I just noticed this as I posted the feature photo at the top of this post, we can play a game of where’s the baby :).
I have a friend who gets a shipment of second-hand clothes in good condition about every month or so. She then sells the extras for $1 an item or $20 for a 13-gallon trash bag. It is an awesome deal but it also leaves me with a very full wardrobe. I decided recently to pare it down so I went to the extreme as usual and I will only have 33 items in my wardrobe including shoes!
I have been researching minimalism for a few months. I love the idea of having less to clean up and a less cluttered space not just from organizing but also from simply owning fewer things. In this research, I came across project 333 which is basically 33 items including shoes and accessories for three months.
My goal is to refrain from purchasing any new clothes for the three months and see how it goes. So far it has been awesome. It’s been about two weeks. After the three months, it will be time to go through my clothes for winter and see if I have any missing items and how much more I can get rid of. I already have taken six small bags and two big ones to second-hand stores.
I started mostly with clothes as it is easier to quantify and account for what I needed. I also have a cheap way of getting clothes where I live so I had too much by a lot and it would also be easy to replace if I got rid of too much.
So I started by going through and putting away anything that wasn’t my size or nursing friendly. This got rid of a ton of my current clothes actually leaving me with holes. So I shopped at my second-hand supplier a few times to fill those gaps with a few items.
Then I went through and pared down to 30-40 items. My goal was 33 like project 333. I made it very close and had another half trash bag full of clothes in my closet to donate if I didn’t use them. I haven’t touched them. However, I did cave and go shopping once more. It’s tough when it’s so affordable. My new idea though will be a one for one trade if I can’t help shopping. But for these first 90 days, until Halloween is my goal, I won’t shop for clothes for me at all.
So two weeks ago I went through what I put out the last time but kept in my closet and I donated all of it there wasn’t even one item I missed and wanted to pull out. This isn’t winter gear it is all summer stuff. This, of course, doesn’t include undergarments or socks or pajamas although I minimize that too. I only have two robes and 2-3 pairs of pajama pants. It’s too hot for that right now anyway.
I will take a picture most days of my outfit and we shall see how many different outfits can be made.
It is a fun project and takes some discipline but I’m hoping to do this again in the winter so I only have 50-55 total items. I figure some will transfer seasons.
So far I have had some fun outfits and I found a great app called Smart Closet that makes the process of keeping track of my outfits and what I have much easier. I took a picture of each item I own which isn’t too hard when it’s only 33 photos. The app then does an okay job about half the time of Auto cropping the item. It’s pretty quick to crop manually too.
I have been amazed how much I have loved getting dressed! It has significantly cut down on my debating time and I really can just pick something and I love it. The fewer options make it easier rather than harder to choose what to wear. I wore just about everything before I was ready to wash clothes so that was new not having oodles of clothes to wear. It’s good though I need a kick in the pants to do the laundry occasionally and I love that there aren’t tons of items in my closet that I never wear.
I’m excited to see how I feel after the full 3 months. I have already had urges to buy clothes but that is normal and I have successfully resisted so far.
Balancing my Bipolar 