I shopped exclusively at thrift stores for an entire year.

It saved me money and changed my relationship with fashion.

I developed my own personal style for the first time, and it only cost me $291.

In 2017, I started out on a year of purposeful living. I vowed to make every single purchase that I made stretch to help the most amount of people possible. As a fashion writer, I decided that the beginning of my journey would circle around clothing.

My plan was to only shop at thrift stores for an entire year.

Thrifting pays off, even beyond the money. Kali Borovic

The hope was that it would save me a whole lot of money and it did. I only spent $291 on clothing for the entire year, but my thrifting ended up doing so much more than that.

Let's backpedal a little bit. Before I started my journey to purposeful living, I was not an excessive shopper. I didn't have credit card debt because of buying sprees or go out and buy a different outfit for every occasion. But I also didn't really think about where I was getting my clothing. I saw the price tag and nothing else.

Then came the 2016 election. Because President Donald Trump's administration does not believe in global warming — something scientists say is definitively happening — I grew worried about the planet. If there was something I could do, I was going to do it. After some Googling, I realized I could take on the apparel industry, which, according to Forbes, is the second largest industrial polluter on the planet.

I will admit that I went a little drastic by only shopping at thrift stores for an entire year. Although it's not exactly practical, it is doable. I actually found it extremely easy, since I was doing it for a cause that I really believed in — saving the planet.

The thrift store and I were not strangers before this journey.

I have always loved walking around a secondhand shop and finding little treasures, but this time my tactic changed. It wasn't just shopping for things that looked cool. Instead, I was shopping for specific occasions. Think: a night out with the girls, weddings, and holidays.

Only buying clothing from thrift stores was frustrating at first. I couldn't just walk up to a rack, decide I liked a top, and then find it in my size. I had to find my size section, comb through all of the pieces, and then hope that the item fit like the size on the tag. The struggle balanced out as soon as I hit the checkout line. On average, I spent anywhere from $1 to $5 per item, so, all in all, it was worth the hunt.

Over the course of the year, I spent about $291 on clothing, according to my saved tags.

Each item costed between $1 and $5. Kali Borovic

That's roughly one and a half Anthropologie dresses, five bras from Victoria's Secret, or seven swimsuits from Target.

Trust me when I say that I got a whole lot more than that. Not only did I have the fullest closet that I had ever had, but I didn't feel guilty when I left the store. I ended up building a healthy relationship with clothing. One where I didn't feel guilty for loaning a piece to a friend or like I had to keep an item because I invested in it. I ended up experimenting with fashion and building my own personal style without breaking the bank.

Saving money is great, but the way thrifting affects the planet is even better.

According to thredUP's 2018 Fashion Resale Report, buying secondhand for an entire year saves 13 trillion gallons of water and 165 billion pounds of carbon dioxide. That's equivalent to enough water for the entire state of California for 14 years and enough carbon dioxide to equal all the cars in Los Angeles taken off the road for four years.

Contributing to a cause bigger than myself is the best feeling of all. Knowing that I am making the world a better place for everyone outweighs getting likes on an Instagram OOTD or showing off an expensive dress to friends.

It's time that we educate ourselves on what is on our backs — what's in it, who made it, and how it's affecting the world. Because at the end of the day, what you look like only means so much. What you do for the planet while your here will outlive you. It's up to you to decide what's worth it.

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