Everyday Cheapskate

Last weekend, I hauled four bags of clothes to a donation center. How do we end up with so many items of clothing that we don't wear because they don't look right, feel right or fit right? How much do we spend to pay for all of these unwanted items of clothing?

Then I read about Stella Brennan, an insurance executive in Wisconsin. She went on a self-imposed fashion fast, allowing herself to wear only six items for an entire month. The most shocking result of her four-week experiment was that no one noticed, not even her husband.

For her experiment, Stella wore only the following items: a black blazer, black pants, two button-down shirts (one black, one pink), a pair of jeans and a pink T-shirt. This entire wardrobe had to suit her at home and at work. It even had to be appropriate for playing with her kids in the evenings.

Stella got the idea from the global experiment called Six Items or Less (http://SixItemsOrLess.com) and an even stricter program, called The Great American Apparel Diet (http://www.TheGreatAmericanApparelDiet.com), which has persuaded participants to abstain from buying clothes for an entire year. (Undies don't count.)

In a similar experiment, Valerie E., a professional stylist from Texas, wore the same black dress every day for a month. She recorded her experience in The Little Black Dress Experiment at http://www.SocietyStylist.com. Valerie did this to prove just how easy it is to look glamorous on a budget.

Even with the recent closet purge at my house, I can't say that I'm down to six items. Nor am I ready to consider something that extreme. But I am happy to know that the items I do have are things that I like and that fit.

I've had a real wake-up call thanks to Stella and Valerie and their fashion diets. I think I've come to care too much about what people think about what I wear. Truth be told, I don't remember what I wore last week, so I'm certain that no one else remembers (or cares much), either. I know that I will be able to go a long time without adding to the items that I have right now.

So, what's the condition of your closet? Is it overstuffed? Do you, like most people, wear 20 percent of the clothing you own, while 80 percent simply takes up space? Are you more overwhelmed than overjoyed by what lurks behind your closet doors? Are there six items in there that would hold you for an entire month? Could you go a year without buying anything new (undies excluded, of course)? Join us at http://www.MoneyRulesDebtStinks.com, where we're talking about the benefits of closet diets and fashion fasts.

Mary Hunt is the founder of www.DebtProofLiving.com and author of 18 books, including her latest, "Can I Pay My Credit Card Bill With a Credit Card?" You can e-mail her at mary@everydaycheapskate.com, or write to Everyday Cheapskate, P.O. Box 2135, Paramount, CA 90723. To find out more about Mary Hunt and read her past columns, please visit the Creators Syndicate Web page at www.creators.com.

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