A wardrobe full of clothes and nothing to wear...

Don't go another day with the feeling, "I have nothing to wear." 

Deplete your wardrobe of everything you don't like, and start shopping mindfully.  Mindless shopping leads to a crowed closet! Stay away from deals, its really only a deal if you truly wanted it in the first place.  Feel free to make purchases on items you absolutely love, aim to have nothing in your closet that you don't know to be useful or believe to be beautiful.  

Happy Minimizing! 

BUY LESS, CHOOSE WELL

Vivienne Westwood is a genius, not only is she a fashion icon who married someone twenty years her junior, she summarized my shopping philosophy in four short words (and I love her for that).

'buy less, choose well'  

Lately I try to think buy less, save more, live without.  For me, a huge proponent in buying less is buying with purpose. We habitually buy for the sake of buying with little thought going towards what we actually even like!  If you choose well when you shop you will ultimately shop less and own less.  

If you don't absolutely love something at the initial purchase, your love probably isn't going to grow post purchase (I think this is because its hard to have a relationship with inanimate objects).  Mediocre affection towards purchases leads to what most of us have...

'a wardrobe full of clothes and nothing to wear'

Unfortunately, most of us have a bunch of crap hanging in our closets that we don't even like. We only wear 20% of our clothes 80% of the time (I recently heard this, and it sounds about right).  What a waste! And a reason to own less.  If we keep in mind the words of Vivienne Westwood 'buy less, choose well' we are bound to change that ratio, and have a lot more room in our closets, and possibly cash in our pockets. 

  

“The more you own, the more it owns you.”

My Croatian grandfather, who my sisters and I referred to as Gigi, was full of one-liners, but the one above has really stuck with me.    

Here are my 5 tips to live with less:

1  Clean out your closet   If you haven’t worn something in the last year, you probably won’t wear it again.  Get rid of it!  Take to your local consignment shop and make some easy cash, give it a way, or donate.   I promise if you haven’t worn it in a whole year, you will not miss it.

2  Away with mindless shopping Unless you absolutely love something, do not buy it!  I made a couple of big purchases this last year including a spilt board and a pair of Steve Madden boots. I purchased these items because I absolutely love them, so I have no buyer’s remorse.  We often purchase items just because they are on sale or it’s such a good deal that we can’t pass it up.  Remember this, it is never a good idea to purchase something, no matter how good of a deal it is, if you will never use it and are not in love with it.  Sales racks are alluring, but often encourage mindless shopping. 

3  Don’t associate things with experiences  I few years ago my boyfriend got me a waffle maker for Christmas. I was so excited, I thought we would use it all the time and make breakfast for our roommates.  Unfortunately, we have only used it once, on Christmas morning.  I really just wanted a way for all us to spend more time together, and we didn’t need a waffle maker to do that. 

4  Borrow  We easily could have borrowed a waffle maker that Christmas morning, and still enjoyed our banana foster waffle party.  Borrowing is a great way to start living with less.   Borrowing is huge for things that you will most likely only use once anyway, such as books or party dresses.  My sister even borrowed her wedding dress. 

5  Trade  If you need something, before buying it, first spread the word what you are looking for.  You will be surprised what a little word of mouth around friends can do.   I once traded a new hoodie for a pair of used goggles, and we both left the trade satisfied.  It is always a bonus if you can get rid of something when gaining something new.

My biggest tip is to remember,  “the more you own, the more it owns you.”

NYC

Just me and my pink purse for the weekend. Really this is the only way to travel

Ryan's 400 sq ft apt -$1,600

Walked to whole city before the 8 am

Morning walk around the city