The Great American Apparel Diet
no buying for one year

Evie

After thinking about this for the last couple of days, I decided doing the GAAD would be a good exercise for me. I've already signed up to do the Six Items or Less challenge, and am now an on-line member of Spenders-Debtors Anonymous, with at least 2-3 face-to-face meetings planned for when I'm in the US in February. I live in Buenos Aires, Argentina, and, while most people think Argentina is really fashionable, the clothes aren't built to last, nor are they my style. So, in the past year, I've gotten really bad about my on-line spending habits. I can only imagine what I would be like if I actually shopped in back home in the US. I've been watching my credit card balance go up to a little over 1200 USD in the past 2 months, and I'm feeling like crud. That's money that could have gone to my dream house fund, or even my emergency fund. I figured that, since I'm already doing the Six Items program and am in SpendersDA, I might as well go whole hog, and do the full diet. I've started writing about my Six Items challenge in my blog at www.thepostmodernhousewife.blogspot.com, if you want to take a look. I'm a psychologist and holistic health counselor, and I want to be able to walk my talk in all areas of my life. I think looking at my overspending and overconsumption, and my focus on what I wear will help me be a better person in the long run. At the very least, it'll teach me to be more creative with my clothes, and to be grateful for what I have! Unfortunately, I have new clothes waiting for me (orders in the last 2 months when had my spending spree) that I ordered on-line and had sent to my Dad's place in LA, where I'll be for a week next February. I bought these before I became conscious about my behavior. Now, I'm not sure I can wear it because they are new clothes. Are they forbidden? Well, I look forward to the challenge. Maybe it'll be too much, but it's worth a try. I'm looking forward to it.