We did it! The February challenge is all done! One full month of no spending and no repeat outfits is in the books.
Here are my final outfit combos for the month. After that, I’ll talk about the biggest takeaways for the month (and what I’m buying now that I’m off ban!).
P.S. To catch up, here are all the February challenge-related posts.
What I wore
Day 22
Lululemon cool racerback in deep zinfandel
Sweaty Betty power leggings in lava print
Underneath: lululemon stuff your bra in flash light
What I did: BBG week 7 arms and abs
Day 23
Sweaty Betty Zohra seamless long sleeve
Varley union tights in aluminum snake
Underneath: Carbon38 nucleon bra (gifted last month c/o Carbon38)
What I did: aerial silks class
I totally copied my own outfit this time. But what can I say, I just really like this combo! It actually ended up being a bad idea, because the skill we were learning in silks was not compatible with slippery leggings. Woops.
Day 24
Alala alpine tee
Alala captain crops in cerise
Underneath: lululemon stuff your bra in harbor blue
What I did: BBG week 7 full body
Day 25
Glyder high tide tank in bordeaux
Lululemon high-rise wunder under pants in heathered black herringbone
What I did: silks practice at aerial open gym
I wore non-slippery leggings to practice the skill I couldn’t do in class. Worked like a charm!
Day 26
Lululemon stay on course pullover in pigment blue
Lululemon wunder under crops in parallel stripe
Underneath: lululemon energy bra in fatigue camo
Day 27
Lululemon cool racerback in black
Alala captain crops in shiny pewter
Underneath: lululemon energy bra in concord grape
Day 28
Rest day.
Outfit challenge results
For the month of February, I was successful in my mission not to repeat anything from my workout wardrobe, minus a couple of sports bras after I ran out. Over the course of the month, I ended up wearing 24.5 different outfits! (The extra half being one day when I changed my leggings.)
Since I kept my worn and unworn clothes segregated, I went through and counted what was left. At the end of the month, I still had approximately 11 tops, 26 leggings/pants, and 15 crops leftover! Quite a few of the items I didn’t wear were because of functional aspects like temperature. For example, I didn’t wear all of my thermal leggings since most of my workouts were indoors this month. I didn’t count any of my shorts toward my tallies, since the season means wearing them would be pretty impractical.
Although I won’t be strictly limiting my outfits anymore, I plan to make an effort to wear everything left in the stack over the next couple of months. Otherwise, it’ll have to go in the sell/give away pile!
Spending freeze recap + what I’m buying
I also successfully stuck with February’s no spending intention. I ended up with hundreds of dollars leftover that I chose not to spend. It’s such a good feeling to see the numbers go up in my bank account, so I can put that towards long-term savings goals.
After my ban, I do not get to spend all the money I saved. My goal after my spending freezes is to stick with my budget for March, and not dip into February’s excess. Otherwise, that would kind of defeat the whole purpose!
That said, since the freeze is over, I already have some things picked out for my March shopping budget. Here’s what’s still on my radar to buy. Most of my list is actually pretty boring! What’s risen to the top through this process has mostly been fairly practical desires, like new bedding, gifts, and socks (no, really, I need new socks). Here’s a little selection of what’s in my virtual cart.
The first thing I bought was the lululemon sapphire blue CRB. I talked about this one last week, and thankfully it was still in stock in my size, so I scooped one up! As you might’ve noticed from the outfits in this series, I wear my CRBs constantly, so I’ll know I’ll get my money’s worth out of this purchase.
Alala’s new flyback tank is definitely on my list, but I’ll wait until something else new comes around so I can combine shipping.
I’ve been debating between Werkshop’s three Romance designs, and I think I finally settled on Juliet.
Along with the more frivolous fashion purchases, I’m also finally free to buy practical things that I’ve been putting off. For example, I decided to try out a couple of Lively’s wireless bras. I gave up wearing normal bras for a little while and subbed them with sports bras because wires were just too painful. Now, I’m trying to compromise with wireless bras, but finding the right fit has been challenging. I’ve found some that I like (this one by Stella McCartney is so wonderful and surprisingly supportive for being wire free), so I’m hoping I’ll have some luck with Lively.
Also on the casual clothing topic, I’ve spent all month pining after Cuyana’s bags. My everyday bag has been in dire need of a replacement for quite some time, but I haven’t been able to commit to something new. I’m eyeballing Cuyana’s swoon-worthy new top handle tote, though it might take me a little bit to save for the price tag. I usually go for black purses, but the other two colors are so beautiful that it’s making the decision tough.
