I'd Like to Slow My Shopping + Clean Out Cycle

Lately I've picked up on a troubling pattern and I'm really curious if anyone else has noticed this behavior with themselves. Please comment below or tell me more over on The Keeper of Things Instagram account.

I tend to shop for and purge my closet in cycles. I'll buy little to nothing for awhile, then buy a whole bunch of stuff, only to then decide it is time for a closet clean in which I toss unworn, unloved items on the floor in a sad pile.

Deep down, I think I'm a minimalist. I love the idea of having a few items in each category that you absolutely love. I like the idea of seeing all your clothes hanging on hangers in your closet, no switching out for different seasons, or hiding items in unidentifiable stacks or under your bed, or even preserving items for "special" occasions. You wear and use the things you have.

I want to be a minimalist but my shopping behavior says otherwise. As I've said in prior posts, I've been guilty of rewarding myself (I'm thinking the "treat yourself" mantra in my head as I type this) by buying things. During the dark ages of my late 20s, I would buy things to make myself happy, a practice I've largely stopped doing. But, I still like to buy myself things when I'm in a good mood. It almost feels like I'm leaning into being happy in a moment, so happy I'm willing to make an equally mindless purchase as when I felt bad.

There have been multiple reasons for why I've decided to focus on my own shopping behaviors. I want to buy things I'll own for longer than a season. I want to think about the waste I'm creating when my fast fashion items end up in a landfill. I want to make sure the money I earn is invested and spent in the categories I truly want them to be (and not funneled into an impulse purchase).

I feel like I've made progress in a bunch of these categories but I'm stuck in the cycle of buying and cleaning things out which tells me that I'm still making poor purchase decisions.

I'm hoping that writing these thoughts down will hold me more accountable 😑.

The Keeper of Things