My Completed Capsule Wardrobe

Well, I managed to capsule my wardrobe without too much fuss. I have closer to 50 items instead of 40, but I’m not beating myself up too much over that. It’s still way better than two closets full of clothes, most of which I forgot I even had. I figure that since I have “less” to chose from, it will make it easier to choose outfits I like, and get rid of items I’m not wearing.

I’m left with piles of clothes to sort through; figuring out what to sell, give away, and donate, a pile of boots and shoes that need to go in a bin, and a bin of my fall and winter stuff that I need to find a home doe in our basement.

I want to try to stay away from just taking everything I don’t want to the thrift stores. Marie Kondo has become a household name, and because of her popularity, most thrift stores are at capacity. They are either not taking donations at the moment, selling their excess donations overseas, or just plain tossing them into landfill. We need more landfill like I need another leg, so I’m trying to do my part to find new homes for everything, and whatever I can’t, I” donate it to a thrift store.

The items that are in good condition and on the newer side, I plan to try to sell on Poshmark. If that doesn’t work, I’ll try my luck on Ebay or the Facebook Marketplace. I’m planning on bringing in things bit by bit to see if any of my coworkers can find anything useful. What they don’t want, I plan to set aside until it’s a little nicer out and have a yard sale. Anything left after the yard sale, I’ll put up for grabs in the buy nothing group i’m in. Only after that will I take anything to a thrift store.

I want to try to sell as much as I can to recoup some of the money I wasted on buying everything in the first place. Whatever money I end up earning, I’ll split three ways between two savings accounts and paying off credit card debt. My ultimate goal is to have my credit cards paid off by this time next year. If I’m lucky enough to be able to, I’d like to also have $1000.00 in each of the savings accounts, and see how much extra I can put towards my car.

Our absolute very first priority, however, is to pay some back rent. My husband was out of work since the restaurant he works at had to relocate due to some landlord issues. He was able to collect unemployment for a time, but that ran out in February, so things have been pretty tight. Our landlords have been super kind and understanding, but kindness has its limits, so the sooner we can start to pay things back, the better. If I can even manage to get ahead on rent, that would be even better.

My husband should be back to work full time sometime in May ( I hope and pray), so things are slowly moving forward. I’m really glad that they are. Part of me wants things to go faster, but I know deep down that if I rush things, I’ll just be back to square one. As much progress as I’ve made, I don’t want to take any steps back if I can help it. Only forward from here on out.

How I Plan to Capsule My Wardrobe

On my slow and steady journey towards a more minimal lifestyle, my biggest undertaking is going to be making a capsule wardrobe. Minimalism and capsule wardrobes often go hand in hand it seems, and are very different things for different people. Some people can fit their entire wardrobe in a suitcase. Some people are doing Project 3-33. As a shopaholic with borderline hoarding tendencies that seem to run in my family (thanks Mom, and Grandfather before her), I’ve decided to come up with my own system. These are realistic goals for me, and a way I feel I can get started and not overwhelm myself in the process, which means setting myself up for failure.

My first step might seem really silly, but bear with me: I want to dust and vacuum my house before I do anything with my wardrobe. That way I’m starting from a clean slate, and won’t get distracted by any dirt or clutter I might see. This also means I won’t be putting my clothes on any dirty surfaces, thanks to the overabundance of cat hair. We have three cats, so you can imagine how dusty our home can get.

The next step is inspired by Marie Kondo. I’ll be taking all my clothes, shoes, purses, and accessories to a central location, and from there, the sorting will begin. I’ll pick out anything I’m not wearing, be it because it doesn’t fit me or because I just don’t wear it, and decide what’s nice enough to sell on Poshmark, what to give away, and what to donate. If it doesn’t fit me NOW, I don’t need it. I might save a pair of jeans or two on the off chance I happen to lose weight, but if I still don’t fit into them by this time next year, I’ll say goodbye to them as well.

Once that’s all taken care of, I can look at what I still have and start to sort my wardrobe into capsules. I’ve decided that for me, my capsules will be in four seasons roughly three months long: spring, summer, fall, and winter. I’ll have no more than 40 items for each season. These items will not include shoes, underwear, sleepwear, my work clothes, accessories, outerwear, and clothes I go to the gym in. I may include shoes and accessories in the future, but right now I’m doing baby steps.

40 articles of clothing, including tops, skirts, pants, jeans, layering pieces, etc., may seem like a lot for some people but this is a really big change for me, and I have to start small or not at all. The capsules I’m not wearing will be stored in bins down in our basement. If I like something enough, I might bring it with me into other seasons, such as a graphic t shirt I really like, or my favorite pair of jeans. I’ll try on everything at the beginning of each capsules season to make sure everything still fits.