Challenge takeaways
The biggest reason I strive for regular spending freezes is that it always makes me rethink what I do with my money. I strive to live and consume mindfully, and I find I need to mentally reset regularly. Spending freezes serve as a mental fast that helps clean up not-so-great habits and ways of thinking that have accumulated in my subconscious over time. And it always works. I’ve never done a freeze and thought “wow, my spending habits were already perfect and I didn’t learn anything.” It’s always a truly humbling and illuminating process.
That said, this year was the first time I did the freeze in conjunction with an outfit challenge. The additional element of coming up with new outfits completely served its purpose. It served as a great reminder of what I love about what I have, and provided clarity on what I don’t need/love and can pass on to someone else. It definitely made the month more fun and interesting, too. I’m glad I added it in.
In the coming months, I hope to carry many of February’s learnings with me. As I mentioned above, I want to make more of a point to wear everything in my closet on a regular basis. I want to stick with the habit of really questioning myself before I spend money on things. I want to be more mindful of why I choose to keep things as opposed to returning them, and whether that’s a good idea. I want to be mindful of the time that all of this takes–shopping, returning, sorting, selling–so I can make sure I’m spending that time in a positive way, rather than being a mindless spending drone.
If you just wrapped up a challenge of your own, I’d love to hear your recap too!
That sapphire CRB isn’t Luon Light – it’s really thick regular luon and way too hot for my workouts so it’s going back. Such a beautiful color, it’s too bad it won’t work for me.
Hmmm thanks for the heads up! I already placed my order, so I guess I’ll have to wait and see how it feels when it arrives. Thank goodness for free returns. :)
Cute outfits!! I am hoping this month is not too much for me, I am just starting my freeze. It is day 2 and going strong! Hopefully it will go well and I will learn more about myself during this like you did. I am finally going to list a bunch on eBay too. I have an insane amount of Lululemon that needs a new loving home along with a few handbags that could be let go. Bags tend to me my weakness, very tempting now that you mentioned the Cuyana bags. I adore the structured cinch bag, saddle bag & the classic leather tote. The wallets are beautiful too! The leather looks insanely soft and the prices are reasonable. Maybe mothers day will be a good time for one of these beauties? I just bought a J. W. Hulme Legacy medium bag for my birthday-supporting MN/US companies! I will have to wait out the month and see if I am still tempted…
Ohh the J.W. Hulme bag is beautiful too! I’m still waffling on the Cuyana bag… I tend to use one bag only for several years at a time, so it’s a big commitment. :P I hope your freeze is still going well. :)
Nice work. I’m very impressed with your 4th round of outfits! Totally not ugly or clashing at all!
I succeeded in my “zero CC balance for 2 months” goal, and honestly – rather than being “hard” – it was kinda addicting… being able to buy stuff but not owing anything. I just placed several orders yesterday on March 1 (SB, olympia, alala, werkshop), but almost all of it was offset with recent eBay sales and a couple returns. If there are some returns among the new things, maybe I can do a 3rd month!
Congrats on sticking to your freeze!
I know I was kind of surprised the outfits were so easy to put together too, lol. I’m glad you found a method that’s working for you! I agree, it can be really addicting to swap out the old with the new with $0 spent. I made a few sales last week on Poshmark that should get me through some spring purchases! :D
Love the sapphire blue and the cranberry is calling my name also. It’s always cold here so thicker might not be a bad thing. But I am waiting til this weekend before I decide to purchase.
I am still lusting after some stripey leggings and a mint crb. :)
I was late to the freeze but it made me realize how much I already had and so I did a closet clean out and posted items on a local selling page. Let’s just say I made more money doing this than at my day job!! And I inspired several of my friends and one of my daughters to do the same.
Oh, I did buy some sorrel wedges. Someone was at an outlet and they were $59 instead of $200 plus.
Wow, well done on a successful selling run! Getting some money back in your pocket is such a great feeling, and I’m sure it more than made up for the Sorel boots. I love Sorels!!
Great post! I need to enact a spending freeze of my own, recently I’ve been buying way too much and I have more than I need. I’m going to come back to this for insight!
Thanks Lauren. :) A spending freeze is always a good idea if you ask me! I hope it goes well if you decide to do one.
Here is an idea how to find things you don’t really wear. If you stack your SS shirts, for example, always put the washed ones on top, pull the shirt you want from wherever it is in the stack and never sort them by color or anything.
Check the stack in a few weeks. The ones at the bottom of the stack are the ones you never wore.
