March 2021 Shopping Reflections

via Unsplash

And that's one more no-shopping month on the books for me! I really shouldn't be surprised anymore, no-shop months have not been uncommon for me since the start of COVID-19 shutdowns last year, and yet I still find myself a little bit shocked every time I manage it. 

Who would ever have thought - based on my 2015 shopping patterns and my repeated insistence that shopping fasts and shopping bans simply didn't work for me - that I could ever get through any single month without wanting to at least order something to try on, much less have several such months in a year? Knowing myself and my habits, I would certainly never have guessed.

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The biggest factor keeping me from shopping in March was work. I had a fairly stressful month at the - mostly virtual - office, and was particularly busy in the second half of March. I didn't really have the mental energy to think about anything but work. Things are far less busy now in April, but we have some complicated topics we're trying to figure out, so I'm still quite preoccupied with work. 

I've also started applying in earnest for my next job, which adds another layer of stress. My dream next jobs are all in government and would involve my taking nearly a 60% pay-cut, or something in that zone. (Due to some industry and workplace-specific quirks, I have the full blessing of my current employers to actively seek this type of next job. So that's one less thing to stress about, at least, I'll never really need to hide that I'm actively looking.) I should be earning quite a bit more at a future government job than when I was clerking - in keeping with how I now have several more years' work experience under my belt than I did back then - but it obviously won't be anything remotely close to what I earn right now as a sixth-year attorney at a biglaw-ish private sector workplace (I get the base salary, but I don't earn bonuses anywhere near the biglaw market rate). 

My primary type of dream job in government is known to sometimes have an extremely long interview process, in some instances it can take longer than a year between the date of the first application and the date a successful applicant ultimately receives a job offer. Afterwards, there might also be additional time needed - in the vein of a few more months - before the new attorney can be fully onboarded and actually start work. Chances are, I almost certainly won't have an offer in hand before I'm done paying off my student loans in August or early September. (My total student loan balance is now down to ~$22,000.) 

I made my last purchase for my closet, the Quince sweater from February, fairly early that month, and I received it by the second week of February. Since then, I haven't had any real ideas for things to online window-shop for. In other words, I haven't really had any ideas about any clothes, shoes, or accessories to even browse for in nearly two months now. 

This is particularly unusual for me. Even though I had three no-shop months last year - in February, July, and December - I never went too many weeks without having at least a vague idea about something to online window-shop for, even if it was mostly just loungewear. It's strange, I'm definitely not used to being completely without anything to daydream about adding to my closet for long.  

We'll see in a few weeks if I end up with any shopping this month. If I ultimately manage to have a second no-shopping month in a row, that will be a first since I started doing these monthly shopping reflections in January 2015. I almost find myself worrying I'll run out of ideas for things to write on the blog if I actually become significantly less interested in fashion-related shopping than when I first started writing here. (But it's only been two months or so, it's too soon to actually think this could be a long-term change in my habits and tastes...)