The Great American Apparel Diet
no buying for one year

Nerissa Aurora Illinois

My name is Nerissa, 48 yrs old, engineer from Aurora Illinois. I love everything to do with fashion and that comes with a hefty price. I was born poor in my hometown Philippines and never had the means to buy clothes or outfit when all my roommates were buying them on a weekly basis. I've kept the same clothes after graduation for 5 years or so taking good care of them as there was no extra to buy anything new. I believed in classic timeless style simply because I couldn't afford to be trendy. When I moved here to the US I have adapted the trends and styles of the season which means new outfits, coats, shoes etc every quarter and sometimes in between. It was a natural high everytime I shopped. Since I worked close to Banana Republic and Express and Nine West stores they became my lunch time dates which grew from once a week to once every 2 or 3 days. In short I got addicted to their deals, came back for more and before I knew it my closet was so full I have to give away most of my clothes to my so willing sisters to the point that their husbandsstarted complaining that I should stop giving their wives clothes. I hit a low last year when I looked at my credit card debt and saw that a huge part of it came from unnecessary spending on clothes shoes and purses. I felt so guilty that I have amassed so much that I don't even feel the pleasure of having them anymore yet at the time when I purchased them I felt good and satisfied. I am trying to make things right this year starting with being card-less and just paying cash and not buying anything except food and medicine and of course paying my debt. I want to join this diet because I know and I believe that I can do this til the end of August and perhaps longer. I think I have enough clothes to last me 6 months without washing them. I work from home almost 100% of the time so this makes it easier to say the least.