Blogs are often about encouraging you to DO something such as up-cycling, DIY projects, exercising, healthy eating, etc. But this is going to be about NOT doing something.

I decided in November 2014 that I wasn’t going shop for an entire year.  When I first say this, people are like, “How will you eat?” Let me be more specific.

No shopping for clothing, shoes or accessories, new or used, for an entire year. Pretty black and white, right?

When I came up with this idea, I had just conquered the madness of Black Friday (aka Thanksgiving evening, the heathens!).  I was happy with my haul that I carried gleefully out from the Denver, CO outlets at 1 AM. I normally suffer a bit of buyer’s remorse and turn to my mother to justify these purchases and prove to her (myself) that these are items I NEED. She normally responds with a “Hmmm, yes” and “Wow, that is a good deal” and “That definitely makes sense” and a subtle “Sounds like you won’t be needing anything for awhile!” But being 1 AM - aka 3 AM on the East Coast where my mom slept - I had to stew about these purchases and wonder if I alone could justify them.