Comments on: A Season of Spending

By: Kat MacKInnon

Kat MacKInnon — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 10:57:30 +0000

Hi,

I used to hit shops for something new and exciting each spring too! Then I’ve read about the ‘rotation system’ and it was working for me ever since.

I put all the spring/summer clothes, shoes, bags, jewellery, scarfs etc. away around September/October time. I keep them in the attic, totally out of my sight for 5 months or more. I do the same with some home decor pieces (like the mentioned egg cups etc.)

Come March/April… I am eager to go shopping to my attic! Bliss! No expenses! New (or well forgotten) stuff!

Kat
LiftMyDepression.com

By: Anne

Anne — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 15:24:41 +0000

Ah, Boden. A girlfriend turned me onto Boden and somehow I’ve successfully avoided getting that one in the mail. We obviously have similar taste:)

By: Kristen @ Motherese

Kristen @ Motherese — Sat, 06 Mar 2010 01:25:35 +0000

Wow, I’ve never thought about this particular phenomenon before, Anne, but I think you are on to something and your analysis certainly persuades me. I’m with Gale and Jana: my closet is relatively more full with Easter egg hues than any other.

I also had to giggle while reading this because you and I share taste in stores. (Not to enable your habit, but have you ever checked out the Boden catalog? Yum.)

By: Jana

Jana — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 22:49:17 +0000

I was just thinking about my spending habit today. And you’re right–there’s something about spring. I think it’s the fresh start. I am so excited to see the sun in all its brightness that I’m more relaxed, calm, less uptight about money. (But I should be, you see.) Once spring hits, people want to shop for a new wardrobe, new sandals, plan a vacation. It’s our excitement coming out externally, like you mentioned above. But what I’d really, really like to do, is take a few lessons from some friends I have, and focus on simplicity. I’m going to repeat it as a mantra, and hopefully it will stick.

By: Anne's mom

Anne's mom — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 18:52:56 +0000

I think it’s a habit. And actually, there are times when I miss traipsing along behind you and your sister on a spring clothes shopping spree. Take Ryan along and let him sit and watch you try on things, and then go to a tea room for finger sandwiches. No doubt, he LOVE it!!

By: Gale

Gale — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:22:02 +0000

I’d never thought about it this way, but my spring wardrobe is much more varied than my winter one. I suppose it’s from the accumulation of spring purchases year over year. I haven’t had the itch to shop yet this year, but I suspect it’s coming. At least now I’ve been forewarned and can curb the spending before it starts.

(PS – One nice thing about having a 1-year-old is that I can get some of this out of my system with his shopping. He legtimately needs new spring/summer clothes since last year’s are teeny-tiny.

By: elizabeth

elizabeth — Fri, 05 Mar 2010 15:06:43 +0000

I’m going to add a fourth theory to your list, Anne: external changes are usually a whole heck of a lot easier to make than internal ones. When we’re sniffing out something new in this season of growth, it’s much easier to turn out energies outward than inward. It will please you to know that I, too, suffer from this spring fever. I’ll never forget reading in Sarah Ban Breathnach’s “Simple Abundance” (you should read it if you haven’t — you only read one day at a time, so it takes all of five minutes a day) that when SHE feels the need to spend, she collects and gathers up all the catalogs from stores that she covets. Then, she spends a long, luxurious afternoon flipping through the catalogs, marking things, clipping things, creating outfits. She finds this very satisfyingly puts the “shopping demons” to rest.