Wednesday, March 28, 2012

Materialism on An All time Low

I am approaching my five month mark of traveling and reflecting back on what I have spent.  I am incredibly proud of myself for the self-discipline I have exhibited over my travel time.  Traveling through places with dresses, shirts, and pants averaging $2-$4, I could have easily bought new outfits for each day or even week.  This would have defeated the purpose of getting rid of my clothes in NYC and picking up a backpack. 

From Thailand to Cambodia to Singapore to India, I have seen beautiful skirts, dresses, and traditional wear that I absolutely love.  There has been times where I have sit and negociated on a skirt or dress and then put it down because I knew I did not need it.  In India, the saris are one of my favorite things to wear and I could have bought many, but I kept my discipline.  The saris I have seen are just like the nice dresses I would buy back at home-glamorous and fabulous.  

Being around constant shopping, I have  adopted a look but do not touch philosophy with shopping.  I can stroll by a market and stare at a dress, but I can not go into the shop, pick it up, and attempt to try it on.  It is like an alcoholic driving down the road passing a liquor store.  They see it from a distance, but they can not, stop, park the car, get out, and go into the store.  The alcoholic needs to keep his distance and the shopaholic need to keep her distance. 

When I first moved to New York from LA, I had significantly reduced the amount of clothing I had leaving myself with a few purses, a few pairs of shoes, a few dresses, and a few jeans etc, but I was still shopping and buying new outfits as usual.  Now I have been carrying the same purse for 5 months, the same pair of gym shoes, the same pair of pants, two bras, a few t-shirts, etc.  There has been very little shopping and I have calculated what I have spent in the past 5 months and I am shocked at my self-discipline and will power. 

Excluding $2-3 sunglasses that I have to replace every month because they break or I lose them.
Here is the shopping breakdown:

1 top $20(my big purchase for a quality Indian top)

2 leggings $4

1 black shoulder cover $2

Cambodia pants $3

Fab India 2 tops $13(another big purchase for quality)

Sun hat ($2)

1 Dress from Thailand $3(one dress purchase in 5 months!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!)

Cambodia scarf ($4)

Dress for NYE ($3)

Aerosole comfort sandals and blue sandals $30(was walking around with $2 sandals from Conway for three months!!!) 

Total=$82

$82 is what I would normally spend at Macys on 1(ONE) DKNY, Guess, Or BCBG top, dress, a pair of jeans, or half the price of a pair of boots.   Also, I would have spent half the amount if I only bought from the market and did not purchase from retail stores. 

From the age of 16, I have always been into fashion and buying excessive amounts of clothing.  When I was living in California at age 17 is when I began to shop and get into the one outfit one time motto.  I was working at Forever 21 so naturally I became addicted to fashion and I loved dressing up in cute skirts and dresses all the time.  When age 19, I worked at Nissan as a receptionist where I would always wear a new skirt or dress. People would comment on my wardrobe and I guess I loved being the fashion princess. 

From age seventeen to age twenty seven, I have come a long way shopping and shopping and shopping my life away. I could have traveled around the world five times with all the money I have spent.  It was all materialistic things that made me happy and now I have entered into a simplistic life that makes me just as happy.
I do miss the glitz and the glamour and I will still buy and wear beautiful dresses, but it is all about self-discipline, will power, and MODERATION=)

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