There have been a lot of interesting discoveries and discussions over at the Six Items or Less website during the course of this experiment. Some people love it, some tolerate or are even beginning to hate it. Some are liberated by the freedom and gleefully discarding a majority of their wardrobes – others are counting the hours until they can retrieve their long-lost “others” and go shopping again.

One Sixer, Little Fish from Sherwood, OR, says that consumerism should not be a person’s favorite hobby:

When did shopping become a hobby? I see now that in looking forward to consuming, I am simply plunging myself into a long, disappointing relationship with an unsatisfying lover who disguises his taking as giving. What a dirty dog. I should’ve dumped your ass years ago.”

Little Fish has an interesting blog, where she’s also posted her main take-aways from the 6 Items experiment. They include many of my own perceptions, such as quality over quantity; along with interesting new takes I haven’t thought of, like the superiority of unscented deodorant and investing in nice undergarments and PJs.

Although I’m not a big shopaholic at all, I have learned a lot about shopping and I will take it more seriously when I do it. Let’s face it, us non-shoppers can have just as many, although different, negatives in the shopping experience as over-shoppers can. We can put it off, be too casual about it, and then impulse buy or grab the first thing we see that we like or seems to work for whatever we need.

In the future, when I do actually need an item of clothing or just want something new, I will scrutinize my purchases much more carefully. Do I REALLY love it? If I were choosing only 6 items to wear again – hell, even 20 – would this make the cut? If it’s not likely it would at least be in the final running, I will pass it on by, thank you very much.

Only two more days to go! Stay tuned for my next 30-Day Experiment, which will start on February 10.