Good point! My activewear is normally folded into a stack, but I admit I’m not always very good about digging to the bottom… Thanks for the idea!
I love that a ton of us did Frugal February together. I’m already thinking about doing September Savings. =) That will be a super tough month for me to go on a ban because I love fall clothes. But that may keep me in check from spending all my hard earned money. =)
Ugh seriously, fall is sooo much more tempting for me than spring! Maybe instead of a total ban I’ll just have to set a more strict budget for those months, then I can still get some things, but only my absolute favorites. Hmm…I guess we have some time to think about it. :)
What a great end to the month! My captain crops in cerise were on rotation this week too! It’s definitely been fun coming up with new outfits and wearing everything in my closet too. I’m liking Leslie’s idea of savings September .
This month I actually increased the amount of workouts/activity I did just so I get to wear everything I own this month and without repeating so was fun to improve my fitness in the process
I too have given up on wired bras due to pain. Fit and support without the wire is challenging for me too and I end up wearing sports bras to work. will have to check out Stella McCartneys pieces now!
Thanks for this challenge AA it’s been fun!!
Yeah, I don’t know why it is that wires are so uncomfortable for me! I prefer the lift of a wire, but I’d rather have a “natural” shape than be uncomfortable all day, haha.
And I’m glad I wore my cerise crops, they’re such a beautiful color and I need to wear them more! Congrats on a successful month. :)
I attempted this freeze, but am bringing a different side of the spectrum. I never worked out and finally three years ago, kicked myself into gear and started working out 5-6 days a week. At first, I had zero work out clothes, I wore baggy t shirts and old cotton shorts where all the sweat would just be on display! I have been working to build up a collection, but even if I wore all of my pieces (even ones I rarely wear), I knew I’d only be able to make it about 2 or 2.5 weeks without repeating a bottom or a bra. (tops I could make it)
But, I still wanted to do this challenge because even with my smaller collection, there were quite a few pieces that I never wear. I had gotten them when I first started and it took me some time to figure out what I really grabbed for and worked best for me during my workouts.
From this challenge, I got rid of a pretty hefty stack of tops (some of those big baggy pieces I first wore that were STILL lingering), thinking why am I holding onto these?? I haven’t worn them in months. It felt really good to clear those out and say OK, this is what I realistically do wear all the time now. It gave me a clearer picture of what should be on top of my list to buy going forward. I need to pass up on tops and concentrate on getting basic bottoms, like solid blue or gray. Those are staples I don’t even have yet! So it was a nice “re-charge” and helpful to prioritize.
I will say I totally figured out…..I LOVE Alala….perhaps the most?!!? You introduced me to them and I have two of their pants and a bra thus far, wear them constantly. Couldn’t live without! Love the way they fit and feel. I recently had trouble with my captain crops and their seams coming apart/ripping, I was SO sad, I just emailed them and with their reputation, I feel confident they were make it right.
Thanks for another great post to enjoy over my morning tea :)
Thanks for sharing your thoughts! I’m so glad you could get something out of it even though you’re coming from a different angle. I have a pretty small collection of non-active clothing but like you, I’m still guilty of holding onto things that I don’t wear or don’t love. It’s definitely helpful to make yourself wear everything to see what you’re *really* missing and what’s really not working. And I hope you got your captain crop situation all sorted out. :)
I’d love to hear an update on your wireless bra search! I agree they are much more comfortable, but have struggled to find one with the right amount of padding. They seem to go from no padding (i.e. I’m cold and everyone knows) to too much padding (i.e., no I did not get implants it’s just this new bra). Please share if you find any winners!
The Lively bras I ordered might be worth a shot for you then! The padding is enough to cover everything but nothing extra. The all day deep v no-wire (*not* the regular deep v no wire which I don’t like as much) is my favorite from Lively. If you buy 3 they’re only $25 a piece, which is a great price.
That said, the Stella one I mentioned in the post is still my favorite. It’s the most supportive but has only a tiny crescent of extra padding which *really* helps with shaping and support, but it’s nowhere near a full push-up. The price is really its only downside.
I’ve now tried a few from Lively, and the long-lined deep v no wire is much more comfortable than the all day deep v or regular deep v no wires. I found the band fabric to be scratchy in those two but not in the long lined (after just trying on- haven’t worn yet). Can’t beat the price though! Thanks for highlighting this brand!
Thanks for the update! I’ve been thinking of trying the long line one for my next order. They also mentioned they might be releasing a wireless bra with a little padding, which I’ll probably want to try as well, so I’m holding out for that release…