I’m Not Buying It

While a lot of what has gone into my continuous efforts to have a successful No Buy have been internal factors (will power, avoiding temptation, motivation), there’s been one major external factor that I wasn’t fully expecting back in January: the rate of inflation.

Canadian shoppers are somewhat in a less great position for purchasing power, since anything imported will cost more, and the Canadian dollar is not as strong as the American dollar. Even for some things that are made in Canada, to buy new will still be fairly expensive. Granted, I’m no economist, and my observations are strictly based on what I’ve seen while in different provinces.

Anyhow, what I’ve been thinking about for a while (last two months or so) is that there’s no way I can justify spending X amount of money on clothing when the prices have jumped so much – regardless of my no-buy status. I’m not picking on one store or another in making this post, but to see the cost of a recycled material dress of a basic cut and style go from $39 to $49 is ghastly. Ghastly but helpful (to me), as I’m much less willing to throw that kind of money around. Perhaps this is the same as how it’s easy to spend $3-$5 a day on a coffee and treat on the way to work, but if you were shown the total amount for a month, you might be less inclined to spend it. Which, for the record, you absolutely should be allowed to treat yourself, things are tough enough as it is, you don’t need to deprive yourself of simple joys.

Before I go any further, I do want to address that I am fortunate enough to not technically be impacted by the change in prices for clothing. I haven’t bought any new clothing in a year, and my last time thrifting was in October 2021 – and despite my trickle of decluttering, I’m certainly not wanting for options to dress myself. I realise fully that this may not be the case for someone who has children, whose body is changing, or can only justify buying clothing when items are falling apart.

I’m also at a point in tracking my clothing that still nothing has reached 30 total wears (including my running shoes!), so it’s not like I need anything new. Even though we’re 5 months into the year, I still haven’t reached a justifiable point of needing something for clothing – and I think that slow pace of consumption (the opposite of an impulse buy for me) has made it all the more visible how much more expensive something is since the last item I bought in person was under $10 (and under $40 online). Had I still been buying when the same type of dress went from $39 to $42 to $47 to $49, I don’t think it would strike me as as much of a jump.

I feel like I have some more digging to do on the topic, particularly in light of where the low prices are coming from that I would previously be drawn to (as in, who is being cheated out of a fair living wage along the way), and what else I can learn about and the decisions I make to reduce my need for buying more – including learning what a quality garment looks like and where to find them once needed.

Later this week, we’ll have a look at my empties for the month – and next week I’ll be having a check in on my May goals. Thanks for reading!

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May Bye-Bye Bin Deep Dive

It feels a bit early to post about what’s leaving my home in the sorta-middle of the month, but I have a clothing/product swap coming up, and I wanted to get photos of what’s on its way out. There are also two items – a black bodysuit and a bottle of body wash – that have found new homes already and won’t be in the post.

For these 17 items, two were pulled from the summer bin during the season flip, and nine were pulled from my various drawers – all of which have not been worn this year. The scrunchies, pillow cases, and jewelry were pieces that I’d been on the fence about for a bit (as in, each time I looked for something else in their storage spot and saw them, I’d go “hmmm…”) and figure now’s as good a time as any with the upcoming swap. Also, I want to note that the clothing is kept bundled up not for disrespecting the clothing, but more so that I understand that a solid chunk of my readership belong to the no/low buy community and I don’t want to have the items incite desires to shop.

I have a few things to highlight for the “why” of a piece being decluttered, which I’m doing for my own sake for rereading in the future and for the sake of making sure I’m equally intentional about what leaves as what comes in.

1. The impulse buy: The grey shorts and matching tank top set in the top middle was part of an impulse order, and these items were specifically added to meet the minimum to get free shipping. But get this, the store had run out of my size, so I sized up, placed a second order, received it, and realised I wasn’t likely to wear it with it being the wrong size. I’ve worn the shorts and tank top as a set a few times on really warm nights as pjs (I wasn’t planning to wear this set out of the house, mind you) – but my thought process behind purchasing them was “this is cute,” rather than “this fulfills a need I have within my closet.” This was purchased last summer, so just about a year ago – though, if nothing else – it shows the progress I’ve made in mindset.
2. The attempted upcycle: The striped shirt to the right of the grey set and the blue and grey dress under it are next. Both are basics from Old Navy (a striped shirt and a swing dress), and both managed to get stained from one art project or another. I thought tie dye and bleach dying would be the way to spiffy them back up, buuuuut I took a “just do whatever” approach rather than planning out what it was supposed to look like, so I ended up with pieces I didn’t love (mind you, now that I think about it, I’ve never liked how my tie dyed pieces look…). Are they still wearable? Absolutely – there’s nothing structurally wrong with either piece, but I certainly wouldn’t wear them in public, and I already have enough “wear around the house for cleaning only” clothing that I don’t need more.
3. The collection completer: The tan shorts in the bottom left are also from Old Navy, whose shorts fit me well enough for the most part (inseam is usually the kicker for me, I’m 67% leg and quite tall). The shorts I bought in 2019 include a bunch of neutrals – olive, navy, black, grey – and one striped pair. Being as pale as I am, buying anything tan online is a complete gamble as to whether it will entirely blend in with my skin. I’ve referenced this in an instagram post before (referring to a shade of pink for leggings that would leave me looking undressed), and it’s not a serious issue by any means, but, again, this was an instance of my motivation for purchasing the item being something other than meeting a need I have for my wardrobe. For the record, the “need” I justified in purchasing these shorts was, “I want a full set.”
4. The swap find: While I fit in “straight” sizes for clothing, finding items that fits properly from thrifting and clothing swaps is not always successful (which is no different than trying on clothing in a store, just to be clear!). The Adidas running shorts were found last year from a clothing swap between friends, and I’ve since found shorts that fit me better and cover me more – so to a new home they shall go.

I don’t know that I’ll do as deep a dive for each bye-bye bin post in the future, but if there are pieces that fit these patterns, I think it would be worth it.

Next week I’ll be back with my empties for the month on Monday and a goal reflection on Thursday. Thanks for reading 🙂