Shoes and accessories are in their own category, simply because while I have a lot of each and really like having a variety,m the truth is, I really don’t change up my accessories a lot. I’ll be setting aside the many pairs of sneakers I’ve accumulated to save for work, but any other pairs I’m planning on separating into shoes I wear in the warmer months and shoes I wear in the colder months. Whatever doesn’t get worn by the end of the capsule, I’ll find new homes for. The same holds true for my scarves and hats.

That brings us to my vast collection of purses. I’ve grown quite the collection, from having people give them to me as gifts, to seeing a style I really like at a thrift store or yard sale. I’m constantly on the lookout for the “perfect purse”, which morphs ite meaning to me almost as often as I change my socks. For now, I’ll be finding new homes for the ones I’m not using for whatever reason, keep a few of my favorites, and not buy anymore, unless it truly is the perfect purse, at a good price, and made of quality materials.

This is a process I plan on documenting somehow while Rob is at work. That way he’s not in the way and doesn’t get overwhelmed by the shear amount of stuff I’ve accumulated over the years. I haven’t decided if I’m just going to stick to Instagram and Snapchat, or if I might make a Youtube video. Either way, I’ll be announcing it so people know it’s happening. I’ll also share the link to my Poshmark once it’s set up in case people want to buy my stuff. Wish me luck, and send wine and coffee!

Beginning My Minimalist Journey

I know I’ve written something similar to this in the past, but I fell off the wagon because I did too much too fast, so here we are with the ugly truth.

I love shopping. As a kid, I didn’t really get to go shopping very much for what I wanted, unless it was a special occasion or if I was with my grandmother. A lot of the clothes I owned were hand me downs from various family members, friends, or they came from a yard sale.

Aside from shopping for the perfect pair of jeans, shopping for me is fun and a great mood boost. As and adult with my own income, I’m able to shop wherever I want, try on whatever I want, and buy whatever I want. Being able to try on fun pieces that fit my body and sense of style is an exciting activity that I look forward to.

One of my favorite name brand stores is Maurice’s. I love thrifting, too, but Maurice’s is a place I’m willing to go to often. I have their store credit card, so if I see something I want, I can just charge it to my card and pay it off over time. I do this around my birthday as a treat to myself. This year I spend about $200.00 all together, both in store and online.

That’s $200.00 worth of things that fit me well and made me happy, but $200.00 worth of things I didn’t really need. $200.00 worth of more credit card debt. $200.00 worth of more clothes in my eclectic wardrobe that weeks before I tried to downsize. $200.00 worth of most likely unsustainable fast fashion, that while I love the pieces, I truly don’t know the manufacturing process or how long they will last.

I think there were 12-15 pieces all together. How many more things could I have gotten if I had gone to a thrift store instead? Or a yard sale? What if I didn’t act on impulse and put that money towards paying off my credit cards? I would have been $200.00 closer to being debt free.

Clothes aren’t the only thing I overspend on, either. While our pantry, fridge, and freezer are filled with food, I often forget to take something out to thaw for supper, so we’ll just go out to eat instead. that’s $20.00 to $40.00 we could have saved if I wasn’t lazy and forgetful after work. $20.00 to $40.00 worth of food that while it tastes good, is often fast food, or one step above.

I need to do better. I’m sure there are many other people who are in this rut. It’s an easy rut to get into and a long, hard one to get out of. The first step is admitting that it needs done, hold myself accountable, be transparent about my short comings, and make small goals to start with so I don’t get overwhelmed, inevitably leading to me giving up and going back to old habits.

I’ll be starting with two goals, and once I have them underway and I’m confident I’m on the right track, I’ll slowly add in others, one by one.

The first goal is to not buy anything that isn’t essential. No new clothes, shoes, or accessories. No going out to eat more than once a week to start, unless it’s for a special occasion. No grocery shopping unless it’s for essentials like fresh produce, milk, bread, or eggs. Our freezer has plenty of meat in it, so that should last us a good long while.

The second goal is going to be the most time consuming, and that’s going to be sorting through my wardrobe and putting it in a capsule. With is starting to warm up, I’m not going to need all my long sleeved shirts, cardigans, jeans, boots, and thick socks, so it will be easy to transition. There are lots of different ways to do a capsule wardrobe, but I think i’m going to come up with my own system to start and ease into it.

I’m going to hold myself accountable for all of this by writing blog posts, posting on Instagram and Snapchat, maybe start a YouTube channel, and other forms of social media as well. I’ll be doing lots of research, picture taking, and writing. I’ll be sharing my journey, as well as sharing others who inspire me along the way, be they bloggers, YouTubers, Instagrammers, or just people I know in person.

I know I can do this. I just have to take the first step, even if it’s a small one.