Challenge: A Month Without Shopping

Regular readers here know that I've been learning to keep a budget over the last few months. It's been challenging to track my spending and I definitely have struggled to stay under my budgeted spending limits. In June, I managed to stay under budget.... except for shopping.

Shopping for clothes has definitely been a challenge for me lately. Working for a fashionable boutique has made me feel a lot of pressure about how I dress for work. Additionally, my wardrobe really wasn't prepared for summer in New Jersey. While summers in Minnesota are really hot and humid, the season is much shorter and I did less walking or using public transportation, so my clothes from other seasons were more wearable during Minnesota summers. Needless to say, I've been buying dresses lately.

While shopping isn't a bad thing, I definitely feel the need to reign in my spending in this one area of my life. Now that I've built up a few more options for work/summer, I'm challenging myself to go the month of July without buying any clothes. While this will pad my bank account a bit, I'm also hoping that it will challenge me to remix the items I already have in my closet.

Even though I'm only a week into July (and this challenge) it's already been tough. J.Crew and Madewell have had some wicked sales this week -- and I'm proud of myself for saying "No!" Have you ever done a shopping ban before?