Tag: everything i bought

Everything I Bought in February | #LivingWithLess

Posted on by Adventures in Polishland

February has come to a close, and it’s time to share with you every non-consumable item that I purchased during the month. If you missed my first post in this series, I highly recommend reading that to learn more about why I am sharing all of my purchases this year. Overall, I hope that by sharing what I buy it will help me to see how much I’m spending, what I’m buying, and if I can look back and think every purchase was a good one for me. My goal is to buy only what I truly want and need, and not excess items that will just add clutter to my life. I am amazed with myself this month, because I only purchased two non-consumable items in all of February!

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I am slowly building up the reusable items in my home, and I finally purchased some cloth napkins. I found this pack of Mill Valley Bistro 100% Cotton Napkins at Homesense on clearance for $10.00. I chose this brand simply because it wasn’t packaged in a plastic bag like the others they had for sale! I’m excited to use these napkins and make the transition from paper to cloth. I am not able to find this exact brand of napkins online, but there are many similar items on Amazon.

The other item I purchased in February was the book Auntie Loves You! written by Helen Foster James and illustrated by Petra Brown. I sent this book to my niece and nephew for Valentine’s Day. This book is absolutely adorable, and I think it’s worth the $12.50 I spent on it. I live far away from my niece and nephew, so I think it’s nice for them to have this book to look at even when we cannot spend time together in person.

What’s funny about February is that I did have a few more items on my list of things to buy, but I just didn’t get to them! I was getting over a bad respiratory virus at the beginning of the month, and I never made it out to the store. Hopefully in March I will grab the things I need so I can share them with you!

Everything I Bought in January | #LivingWithLess

Posted on by Adventures in Polishland

A couple years ago I saw a post from my friend Jill over at @a.little.less.waste on Instagram that really inspired me. In her photo, Jill shares a list of all her purchases for the month of January, and she notes it is her goal to record all non-consumable purchases for the year. I absolutely loved this idea, and it’s been something I’ve thought about ever since. This year, I hope to record all of my non-consumable purchases as well, and I thought it would be fun to share them on the blog. In this post, I will share why I want to keep track of the things I buy, as well as everything I purchased in the month of January.

This post includes affiliate links. I will earn a small commission if you make a purchase using those links. Thank you!

As this is my first post in this series, I thought it would be helpful to let you know the three main reasons I have for recording my purchases. First, I would like to be more aware of how I am spending my money. While I do have a detailed budget, I have found that it can be extremely useful to keep track of exactly what I’m buying so that I can have a better idea of not only how much I am spending, but how much I should set aside for future purchases. For example, last year I made two purchases at Who Gives a Crap, and this year I’ve set aside money for those two orders in my Annual Expenses savings account.

Moreover, I also want to record my purchases so I can be aware of the physical items I am bringing into my space. I’ve talked many times about how much I love the KonMari method. Now that I am living with a lot less physical possessions, I would like to keep it that way. I truly have come to learn that tangible things do not equal happiness and fulfillment. That is especially true with shopping and instant gratification. I hope that by documenting what I buy, I can look back at the end of the year and see if I regret any of my purchases.

Finally, I also want to make sure I am buying things with the environment in mind. This means shopping secondhand whenever possible, being conscious of the materials I’m purchasing, and thinking about the life each item has before it gets deposited into a landfill. I also hope to increase my reusables over the course of this year!

My January Purchases

Stock images are courtesy of lordandtaylor.com

With all of that said, let’s jump into the things I did buy in January. In 2019, all of the clothing purchases I made, with the exception of shoes, were from the thrift store. I try really hard not to buy new clothes, but I struggle when it comes to my work wardrobe and with winter items. Thus, I did go to Lord & Taylor in January to purchase a few pieces.

I ended up with a warm sweater from Jessica Simpson, a beautiful blouse from Jones New York, and a pair of black pants from En Thread. I’ve already worn all three items a couple times, and I’m really happy with them. If you have to buy fast fashion pieces, I think it’s helpful to focus on items that you will wear often and that will stand the test of time. I choose to buy from Lord & Taylor because the brands this store carries are great quality. I have many pieces that have lasted me several years. I also hit up the clearance sales for extra savings. I spent a total of $72.29 on all three pieces.

The only other item I purchased in January was a bar of LUSH Aromaco Deodorant. While I was at the mall buying the clothes, I decided to hop on over to LUSH and stock up on deodorant since I am running low. This bar cost me $5.73, and it will last me a whole lot longer than a traditional stick deodorant in a plastic tube. If you’d like to read my full thoughts on this product, you can read my review. If I planned better for this purchase, I would have brought my deodorant container to the store so I didn’t need the paper wrapper. That being said, this is still a great, plastic free option!

Overall, I am happy with my purchases in January. While I would prefer to not shop fast fashion at all, I know that I’ve looked for black work pants for over a year at thrift stores without much luck. It comes down to reducing what I buy new, and I’ve definitely done that over the past few years. I am actually amazed with myself that I only purchased four non-consumable items last month. I’m sure there will be some months where I buy many more things. My goal here isn’t to have any sort of minimalist contest with myself or anyone else, but to be more conscious of what I buy. It will be interesting to see the journey!