While having coffee with a friend- lets call this friend Amber – she told me about a conversation she had had with one of her friends who had an interesting method she was intending to deploy in order to declutter her wardrobe.
As I have mentioned before I live in Australia, Amber’s friend -lets call her Leanne- is about to go on a vacation to the United States where the shopping is great. I haven’t talked to Leanne personally about this situation but I believe her intention is to only pack clothes that she no longer likes or are starting to wear out and when she get to the USA she will wear these clothes and then throw them away and have a wonderful time shopping to replace them.
There is a quadruple benefit to this plan..
- She will have a lovely new selection of clothing by the time she gets home
- She will have disposed of all her old unwanted clothes
- She wont need to buy an extra suitcase to bring her purchases home in because she has freed up the space by getting rid of her old clothes
- She will save precious sightseeing time and cash by only having to spend half the amount of time in the laundromat while she is away because the first round of dirty clothes will be going in the trash.
I would like to mention at this point that Amber was appalled with this plan because she thinks Leanne should be setting a good example of how Australian women present themselves. I however think it is a great idea and even though Leanne may look a little shabby when she gets there she is going to look pretty sharp by the time she comes home.
I will let you know how this plan worked out when Leanne returns from her vacation. I believe she will be reading this post before she leaves so it will give her incentive to live up to my expectations and carry out the plan to the letter. No pressure Leanne.
ITEM 122 OF 365 LESS THINGS
Hair bands are one of those hit and miss purchases that you don’t know how they are going to work out until you have worn them for a while. Those that stay in place and don’t give you a headache stay, the rest, like this one must go.
I hope she doesn’t intend to just throw them in the trash. I would agree that this is an interesting idea, but only if she donates the clothes. There are plenty of charity shops here in the USA.
I would have never thought of something like this myself. I go through my clothing every few months to weed out things I no longer want and then donate them right away. And when I travel, it’s never centered around shopping and I actually don’t mind handwashing my clothes as needed. Two weeks carrying a single suitcase around Europe helped solidify that.
Hi Katie
Like I mentioned I haven’t had a chance to discuss this plan with Leanne in person but I would assume she will donate the clothes that are still OK and throw away the ones that have seen better days.
Trust me only the dedicated low budget Australian traveller would go to the USA without planning to do some serious shopping while they are there.
Like you though, when I travel anywhere else I live out of one backpack and only take the pair of shoes I am wearing and try to take only light weight clothing that wash out easily and dry quickly.
I think it’s a splendid idea. I did a similar thing a couple of months ago when I visited family in another state. I needed a new winter jacket, so I wore an old one I wanted to get rid of (a little embarrassing in the airports and on the planes) and purchased a new one on a clearance rack for only $5.00 with no sales tax! I also got several other new items and donated some of the clothing I brought with me along with the jacket. It was fun coming back home with new things.
I just started following your blog a couple of days ago and love it. Your plan is so easy to follow. I see that you have archives through March. Do you have any from Day 1 onward?
Hi ladydi,
welcome to my blog I am glad you are enjoying it. That was a great bargain you got on your winter jacket which just proves my point about how good the shopping is in the USA.
To answer your question about if I have posts from Day one, unfortunately no, my husband was away when I came up with this plan and I didn’t know how to get the blog started so I waited for him to come home. I only started blogging from day 64 but I have included on that day the photos of the items I had already purged. I did miss taking the odd photos when I first stared out, a couple of items I missed were a bed frame and an outdoor setting which made a significant difference to the space in my garage.
I am so glad you have dropped by and I hope o hear from you again soon.
I solemnly pledge to only throw out the absolute crap. I will donate anything reasonable.
And I don’t intend to bring back a whole pile of stuff either. I will only buy it if I truly love it. My motto is “when in doubt don’t buy it”.
Hi Leanne,
I hope you enjoyed my blog. That is a great motto by the way I go by the same one myself. Have a great trip!!!!!!
I love your blog, I read it everyday. I am a stay at home Mom with two kids. I was wondering if you can write about Minimalist Wardrobe for Kids. My kids have so much clothes, I don’t know how to keep up with them. My mother in law buys them clothes all the time, none stop. The clothes are driving me crazy.
Keep up the great job, I can’t get enough of your blog, I’ve recommend your site to my family and friends too.
Hi Angelina,
it’s good to hear from you again and thank you for recommending my blog to your friends and family.
To be quite honest I wouldn’t even consider myself a minimalist. I started this blog just to inspire myself and others to declutter their homes. It was logical that the next step was to implore people to shop sensibly in order to stay decluttered. Then as time has worn on and I have started reading minimalist web sites my blog became more minimalist in nature. Environmental issues have slowly crept into the subject matter as well because the materialistic nature of western society is clearly having a detrimental effect on our planet.
That being said, I will at your request try to write a blog regarding Minimalist Wardrobe for Kids. I too had a mother and mother-in-law that loved to provide clothes for my children so that will give me inspiration.