Tag: Materialism

My Year Tracking my Clothing Purchases

“We each buy almost 70 new clothing garments every year.” – Juliet B. Schor, Plentitude: The New Economics of True Wealth. After watching the CBC Marketplace clip about how many items of clothing we buy, I decided to track all my clothing purchases this year. As we wind down 2018, my list included 26 new items purchased including delicates and accessories (i.e. scarf, hat). I tracked shoes separately – three pairs purchased – a pair of open-toed shoes, a pair of Tretorns that cost $1.69 thanks to gift cards and a pair of winter boots for both work and casual. I also donated old clothes to my SIL’s family, the Salvation Army and Markham Recycles to give old textiles that could no longer be worn a new life. After no longer fitting a number of items in my closest or suited me, I definitely knew I had been much more mindful about what I purchased and was happy to see that was in fact the case. I will likely to continue to track in the new year.

Mindful Spending

Great read on mindful spending by Cait Flanders – author of The Year is Less. After I saw a CBC Marketplace segment at the beginning of the year saying that the average Canadian bought 70 new items of clothes every year, I decided to track all my clothing purchases this year to see what I was actually buying. As of August 24th, I have purchased 16 items plus two pairs of shoes – one only cost $1.69 thanks to gift cards. Many of my clothing purchases happened after I realized not all of my summer clothes fit and I needed a few new dresses to wear to work. I am sure as we change seasons again, I may need a few new work pieces and maybe another pair of work flats since I no longer fit all my old shoes as I am now a size bigger. Based on the number of old clothes I have donated over the last few years, tracking my purchases has made me much more aware of what I am buying and is helping to simplify what I actually genuinely need.