Monday #007

Ever notice that when you can’t have something, you want it more?

Whether with a diet or a budget, tell me I can’t have something and it’s all I can think about.

Of course no one is telling me that I can’t have new clothes, but when I’m getting honest about spending & focusing on paying off debt, heading to the mall seems like a terrible idea.

Also, thanks so much for those targeted ads, Burton. #sarcasm

I’ve gotten along fairly well with buying a new piece of clothing here and there because when I find clothes that I love, I wear the shit out of them.

Gym clothes, though, are my addiction. I’m a big fan of rewarding yourself with items other than food — for me that’s a new pair of Reebok booty shorts. I can’t help it. Or so I thought.

Where there’s a will there’s a way.

I knew that it was time to pause the gym clothing (and regular clothing) shopping sessions for a while, but since all that led to was me browsing websites for new gear, I had to get creative.

Enter the clothing swap.

This idea had been thrown around a little bit when I started reorganizing my closet (pre-debt declaration) and my fellow gal pals asked to “shop” what I didn’t want.

I had a lightbulb moment. If we were all going to the same gym, we were all likely changing our bodies & therefore had piles of great clothing that simply didn’t fit us anymore. Why not get together and “shop” from someone else’s closet?

I picked a date & shared the details. The rules were that you had to bring in clothing for others to browse & that any items left would be donated to a local group that helps women leaving abusive relationships. (Karma points for the win.) 

The idea ended up being a bigger hit than I planned. Ladies went home with new outfits and items that still had tags on them!

Not to mention, the following days were filled with snapchats and texts of these new items being worn. Everyone felt amazing with their new pieces and wanted to show them off!

The last time I felt that way was when I had spent over $100 on new gear to wear to the gym. This time I got the same feeling for $0.

It was really easy to plan — all it requires is a space to gather, a surface to spread the clothes on and a mirror for optional try-ons. I also brought in a bag of plastic bags (who doesn’t have that in their pantry?) for ladies to use while they shopped.

While not spending any money was amazing, there were two other great perks from this event.

  1. My closet is much more manageable now that I cleared out what I don’t wear.
  2. We donated 4 huge bags of clothing to an amazing cause.

To me, that was more than worth organizing the details of this clothing swap. You can’t buy that type of warm fuzzy feeling.

 

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