Decluttering, Ten Months Later

Recycling this photo from when I moved out of my first NYC apartment after graduating.

It's been quite a while now since I first read Marie Kondo's The Life-Changing Magic of Tidying Up, and I thought I would write an update on how my post-"KonMari method" life was going. As I mentioned back then, the book changed my relationship with how I accumulated objects, at least in terms of mundane things like papers, notes from school, and other household clutter. I was relatively certain that Kondo was correct about one thorough decluttering session being enough to permanently change one's habits. I still believe that, but with a few closet-related addendums based on new life events like moving into a new apartment with K.

First, wardrobe decluttering was never going to be a one-and-done process for me. I was decluttering in small sessions long before I read Kondo's book, and I'll likely continue with that habit almost indefinitely. I have a hard time being decisive when it comes to my clothing.

Second, I need even less than I think, and certainly less than I have. When I graduated, I vacated my old place, downsized my things, and stored my remaining possessions in K's studio apartment. Due to space constraints, two-thirds of my closet was packed away until our move. Not having full access to my entire wardrobe was strange for me, but I almost never felt the absence of so many of my clothes, shoes, and accessories. The only time I particularly regretted having so much stored away was when the weather turned cold and rainy sooner than expected, but even that feeling lasted only a day or two. Now that I've moved, I've done another bout of closet decluttering based on that insight.

Third, the book didn't have much to say about shopping, and I haven't had a 100% success rate with buying things that bring joy and are practical. One or two of the items I purchased this year are possible candidates for donation or resale. Kondo's book doesn't have much to say about new acquisitions, as far as I can recall. There were a few tips, some of which she reiterated in this brief New Yorker piece, but otherwise, there's not much guidance there.

I still think my experiment with the KonMari method was a massive success when it comes to non-fashion personal possessions, but her method doesn't provide all the answers for me when it comes to my general goal of cutting down to the best possible "minimalist" wardrobe for myself, nor is it intended to. Are any of you KonMari method adherents? If you were an early adopter, have you found that one decluttering session is enough to change your relationship to your possessions? 

October Shopping Reflections

This was an eventful month: I started my full-time job, went on a business trip to Chicago, and am now in the process of moving to my new apartment. All of that gave me a little less time to blog than usual. My new office-dwelling lifestyle takes a bit of getting used to, and I can feel my shopping habits and wardrobe preferences changing as a a result. Although I've had a few summer internships that gave me some basis for anticipating my office wardrobe needs, I've changed my mind on a few things, such as my willingness to wear pants as part of my business casual outfits. 

Shopping-wise, I went a fair bit over my $250/month budget for fashion purchases this month, but I don't worry too much about that because I've been under budget for a few months, and I'm still on track to come in under my limit for the year. There are times now when I feel as if I'm possibly too busy to shop, but I obviously end up shopping anyway. The real budget-buster this month was my jeans, and that is a purchase I hope I don't have to repeat anytime in at least two years, if not longer. 

Fashion - (TOTAL: $327.13)

• J. Crew Factory Long-Sleeve Striped Boatneck Tee - $34.50* - This was one of my "Five Piece French Wardrobe-ish" choices for the fall/winter season. I reviewed it here. 
• Madewell Northstar Pullover, Vintage Forest - $45.15 - I love the color, and I like the slouchy fit. It is 100% merino wool, which is nice in theory. Sadly, between this sweater and some other 100% wool sweaters I bought from Madewell last year, I'm about to conclude that it might be best to avoid their sweaters in the future. They just don't hold up that well to frequent wear and even the very gentle hand-washing I do with my sweaters. 
• Uniqlo Cotton-Blended Ankle Length Pant, Dark Green - $39.90 - I reported on these pants and how they compared to a similar poly-blend style from Uniqlo here. I find that the Dark Green shade is indistinguishable from gray in basically any lighting. 
• Uniqlo Cotton-Blended Ankle Length Pant, Black - $39.90 - I've mainly been wearing the black pair to work, and I like them so far. They do tend to attract lint a bit more than my other pair of poly-blend work pants from Loft. Because these have an elastic waist, it is difficult to get as good a fit from these as from other pants, but this style works well for me. 
• rag & bone/JEAN "The Skinny" Jeans, Coventry - $161.68* - This was another one of my "Five Piece French Wardrobe-ish" choices for the fall/winter season, and in buying it, I contradicted an earlier decision to try and stick with more moderately priced jeans. I like these. They are comfortable and flattering, and they hold their shape fairly well between wears. The front pockets are fake, which I find bizarre. Although I need to get these hemmed a bit for my 5'3'' height, I find that the fading at the knees still hits in the right place. (Extra Petite reported the same thing in her review of this style.) 
• Necklace Extenders - $6.00 - I wanted to extend the length of that Gorjana necklace from a few months ago so that it would work better with a short necklace that I wear daily. These are shipped from China, but they arrived in about two weeks, which is reasonably quick. 

Beauty - (TOTAL: $54.00) 

• Fresh Sugar Deoderant Antiperspirant - $18.00 - I've used this product on and off for a while, and I keep going back to it. It is expensive, but I really dislike the smell of a lot of drugstore antiperspirants, and I often have problems with allergic reactions. 
• MAKE UP FOREVER HD Pressed Powder - $36.00 - I used to use MUFE's loose powder, but that tended to be messy. I bought the smaller version of the pressed powder earlier this year and it was much more practical, especially for traveling, but it runs out a lot faster than the loose powder. I'm trying the larger size of the pressed powder now, and hopefully it doesn't run out too fast. 

