The Great American Apparel Diet
no buying for one year

Hazel

Hazel Malcolm. Wolverhampton (England) 42 years young. Excited about being part of this! It’s a step along a journey towards financial independence and self fulfilment. I grew up in poverty and being the youngest mainly had hand-me-downs clothes. Going shopping for new clothes are always a big issues when I was growing up. After all these years I’m probably still enjoying the trill of getting something new that’s all mine. I didn’t consider myself a shopalcoholic but after several culls of my wardrobes (I have two) and selling stuff on ebay – I’m still struggling for storage space and have loads of clothes I’ve never worn. So maybe it’s time to face up to the need to cut back and reassess where I’m at. I’ve decided to go for no shopping for clothes and shoes – I know if I go shopping for shoes I’ve end up looking at clothes and then convincing myself that I ‘need it’, so better to reduce the risk of temptation. I want to get to a position where I can work part-time and have the time to pursue my other interests of community activism and creative writing. This mean make some changes in my life – which involves reducing my expenditure, clearing my debts and spiritually getting to grips with the concepts of ‘enough’, ‘need’ and ‘want’ (Matthew 6:27-29). Susie Orman talks about making your order of priorities: people, money, things. I have piles of ‘things’ so over the ‘no new clothes’ year I’m looking forward to developing my key relationships (and maybe forming some new ones), spending more time with friends and family, appreciating my garden/nature, doing more creative writing, getting reacquainted with my sewing machine, and most importantly establishing and building a strong financial base for the future. Most women I’ve mentioned this to think it’s a crazy, impossible idea – but these are crazy, impossible times, so bring it on! I’m looking forward to the support from the network and the sharing ideas. I know I’m never going to be naked over the next twelve months - but it’s still emotionally a daunting challenge!!