Help! I just placed ANOTHER order on Shein for myself and my baby girl. Why must things be so cheap, affordable and easily accessible? I have the freakin app right on my phone and while I am nursing my baby during the night, I reach for my phone and open that app. Sigh* But here’s the thing, I haven’t treated myself to new clothes since I returned back to work from my maternity leave but I’ve splurged in makeup, skincare, accessories… I’m not making excuses for my habits. I’ve accumulated a lot of shit. I honestly think that having accumulated so much stuff is a reflection of my mental health. You can feel when things are just too much in your surroundings. Anxiety starts building up. You struggle with closing your closet. It’s tooo much stuff but hear me out. Shopping for me releases “love” hormones called oxytocin. This is why retail therapy is a thing. The act of spending money on frivolous things temporarily makes me happy. I feel good when I see boxes and packages sitting on my front porch coaxing me to open each and every one of them. This retail therapy sometimes feels like I am putting a bandaid on a wound or maybe I am looking too deep into this. I know that $2-$5 items can add up but these items would look sooo damn cute on my baby. I feel good, but my bank account says otherwise so am I really being responsible with my hard earned money? I digress.

I decided to try out a low buy for three months. I’ve watched several youtube videos on this and thought, hey, I think I can try this out and maybe doing this will not only force me to declutter and use up all of my things, but improve my mental health. I am hoping by having less things in my surrounding, I can be more at peace and have a clearer mind which would allow me to thoroughly enjoy more of my space and life. There’s different meanings to a low buy. A low buy for someone can mean not buying anything but the essentials. You can put yourself on a strict low buy if needed but I am being gentle with myself with this process. This is how I will try this thing out.

Here are a couple of rules that I have for myself:

• Use up all of your products-skincare, makeup, teas, tinctures, etc./..
• Wear everything in the closet or dresser drawer
• If you do not like a product, get rid of it or pass it along
• If you don’t like a clothing item, donate or pass it along
• Do not buy clothes, if you need to, buy it quarterly
• Continue to declutter closet
• Keep only things that you really really love

The low buy is only to limit my physical things, but I am not limiting myself when it comes to experiences such as yoga classes or what have you.

Here’s to new challenges! Wish me luck!