In case you don’t know, I recently challenged myself to a no buy month. I wrote about it for Apartment Therapy, so you can check out the article there when it’s live and read about all the insights I gained from the experience if you want, but TLDR: The four weeks of only buying essentials completely changed how I think about spending money. In particular, it changed how I think about shopping for clothing (one of my favorite things, let’s be honest). In the past, I’ve pretty much shopped with zero plan in mind. If I saw something I liked and I had the money in my checking account, I bought it. If I wanted a little pick-me-up, I went on ASOS and purchased random items just because. If I was at Target and somehow left with $235 in flowy dresses despite the fact that I needed none of them, then so be it! None of this was particularly great for my savings account. It was also not allowed during the no-buy month, of course. But this didn’t mean I simply stopped wanting things in June. So throughout the month, when I found myself wanting to buy a certain item, I made a note of it instead of actually adding it to my cart (though I will admit there were a few times when I filled an online cart for fun only to abandon it shortly after).
I ended the month with a running list of a dozen or so items. At the beginning of the no-buy month I expected to get to July 1 and purchase every single thing on the list. Surprisingly, though, a lot of the items no longer intrigued me at all. Did I really need that trendy, influencer-endorsed reusable water bottle I had wanted a few weeks ago? Nope. Could I wait on a pair of new sneakers? Probably. While I still am very much looking forward to a pre-vacation shopping trip to pick out some fun pieces (because I’m only human and obviously I’ve missed the euphoria that is browsing the aisles of Target), I’m holding myself to a budget equal to the amount of money I made in Poshmark and affiliate pay-outs in June. I also plan on sticking with the idea of shopping once a month, after taking four weeks to consider what I actually really need and want. I still plan to buy clothes that bring me joy and to indulge in some impulse purchases every now and then (I have given up on the idea of ever being a minimalist), but I think I’ll be a little more thoughtful about it going forward.
Anyway, here are the things that I had on my list throughout the month of June and that I’m looking forward to buying now that the no-buy month is over.
Farm Rio Dress or Skirt
I’m headed to the Bahamas in July, and I’ve be dreaming of wearing something bright and bold from Farm Rio on the trip for a while now. For most of June, I had three particular pieces from the brand in mind/on my list: This button-down top, a wrap skirt, and this gorgeous maxi dress. I went back and forth for ages about which to buy (I couldn’t justify dropping my whole July shopping budget on three items), but ended up ordering the button-down and wrap skirt since they held more outfit possibilities. I have a denim corset-style top that I’m particularly excited to try with the skirt, but I am kind of obsessed with how they styled them together on the site. Plus, I’m imagining the button-down as a really good bathing suit cover-up as well.
ASTR The Label Dress
ASTR The Label is another new-to-me brand that I was curious about trying throughout the month of June. One dress, in particular, really stuck in my mind, so even though I’m skeptical of brands I haven’t tried before, I gave it a whirl once July came around (again, I had vacation outfits in mind…). I figured if I was still thinking about it after three or four weeks, then it was worth a try. Fingers crossed it looks as pretty in real life as it does online!
Athena Club Razors
I ran out of razors in June and ended up using a spare one that Jake had in a pinch, but I… won’t be doing that again. I realized that investing in refillable razors that I don’t have to think about is probably a good investment, so I’ll be signing up for Athena Club Razors this month (I’ve tried a lot of different razors in the past thanks to my job as a beauty writer/former editor, and Athena Club’s are the best IMO). I got a discount code when I signed up, so feel free to use OLIVIA2189 for $5 off your order if you want.
And that’s it! The one clothing item that was on my list that I waffled on purchasing or not was this pink bandana-print wrap dress, but I ultimately passed this month. If it’s still on my list at the end of July, I might go ahead and purchase but I’m waiting it out for now.
The three pieces I did buy were higher-ticket items than I have purchased in the past, the fact that I had saved and budgeted for them all month made them worth it. And hey, I can always return them if they don’t work. Stay tuned on Instagram to see if they work. Fingers crossed!
Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links.
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