A shoutout to everyone who has joined me on the #dayrefinancialfast ! I'm so encouraged by your successes and there's a silly smile on my face as I read your comments / Dayre posts (for those of you who tagged me) about how your Day 1 on the fast has been!
Let's continue to share our little stories on Day 2 here okay? Fasting gets better (or bearable lol) when you have like-minded friends on the journey with you!
I thought hard about what I wanted to share with you guys for Day 4 of my EP run (still in shock, haha) and decided that I wanted to talk about DECLUTTERING today.
For those of you who are on this financial fasting journey with me this week, you might have already seen / sensed this from Day 1 of your journey today.
Some of you said no to a new bag. Another said no to new makeup even though there was a sale at Etude House. Others are staying away from clothes shopping this week.
But why did this scenario even pop up in the first place? It seems like our minds have been conditioned to buy, buy, buy. Advertisers came up with the term "retail therapy" to convince us that the more money we spend, the better we will feel.
(Yes, if we spend it on meaningful stuff that matter to us, that is.)
I'm guilty of the same. Honestly, I have a hard time resisting deals. I'll go into Daiso telling myself that I only want 1 item, but end up leaving the store with 10 items instead 😓
Why is it that we continue to buy new clothes and makeup even though we already have plenty?
Did you know that the average Singaporean woman owns at least:
👛 10 bags (handbag, wristlet, clubbing bag, casual sling bag, work bag, backpack, fancy formal dinner clutch, etc…)
👗 20 dresses (LBD, romper, summer dress, bareback dress, skater dress, pinafore dress, maxi dress, spaghetti dress, lace dress, halter dress, evening dress, bodycon dress, officewear A-line structured dress, etc)
👕 20 tops (tank top, spaghetti top, cropped top, racer back top, halter top, etc)
👖15 bottoms (jeans, shorts, skater skirt, bodycon skirt, A-line structured skirt, trousers, leggings, etc)
👠 15 pairs of shoes (flats, sandals, slippers, wedges, mid-heels, kitten heels, high heels, stilettos, running shoes, boots, sneakers, etc)
My wardrobe is so full that I hang more than 1 piece of clothing on each hanger. Whenever I need to take out any clothes, I'll have to use strength to push away the hangers in order to retrieve the one I want.
I thought I was the only one who owned too many things (we all live in our own bubble as kids, don't we?) until one day I went for a sleepover at my girlfriend's place. Her wardrobe was so full that it was literally on the brink of bursting.
She had multiple items of clothing hanging on her chair and more strewn at the side of her bed.
I used to joke that rummaging in my wardrobe was my "daily exercise" and a "great arm workout", but then I saw others with wardrobes more packed than mine. That was when I realised that this situation was probably more universal than I thought.
So many clothes, but still nothing to wear.
I'm generalizing here, but could you be perhaps among this group too? In fact, for some people, this might even be at best a conservative estimate.
When I first read about the problem of consumer waste and the impact it is causing to our environment, I decided to take stock of my own room to see how much I had. This was a few years ago, and this was what I found:
20 bags
30 dresses
20 tops
15 dance T-shirts
10 casual shorts
10 dance pants / leggings
4 dance sneakers
15 pairs of heels
10 sandals
And this was AFTER my friend and I spring-cleaned my wardrobe. Imagine if I had included the number of clothes I packed into bags and bags and bags for selling / giving away / donations – I'm guessing the total number could work up to 300 or more?!?
Wow 😱😱😱😱😰
Just imagine how much money accumulated in my wardrobe over the years!
Let's do a quick estimate, shall we?
Assuming $15 per clothing and $20 per shoe and bag…
gives me $2,200! (In reality, the sum is probably a lot more because I've done $60 dresses and $50 bags from Zara)
#hiddenwardrobemoney
What about you guys? Have you ever thought of how much money is hiding in your wardrobe too? Let's share using this hashtag!
And even today, I'm still shopping. The world of Qoo10, Taobao and other cheap sites offering fast fashion doesn't quite help. Instagram makes it worse, because I'm often tempted to get that gorgeous piece that some blogger is wearing or promoting.
We often talk ourselves into buying that new bag, shoe, accessory or new clothes for certain occasions, but the reality is that these "occasions" are usually so rare that we won't get the chance to wear them as often as we thought we would.
P.S. Sidetrack! I have 2 slots to our finance crash course event today due to last min pullouts! Anyone wants to come? Email me at sgbudgetbarbie {at} gmail dot com if you do! 6.30 in town (secret location to be disclosed through email)
(Slots snapped up!! See you guys tonight!)
The truth is, 80% of women wear only 20% of their wardrobe most of the time.
I found this great tip online once, and it really helped me to declutter my wardrobe.
Most importantly, turning my hangers the other way made me conscious of which clothes I wore often, and the ones that seldom got to see the light of day.
The next time I got tempted by a pretty gown, I'll stop and ask myself: which hanger will this end up belonging to?
With OOTDs becoming a norm today on social media, it gets harder and harder for one to resist the temptation of buying new clothes. We're worried that people will judge us for wearing that same top we just wore last week. Life becomes like a fashion show.
Oh believe me, I know that feeling so well! When I first entered university, my seniors told me that our school main walkway is the fashion runway. Everyone will judge you for what you wear, so remember to dress stylishly!
I was so stressed about that because living in hall meant that I did most of my laundry in the washing machine, whereas a lot of my prettier clothes were meant to be handwashed.
So in the beginning, I really took heed. I would wake up an hour before my morning lecture to get ready – put on makeup, choose my outfit, pair with the right accessories, and then decide on the bag and shoes for that look.
I was so conscious, and worried about not fitting in!
In my school, almost everyone seemed to be dressed to the nines all the time. People seemed to talk about each other's sense of style a lot more than I was used to.
So my efforts went on for about a year before I finally got tired. One day I decided, you know what? Screw this. I'm here to study, not to do a fashion parade. And I don't care if people are going to judge me anymore. If this means I'll lose my friends, then whatever. I'm tired of always spending so much effort dolling up.
So I stopped taking selfies and photos. I didn't care whether I repeated outfits or not, and whether anyone noticed. It would be easiest if my daily outfits weren't even captured on social media, so I never buckled to the OOTD trend. That way, people had to only rely on their memory to confirm if I wore a repeated piece of clothing.
And it was so liberating!! I got to re-wear my favourite outfits over and over again because they were so comfy, and if anyone asked, I'll say:
"Yes! I wear this all the time – it is my favourite sweater / dress / top!"
Instead of judging me (as I had been so afraid they would), many of them would laugh along with me instead. I felt comfortable and confident in my own skin, and I didn't feel the need to hide the fact that yes, I was repeating outfits, and I was proud of it!
Today, the same thing applies. I have about 4 work dresses that I recycle over and over again to work on days when I have meetings. I have 4 structured tops (same design, different colours) and 3 A-line skirts that I repeat often.
My fiancé has seen me in my favourite red skater dress on multiple casual dates, and neither of us care.
What about you?
Let's not be so bothered by now others see us. Dont be so afraid of being judged. Go ahead and repeat that outfit. There's nothing wrong with being you and staying true to the clothes that you like.
The next time you're tempted to buy a new piece of clothing, ask yourself if you REALLY need it. If you won't wear it more than 3 times in a year, you probably don't need it.
Did anyone of you try the #hiddenmoneyinwardrobe challenge to see how much you didn't realise you had? Or the closet hanger idea? Let me know!
