The first six months of not shopping were pretty easy in lots of ways. There was nothing I needed. I was conscious that I wanted to end online shopping, especially when I was doing it to relieve stress and boredom.
It felt good to break that particular pattern which probably began before the pandemic but certainly got much worse during the time of working from home and general shut downs. There wasn’t much else to do but the internet could still bring me clothes!
I was all in on the no shopping thing for the summer and fall but the Christmas holidays were hard and I did end up buying some things for myself while shopping for other people. I bought new winter boots, for example, with serious grippy souls in aid of not slipping and falling. I bought full length tights that I needed to work with my new knee brace. At the end of holiday shopping season, I reupped my no shopping commitment.
And yet I forgot about travel and shopping that’s related to travel. Here I am in Arizona doing philosophy but also hiking and biking. And also, it seems, shopping. Yikes.
First, there was the needed cold weather clothing–a new hoodie, mitts, and a toque. I’ve been to Arizona in the winter before but in February which turns out to be much warmer than January. We’ve had overnight lows as low as -7 and I even saw white stuff falling from the sky. So Sarah and I both gave in and bought some things to keep us warm. Doing so allowed us to hike in the morning when it was too cold to bike.
Then while I was in Marshalls anyway, I bought new underwear to avoid laundry while on holiday. There’s room for it in the bike box, I reasoned and who wants to spend time on holiday at the laundromat.
But from there it got worse, I bought new earrings and a necklace in Bisbee! They are made by a local artist of an environmentally friendly material, compressed tumbleweeds! Still though.
Here’s me falling off the wagon.
And now I’m getting back on the no shopping horse. See you in July!
Wish me luck!
This post makes me feel better. I’m only at the end of month 1 of a year of no shopping and right at the beginning I fell off–and then made excuses and re-categorized so that it didn’t count as falling off. Here’s what happened–I was in CA, where I normally xc ski every day. But … big winter storms meant the ski center was never groomed in the mornings, when I needed to ski before work obligations. So, I needed to snowshoe seriously. Yes, needed! Else I would have been losing my mind from lack of outdoor activity. And, as I had not done it seriously in years, it turned out the 20 year old boots I was using were not up to the task. Bought new serious winter boots. Re-categorized them as “sports equipment” instead of “sportswear” and salved my conscience. But not really, because here I am confessing.