*indicates that sales tax and/or shipping were included in this price

Linking up with Franish and the other Budgeting Bloggers again this month. Be sure to check out what everyone else bought! 

Comparison: Uniqlo Ankle Length Pants

I've only recently started wearing pants as part of my rotation of business casual clothes. Because I'm finding that the one pair I owned is not quite enough for me now, I've been vaguely in the market for another pair of slimmer-cut slightly-tapered or straight-leg slacks. I have no patience for shopping for pants, however, and I wasn't particularly ready to invest in anything too expensive. Fortuitously, someone on my college alum Facebook group posted about Uniqlo's ankle-length pants, and I had a chance to try two different varieties: one at the store, and one via online order. 

I've opted to keep two pairs of the Cotton-Blended Ankle Length Pant, one in black and one in a "dark green" (pictured above), that actually looks gray in almost any lighting. On my 5'3'' and short of leg self, both of these ankle-length pants look full-length, cutting off right at the boney part of my ankle, rather than having the cropped look they have on the model. They're incredibly easy to wear and very comfortable, with an elastic waistband rather than a zipper closure. At $39.90, the price is right, especially because I'm still in the experimentation stage when it comes to opting for pants rather than skirts and dresses at work. 

One potential serious downside with this style is that it has a contrasting waistband, which is covered in the above photo, but can be seen in Uniqlo's photos of the other colors. It doesn't matter much to me because I am always wearing a jacket or sweater that will cover the waistband at work. However, I feel like that this design element is enough to take these pants out of serious consideration for many other customers. The pants just won't be formal enough for many workplaces when the waistband is visible. 

I have some concerns about how these pants will do in the wash. Some of the reviewers say that the cotton blend wrinkles badly, though I haven't noticed that while trying them on several times. Another reviewer reported shrinkage, which would be a bigger concern. 

I also ordered the polyester blend Ankle Length Pant to try, though the gray were sold out in my size, which was a minor disappointment. My thought on this was that I suspected the polyester might hold up better to washing, and a major plus is that they lack the problematic contrasting waistband detail. They're also easy to wear because, like the other design, they rely on elastic at the waist to hold them up. These run a little smaller than the cotton-blended version, and I found that this style was less flattering, both because of the smaller fit and because of the way the fabric skims over the body less smoothly. The fabric feels thinner and cheaper with these too. Keep in mind that both styles are unlined. (EDIT 12/8: after taking a closer look at more pairs of formal suiting pants and chatting with a friend, it seems that the norm at American retailers and brands up to the Theory price point is for women's pants to be unlined. Maybe that goes for all suiting pants and my cluelessness is showing!) They're definitely made to be affordable more than anything else. 

One's Sense of "Normal" Spending

via Pinterest

I am endlessly fascinated by how different people my age relate to money, consumption, and spending. It's almost silly of me. After all, how other people "do" money really isn't any of my business. Also, I tend to speculate about the "why" behind each person's different habits, and that's definitely an unproductive exercise. Even so, I do think it can be helpful to me to take a look at where I fall on the spectrum of willingness to spend. I'm not always known for having the best judgment about appropriate use of funds, and analyzing how my habits compare to those of other similarly situated young adults can be a "sanity check" for me.

In our first week at work, someone mentioned their consternation at needing to buy a $200 bridesmaid dress, and others chimed in with tales of aggravation about weddings that required an expensive hotel room, though they generally tried to reduce that expense by splitting a room with their significant other and another couple. Last month, I mentioned a bridesmaid dress purchase, and while I didn't list it in my shopping budget, I gave enough information so that anyone could calculate how much I spent: right around $200. The wedding in question is a Caribbean destination wedding, and the hotel room is... more than the numbers my colleagues were throwing around. (My friend and her fiancee were, by the way, kind enough to subsidize flights for the wedding party.) I didn't think much about these costs, except for a moment of surprise at how the hotel doesn't initially include its sizable resort fee when it lists room prices. Either way, I was excited to be part of their big day, considered it one of my vacations for the year, and didn't worry about it. I suppose its easier for me because, perhaps unusually for a person my age, it is the only wedding I anticipate needing to attend in the next year or two.

Before you think that I'm excessively extravagant, other peers have mentioned carrying a sizable credit card balance at the moment thanks to not having a regular salary this summer, moving expenses, and the like. Whatever else I've done with my funds, I ended the summer in better shape than that, having kept my small emergency fund of $2000 in place after I initially set it aside in September 2014, with another $2000 set aside for my first interest payment, and enough for my moving expenses (including first month's rent, last month's rent and a security deposit). All this after the aforementioned wedding expenses and my sizable Asia trip. The tale is, of course, not as simple as all that: a lot of them had an actual cross-country move and are waiting on the slow process of getting moving expense reimbursements from our company, but either way, I have more liquid cash than most. In other areas, I'm much more frugal on gym expenses than the average, and I also don't consume alcohol as a general matter.

The conclusion here is probably that I spend too much time and mental energy on this topic, such that I might even write another post about how I relate to shopping, waiting for sales, and the like versus how others seem to approach these questions. What do you think: is this even a normal thing to think about? I swear I'm not trying to be judgmental, just interested in how different people approach things.