Just the other day I was reminded how far I’d come as a former shopaholic.
I was (naturally) lusting after something I couldn’t have: a piece of clothing.
Specifically, THIS piece of clothing from Anthropologie: The Facile Camp Shirt
And it even comes in black!
I don’t really like wearing black, but even I am totally smitten with this, so much so that I put both the black and green into my shopping cart online.
Just to see how it felt. You know, pretend online window shopping.
(Oh what, you’ve never done that?! Liar.)
The price tag? $88 CAD.
I was almost on the verge of clicking: BUY NOW, when I thought I’d email my good friend @Revanche over at A Gai Shan Life just to see what she’d say.
Girl has the nerve to write me back with: “Oh MAN. Lovely! But … so expensive!“
Did you hear that tone in her email?!?!? 🙂
“But ….. SO EXPENSIVE!“.
ARRGGGGH!!! 🙂
She let the pink price elephant out of the room.
Totally killed my shopping buzz.
PSYCHING MYSELF OUT
I looked at the shirts sitting in my online shopping cart, begging me to break my stupid friggin’ 2010 ban on buying anything for my wardrobe, totaling $176 CAD before taxes, and realized it was a lot of freaking money.
So I started listing out what $176 could buy in essentials in my life:
- 2 Anthropologie Facile Camp Shirts (what… WHAT? 🙂 )
- 7 months of my cellphone
- 176 packets of ramen (oh wait, I’m swearing off that stuff…)
- 22000 grams of delicious loose leaf tea
- 1 month’s worth of groceries (my share)
- 2 months at the parking garage located at work
- 2 nights in my hotel apartment *insert tearful sob*
And with that wistful list, I deleted the items from my shopping cart and cleared my cache.
That’s not to say that I won’t end up buying the shirt in 2011 when I am back in Toronto as my “Yay! I get ONE shirt as a prize because I’ve made it through 2010 without buying anything except trouser pants for work!“, but for now, it is a ridiculous price to pay when I have a better use for my money, so many more important things to pay for.
So there you have it folks.
P.S. I think Garance Dore of her namesake blog (I read it in French so I can keep my brain alive for the language), photographed Rumer Willis in something very similar to that Anthropologie shirt.
Isn’t it heavenly? I think it’ll hang quite beautifully, almost like that.
Just a girl trying to find a balance between being a Shopaholic and a Saver.
I cleared $60,000 in 18 months earning $65,000 gross/year.
Now I am self-employed, and you can read more about 
It is gorgeous but you know, there are probably other shirts in a similar style in other stores. $176 could buy an awful lot of things for me: nearly three pay's worth of car maintenance, three pay's worth of fuel, nearly five fortnight's worth of gym membership, my groceries for a fortnight and a half of the next, and nearly 6 months worth of my phone bill! There's a lot you can do with that money.
We have an Anthropologie in Santa Monica, CA. I'm sorry to say that all I do is walk through it, stare aghast at the price tags on certain clothes that can only be described as washed out rags, and stand back and allow my friends/family to do all the shopping they see fit to do there! I can't bring myself to spend $60 for a coffee mug. My entire budget has been retooled over the past three years, away from shopaholicism to minimalist, because my spouse wants to take (very) early retirement. I don't need any more stuff lol
My recent post Rain and a Leaky Roof
$176 = 41 Starbucks Grande Chai Tea Lattes (including tax)
That's 9+ months of weekly treats 🙂
My recent post Quick Fix
Oh goodness. That definitely put me back into my place 😉
I talk myself out of buying things a lot. My husband is the complete opposite.
My recent post 3 Simple Steps to Work-Life Balance and Productivity
I think BF and I waffle back and forth. We talk ourselves in and out of buying things. But we never do it unless there\’s a justification.
Anthropologie is waaaay overpriced. It's great for inspiration, but the quality of the clothes is most of the times poor and definitely not worth the price. Good for you.
I bought 1 cardi from them from NYC (it was on sale) and then a skirt and a silk blouse on eBay.
I really like the shirt, though. But I saw a very similar one in a store on St Laurent in Mtl, for ~$20. So yeah, there are always better alternatives to Anthropologie.
