2016 Shopping Goals List

1. Golden Ponies Leopard Print Oxfords
2. Mika Yoga Wear Lynn Top
3. Frye Sacha Moto Shortie Boot
4. OhMeOhMy Clothing Circle Skirt
5. Omerica Organic Lucky Squirrel Plugs
6. ?
7. ?
Everyone who knows me will say that I really love shopping. I love finding good deals, and I love switching up my wardrobe on a regular basis. I've always had a very full closet with lots of clothes, shoes, and bags, and I was never overly selective with what I purchased (if the quality was good and the price was low, hello!). Last year I started looking at it with a different mindset though... I purged 75% of my wardrobe and became very picky with what I would bring back into my closet. But even though my mentality towards what and how much I was buying changed, I still loved to indulge in shopping on my days off, or any time I saw sale signs outside of a store. I realized that even though I wasn't spending the money, I was still spending a lot of my time and energy actively shopping. In fact, I spent a lot of my trip to Spain doing just that as well (Mom, I love you, but you're a bad shopping influence on me!), and I kind of regret not having spent more time exploring the country.

So this year I'm looking at shopping a little differently. I'm not going to do it. I'm going to do a lot less of it. Instead of spending my days off roaming from store to store ogling all the things, I'm making an active effort to not go into any stores, regardless of what sale signs they may have posted in the windows. Of course, I won't be able to avoid stores all year, let's be honest.... that's why I said effort ;)

Shawn and I have decided to make this year the year of savings. (I'll post more about that later.) So in recognizing that one of my habits is shopping without any intention, I've come up with a goal for myself this year. I'm allowing myself to purchase 7 items for my closet. Yep, just seven things for the whole year! I'm forcing myself to be intentional with my purchases. The price of things doesn't matter, it's more about the limitation. And you know what? It's already having an effect on my mindset. Any time I've thought to myself "Oh, I should go see what's on sale at the Gap!" it's immediately followed by "But then again, I really want to save up for those Frye boots, so maybe I won't." That's pretty freakin' rad, you guys. It's all about changing the thought, which then leads to changing the action, right?

I thought about allowing myself 12 items (one item per month), but that sounded like too many. Then I struggled with whether to give myself a limit of 7 or 8, and ultimately 7 won out because I really just love the number 7. So we'll see how this goes! I'll be sure to keep you updated throughout the year, especially since I still have two undecided open spots, and one or two things on the list may get switched out for others, depending on how the year goes.

Have you ever attempted a shopping goal? ... Do you think I'll last the whole year?