simple living?

With the incoming holidays, the corporate social responsibility BU of the institution I work at is asking for donations in money/used clothings/toys. I did some cleaning and well if I could, I would have given away a suitcase offull clothes, some still with tags. In fact I DO have a suitcase full of clothes that no longer fit or what not but I've no clue where it is so I went though my current wardrobe. This made me realize how much I buy on impulse and am far too materialistic. When I was in Toronto, I could return any unwanted clothes up to 14 days after purchase for a refund (which I did a lot once my "craving" was satisfied) or wait for sales. here I buy on normal price (sales are not real sales) and no goods are returnable for a store credit/refund *sigh* if I could get 1 dollar for each unworn piece I have, I would have been rich :/ So I get rid of my unwanted excesses by donating to associations. I don't consider it as a "good action" per se since I would have gotten rid of these clothes anyway (to the cleaning lady or someone) and I need to purge my wardrobe! I swear i have enough to wear until I die EXCEPT I have grown fatter AND my taste have changed. Keeping clothes for until I am thin again is not something that helps and i can't sell on ebay (those still with tags on) because paypal does not accept payments from sellers for accounts from my country. Puh!

I need to go back to a simple living but it's hard because my weapon against work stress: I binge whether food, clothes... Lame excuse you'll say and it's true the comfort it provides is rather short term but still better than nothing. My main aim is still to save money but a day without buying something, how small it is, makes me sad. Maybe I need therapy..or a stronger will power? Something that worked for me in the past was to differentiate between what I need and what I want. I should definitely start applying that again even in my eating patterns instead of making myself miserable by skipping a meal then binging at home.

this article from zen habits is not that bad although my current state of mind is too fogged to understand it properly.

WIP to "declutter" list:
-scrap supplies esp alphabets alphas and stuffs I don't use = sell on ebay when I go to canada
-clothes/shoes = give away
-books, sell/give away in mauritius ESP all those self help books I don't read!
-all my crap stored upstairs eg candles, stationeries etc= give away
-etc

"quote of the day:

You have to decide what your highest priorities are and have the courage - pleasantly, smilingly, non apologetically - to say 'no' to other things. And the way to do that is by having a bigger 'yes' burning inside. The enemy of the 'best' is often the 'good.' ~Stephen Covey"