind of a shop your wardrobe challenge thread.

I’ve spent the last week wearing my clothes in different ways. I dug out a long grey top and now I’ve lost weight I wore it as a dress with a longline grey cardigan over it and think tights and ankle boots and a chunky necklace. I felt really good in it and the top/dress has just been sitting in my wardrobe for about three years.
On Christmas Eve I stumbled across my five year old tartan skirt and wore it with a cream blouse, usually I only wear it with jumpers.
I am really trying to look at my clothes with new eyes.

Yes 👍🏻

I need a couple of bras but otherwise I’m doing the same. I can cope with what I have

I'm currently making the most of the sales before January arrives but I'm being good and buying much less than usual. In 2024 I need to do less shopping and more doing. Doing anything. If I'm busy I can't be browsing for my fantasy life.

I've ordered
some stuff to go with other stuff I already have which doesn't have anything to match with,
some stuff to add to what I already have like eg a cardigan to go on top of a dress and under the jacket because it'll match both perfectly and none of my other cardigans will work,
and some frilly cat print stuff from my favourite place.

I want no excuses for "needing" to buy things once January arrives. My downfall will probably be my favourite place but they don't put out much so if that's my only spends I'll be limited for that reason. I'll try to resist elsewhere. I've got my eye on some ornaments too but at least it's not clothes. I want to do one-in-one-out as a minimum so my question for 2024 will be - what am I going to part with to accommodate this coming in? I'll do that for all categories of stuff not just clothes. I'm decluttering too so theoretically by the end of the year I'll have less stuff, which will be nice.

@NoSpend19 does your username mean you've been doing this for 5yrs? I'm impressed, if so.

Not entirely. I started it in 2019 and managed for most of that year. I did buy some essentials. I haven’t set myself the same task since but have generally cut down massively.

I've done a low-spend the last 2 years and planning on one again in 2024. This year, I didn't buy anything in Sept, Oct, Nov or Dec. I've also been ruthlessly selling items on vinted if they don't fit perfectly. I'm done with stuff that's just "good enough". I want all my clothes to make me feel fantastic.

Selling can be as addictive as buying, though!

There are actually things I do need in 2024. I've lost a bit of weight and gone from size 16 to 14, and lots of my trousers don't fit right. I also finally wore through many of my shorts last summer, and realised that I'd never really liked most of the dresses I'd had, so I'm down to 3 casual dresses and 2 occasion dresses. Also some of my staples, like a basic white tee, wear out fast so I'm going to need a new one of those. I also need a new bra as i only have 2 at a time. But I'll go through my wardrobe and do an audit and write a wishlist for that I'd like, and buy off of that to reduce impulse buying. Last year I only impulse-bought 2 things, both on blimming vinted, and quickly sold them on again.

That's good news I'm hoping to change my habits too. Attempting low buy last year helped as has decluttering over the past year. Getting rid of things has made me think twice about buying them.

Apart from kids school uniform, I'd love to not buy any clothes this year if possible. We all have far too much. My oldest boys are not far off stopping growing now. The third has plenty of hand me downs. Dd hasn't grown even one cm this year.

Basically I'd love to join you

I will join too, if I may. I have an important life event that I should be saving up for instead of buying clothes.

Clothes (especially coats, trousers, dresses, blazers) are my weakness. I have done pretty well over the last few years on the "buy less, buy quality" but still have too many. Even if I wear 90% of them.

I think I may need to aim for a "no-buy" and go cold turkey.

I'm aiming for self-sustaining expenditure. Any money I make these days from selling is my clothes budget. I do now go some months without buying anything. But my weakness is really good quality Cashmere, so i will pick it up from eBay/Vinted when available. For those of us with android phones Whering is a brilliant app that enables you to list & build outfits from your different clothing items. It's really helped me stop shopping unnecessarily and I have no urge to shop in the sales anymore.

Thanks I've been looking for a good android app so will give that a go.

I've tried a low spend approach for the last two years. Only buying underwear and an item or so each month. I could really do with losing weight and dropping a dress size though to access more clothes from my wardrobe.

I’ve tried the low spend the past two years too so 22 in 22 etc but generally fall down at the sales this time of year so definitely need to pace myself more maybe holding back 5 places? I’ve also been back through the list and made a note of which clothes still bring me joy and it’s usually the more expensive brands so I’m going to try and refocus to buy less but better quality. I do need to actually wear these items more though!

I might need to start including boots and shoes in my tally as it seems I had some random splurges on eBay that I didn’t necessarily need.

I think I'm now hooked on the dopamine high of getting a bargain - I do all my clothes shopping online - and I'd love to be able to stop. There's also the feeling, as PPs have noted, that one item will transform me into the person I want to be and prevent the need for further purchases - but of course it never does

This article is quite good on how we are persuaded to keep buying: https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2023/dec/26/curbing-sales-season-shopping-urges-figure-out-what-you-actually-need-and-do-that-instead

I've been sorting though my wardrobe these past couple of days and just donated five black bags worth to the charity shop. I've also found a couple of items I forgot I had. Have tried to sort out items by category to make it easier to see what I've got. Work in progress but feeling excited about wearing what I have and not always the next new thing.

I have maybe 5 dresses for winter and the same for summer. Those are enough for my lifestyle really, much as consumerism may try to convince me otherwise. If I went into an office I would need more. But I don't. I am rarely invited to weddings or black tie events anyway.

Bought a few bits in the M&S sale. Can't go to the shops tomorrow. That's it now 😳

I've been planning to do this. I have a good stash of beauty stuff, and clothes I should slim into, so barring an unexpected wedding/funeral or such a successful weight loss journey that I suddenly need hotpants, I should have enough to do the year.

I just bought one last item so that I don't have to buy anything in the new year. I needed a gilet I could fit under my coat. £14.99.