Nothing about this list is dramatic. I didn’t do a big purge or swear off shopping for a year. I just slowly stopped buying certain things, and it happened quietly enough that I had to actually sit and think before I could name what they were.
More lipsticks was the first one. At some point what I already owned became genuinely enough, and buying another one stopped feeling like excitement and started feeling like clutter.
More resistance bands was another. I already have a drawer full, bought with good intentions I don’t always follow through on, and adding a new one was never going to fix the follow through problem. It was just going to be another band in the drawer.
Skincare was harder. I had to actually force myself to stop testing every new product I saw and just stick with what I already knew worked. That one’s still a work in progress, if I’m honest.
Hair tools too. I have what I actually need to do my hair in different ways, a Dyson Airwrap and a Dyson Airstrait, and neither of those needs a sibling.
The bigger shift wasn’t really about any one category. It’s that I started researching before buying almost anything, actually thinking through whether something would be useful or just interesting for five minutes. If the answer is no, I don’t get it, because I understand it would just be money spent on nothing.
Except skincare. Every rule I’ve made for myself has a bend in it somewhere, and that’s mine. I’m working on it. I’m not there yet.
I stopped buying most things by asking one honest question first. I’m still learning to ask it about the things I love most.
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