My recent post foh-kuhs
Tell me about it! I am on the lookout for that shirt at half the price ($44 CAD). Or maybe if it\’s on sale one day.
$176 pays my phone bill for the month, or my renters insurance and my car insurance for the month. It would also cover my cell phone bill and I'd still have $50 left over for savings. I think it took a lot of will power to not checkout. Good for you!
My recent post Yakezie Carnival Round-Up
*LAUGH* Thanks. I just have to stop looking at the pictures now.
What really saves me is I hate buying things without trying them on. Fit is an issue for me.
OMG, I so do that. I pretend online shop. Sometimes I spend hours putting many items in my "cart" and click on checkout and see the total and quickly "x" before my fingers stop communicating with my brain. But I'll be honest, if I want something so bad, I get it. Haven't been doing that lately because I'm on fixed income and need to pay down debt, but sigh..
Well I hope you stick to NOT buying things and shopping temptation because you are on a fixed income and have to clear debt.
No THING is worth the stress that debt brings. Good luck!!!
LOVE the shirt, and definitely prefer the green too… gorgeous!! But good for you on putting it back! I have lots & lots of clothes in my closet that don't get enough wear either…. yet, I still bought myself a new LoleWomen jacket the other day… lol! Can't win 'em all!
I am on a shopping ban for 2010 too. This is why I HAD to put it back LOL
I love that you called me (well, it felt like me) out for window-shopping online. LOL.
My immediate response when I saw that you were online-window shopping was, "Oh, I NEVER do that." and then when you said, "Liar." I remembered that I have a bookmark folder titled, "Stuff I want"
Good for you for fighting temptation. If you're still thinking about it in 2011, then get it.
*LAUGH*
Everyone I knows \”window shops\” online. I can\’t count the number of times I\’ve put stuff into my Sephora basket only to see the amount shoot up to $500. Etsy is the worst for me, so I\’ve avoided that site unless it\’s for \”research\”.
I can't even go on Etsy at all, for no reason (after I pay off my student loans – 1 year!), I hope to be able to venture on the etsy site again…
No. Stay away from it. Never. Ever. Go. It\’s the devil.
Good article! I put myself on a ban as well, I'm on day 3 at the moment. i surely will be coming back to your blog for inspirations.
Good luck with that. The best thing is just to not look at stuff, stop watching TV and avoid stores.
We could eat for 1-2 months on that; heat the house for a whole month; 4-5 months of car insurance; return airfare and maybe one night in Paris? The shirts are cute, but I don't believe they are worth that price. I do sometimes look at online shopping – like I used to window shop – but never get as far as the cart. That's real determination on your part pulling back at that point. Well done you.
Oh thank you!
I almost press \”pay\”, but ironically, the cost of shipping (and Revanche) stopped me. Seriously, paying that kind of money to ship some fabric to me across the border? I don\’t think so.
I love that you called me (well, it felt like me) out for window-shopping online. LOL.
My immediate response when I saw that you were online-window shopping was, "Oh, I NEVER do that." and then when you said, "Liar." I remembered that I have a bookmark folder titled, "Stuff I want"
Good for you for fighting temptation. If you're still thinking about it in 2011, then get it.
Ah I would've gotten it. But I only shop for clothes when I need to 😉
I had to stop into the mall the other day and literally had to pretend I had blinders on. *don't look at the shop windows. don't look at the shop windows.* I found myself tiptoeing because somehow I thought I could just sneak through. Not buying clothes is hard in the face of temptation! Obviously I looked the idiot.
You and me both. I do that when I am in stores. I walk past them quickly and breathe when I haven\’t looked at their store displays.
Woot! for you! I am not a shopoholic and have a recurring problem of talking myself out of buying things that I like and even need… it is painful at times, but in the end it is worth it. So, if you do end up buying one of these shirts next year your patience might pay off and you will get it at half the price 😉
My recent post Spreading Joy and Gladness Giveway of Raw Dessert ebooks
I hope. Or maybe someone will buy it for me, or there\’ll be a tear and a discount.. *dreams*
$176 is my mobile phone bill for 6 months plus $2 change. Although I can see why you would want it, as it,s a lovely shirt and would have a hundred uses, or maybe a 176 uses LOL 🙂
My recent post PF Bloggers Christmas Cutbacks
Well $176 is for BOTH shirts, not just one 😉
$176 is really a lot of money. Thanks for the encouragement
Congrats! I am an Anthropologie addict. If I walk into an Anthropologie store, I walk out with $600-$1000 in clothes. I have done better with the catalogs. Thankfully living in Korea helps cure my addiction a little bit. My last shopping spree was in Sept 2010. My only clothing purchase for the year.
