DAY 1 OF BUYING NOTHING*

*Terms and conditions apply

Last night, I had a girly night in with one of my besties. While we were onto the third face mask of our skin regime, we began talking about the things we had bought this month. After recounting back through our purchases, I realised that I had bought FAR too many things of late. I have a wardrobe full of clothes, boxes full of shoes, and a little drawer full of make up and lipsticks, and the worst part of all, is that I spend a good third of my month wearing a works uniform, and basically live in one lipstick. I told my friend, “That’s it, this month, I am not going to buy myself anything, unless its stuff like food, travel and absolute essentials*.” (I had to include the food because after some debating, I decided that take away and eating out/drinks HAD to be included). She laughed and told me that no way would I be able to go a month, a week – yes, but a month of not buying anything is too long.

Lately, articles keep cropping up about buying less, but choosing wisely; less is more; about decumulating your possessions, and when I think back to my most recent move, I was quite shocked at the amount of possessions I now have. It shocked me even more, because when I moved to Dubai almost three years ago, I came with just two suitcases. How the hell have I managed to quadruple that!? In the next three months, I am going to be moving again, and after some deliberation, I have decided that I am going to have to be extra ruthless. I have considered taking part in a car-boot sale sort of thing, selling some old clothes that are barely used, that I never wear. I have even thought about narrowing my wardrobe down to a sort of ‘capsule’ wardrobe idea. Even Vivienne Westwood said in an interview, “Buy less. Choose well. Make it last. Quality, not quantity.”

So, when I woke up this morning to a text message from my bank, stating that my salary had been added to my current account, I decided that the challenge is on. And today is DAY 1 of not buying anything. So, from this payday, until next payday, I am not buying myself any of the following;

• Shoes
• Clothes
• Makeup
• Skincare
• Magazines
• Books
• Candles
• Home Furnishings

So, basically, I am going to be avoiding malls for the foreseeable future. And, I’ll document how I am coping. Right now, I think it’s going to be easy (ish), but I’ll let you know how it goes. And FYI, I just got a message saying that tonight we are going to the cinema, which is in the mall…

*Essentials includes gym classes, birthday gifts for others – I have three birthday’s this month and I don’t they’d appreciate my lack of gift – and beauty treatments such as gel manicures and eyebrow threading.