My recent post Bah Humbug- almost
I\’ve never purchased ANYTHING from Anthropologie, living in Canada. But we have one store in Toronto so… I feel tempted just to look but not until 2011.
Be strong! You're one of the inspirations for my 2011 shopping ban! 🙂
For $176, I can get:
– 4.5 months of cell phone coverage
– 2 45-minute massages
– 2 nice hair cuts
– a winter jacket
My recent post Shopping Ban 2011
Ooo 2 massages. I could be down for that. And a winter jacket.. good one. Very practical.
This is such a great post, on many levels…First, your honesty is refreshing. It's HARD to resist, the shirts are beautiful. But $176.00, if invested in modest mutual funds, over 30 years would turn into…almost $1,500.00. $176 would also cover one month's cable/internet/telephone bill, two weeks worth of groceries for a family of 4, my son's complete wardrobe for school purchased at Kohls, and, my personal favorite, 40 bags of Hershey's chocolate kisses…
Stay strong!
What a great technique! I'm going to start listing out all the things I could buy instead of X.
At around $10 for a lunch out, that would buy me 17 days of lunch. That's quite a bit.
My recent post A Woman’s Weakness- Gourmet Kitchen Cookwares
I like the way you put the cost of the shirts in perspective with what you could have used the same money fore. It does pop that happy bubble of buying the shirts! 🙁
My recent post Weekly Money Check Up- Nov 22 – Nov 28- 2010
Well the bubble is well and truly popped. $88 per shirt is just… gah. Perhaps next year after I go through my wardrobe again.
Congrats on your willpower!
I somehow missed that the title of this post said "Almost Purchase" and when you said you put two shirts in this shopping cart I was yelling at my computer "NOOOOOOOOO! What about the shopping ban?!?!" Then I continued reading and I calmed down!
With $176 I could buy almost three months of dog food 🙂
My recent post Disorganized
*LAUGH*
I do window shopping online. It\’s a bad habit and then I tweet about it and people enable me, then I shut off Twitter and rock in the corner. j/k
And…now I feel guilty because I had my first-ever online-clothing-splurge this weekend -sobb-. I’ve never bought clothes online so I hope only one item fits so I can return the rest (yay, full refund policy). If they all fit and look good I’ll be sad, actually. I get the buyer’s remorse with a vengeance.
This is another reason why I don\’t like buying online. I like looking and adding stuff to my basket, but actually pressing \”BUY\”? I need to try it on, touch the fabric, bend over, stretch… these are all things I can\’t check online.
I LOVE those arms. But like your friend said: I could never justify shelling out all that money. I tried… but then I became disgusted with me. Now if I could only have the same mindset for chicklit books. I've bought 5 in the last two weeks… none of them have been started because I'm too busy or tired. I'm a disgrace 🙁
Which chicklit??
I still have to go through my Millionaire book. It\’s on my list for tonight. 3 hours.
I was just things into hours of work. Like it took me x hours to make that much money. Do I like enough to have spent a whole day (1/2 day, 3 days) to get it
They will probably be on sale in a few short weeks. As will a lot of other stuff you like. Stay strong!
My recent post Coffee- Tea- and Me
That\’s what I thought too, but that shirt has been selling out, and Anthropologie would have to be run by idiots to put a best-seller shirt like that on sale, when people are willing to pay full price and wait for restocking.
You're a better woman than me, I would of bought one [not two] it's so nice. And that's the nicest picture of Rumer I've ever seen, she looks stunning!
$176 = £110 GBP so 22 months of cell phone for me 🙂
Apparently Rumer\’s shirt is not from Anthropologie and those jeans are her mom\’s (Demi).
Wow. 22 months. *committed*