Frequently Asked Questions

My Year Without Clothes Shopping has two levels of membership and each works a little differently.

The standard online program is delivered completely online – all you need is a computer and access to a printer, and you can participate in the program. The standard online program offers immediate joining – as soon as you register, pay and sign-up, your program will start within hours.

The Gold Class Membership offers everything that the standard online program does plus 1:1 support and coaching elements. See here for more information on each membership level.

There are 12 themes in the program – one for each month.

Whichever membership level you choose, this program provides you with weekly high quality in-depth tutorials delivered via email and access to our members only area on the website.

This is how the tutorials work. Every week, you’ll receive a Lesson delivered fresh into your inbox. Your Lesson is full of tips and techniques, inspiration and ideas, strategies and secrets, focused on the theme for that Month. You’ll be directed, in the Lesson, to the Members Only area to download that week’s Resource. The Resource is jam-packed with illustrations, examples and activities to keep it practical; the Resource is also where you’ll find real traction in the program.

You’ll also receive access to the members only area which contains the members forum area and weekly bulletin boards. This is a space for you to post questions and updates, receive 1:1 support and inspiration, and connect with others (including me).

This online program is unique – you’ll receive support and inspiration from a wide range of experts in their field, from all over the world.

What you get out of the 12 month program depends on how you approach it. The program is designed for you to interact with it – not just scan the material. Any form of improvement in your relationship to shopping, yourself, your wardrobe and your wallet will ultimately come down to you. What I can do, and have done with the program’s design and flow, is to give you the tools to motivate yourself.

The program is organized into 12 themes – one for each month. You can read about each of the themes here. We also have more detail about the program here.

What makes this program unique is how the content has been organized and pulled together. It is a program, not just a one-off download. You’ll find the material very accessible, because its delivered in manageable pieces every week throughout the year.

We’ve organized the material to make it oh so easy for you to access and take action on.

In addition to that, consider these benefits of the program:

1. You’ll get access to the most amazing faculty, each experts in their own field. Their material has been specifically organized around the Year Without Clothes Shopping theme, in an easy-to-access format. You won’t find this collection of experts in one place anywhere else.
2. You’ll get access to the Members Only area which contains the members only forum area and weekly bulletin boards. Here you can ask questions, post updates, share what’s happening for you, receive support and encouragement and connect with other members.
3. If you join the Gold Class membership, you receive specific individualised support and coaching from me. Click here for more info or if you’re interested in joining at the Gold Class membership level, send me an email to start this process.
4. You’re part of a community of others who are slaying their own shopping dragons. You’re in wonderful company with other women who understand what you’re dealing with, and are facing their shopping challenges, too.

We’ve done the hard work for you with this program’s design. We’ve compiled relevant, rich and rewarding material in a weekly tutorial format. Whether you want to radically cut down on your over-spending, or take the full challenge of a year without clothes shopping – let’s do this together!

Is there a ‘set’ start time for the challenge? When will my challenge start?

If you choose the standard online program, you get immediate access. As soon as you’ve paid and confirmed your details, your Year Without Clothes Shopping challenge will start immediately – your Orientation email will arrive in your inbox within a few hours of you signing up.

The Weekly Lessons are set up to go out to you automatically, and we’ve done this deliberately – it allows us to keep the standard online program priced as low as it is. Which is why we say that we cannot suspend the challenge once your challenge commences, change your start date or reset your membership at any point. So please make sure you’re ready to start when you sign up!

If you choose the Gold Class membership level, we start the process with some 1:1 contact via email to make sure this is the right level of membership for you. Following that, we arrange payment and you get started very soon after that.

If you choose the standard online program, you get immediate access. As soon as you’ve paid and confirmed your details, your Year Without Clothes Shopping challenge will start immediately – your Orientation email will arrive in your inbox within a few hours of you signing up.

The Weekly Lessons are set up to go out to you automatically, and we’ve done this deliberately – it allows us to keep the standard online program priced as low as it is. Which is why we say that we cannot suspend the challenge once your challenge commences, change your start date or reset your membership at any point. So please make sure you’re ready to start when you sign up!

If you choose the Gold Class membership level, we start the process with some 1:1 contact via email to make sure this is the right level of membership for you. Following that, we arrange payment and you get started very soon after that.

Many people start important challenges on significant dates like January 1. We wouldn’t particularly recommend that approach, unless you have a good track record with sticking to New Year’s resolutions. Such auspicious starting dates can also put unnecessary pressure on you and can be another delaying tactic.

Consider this: sometimes trying to find the ‘perfect’ time is just another way of procrastinating. There will likely never be a perfect time to start the challenge — so choose a date that makes sense for you, commit to that and just start.

Here’s a suggestion for you when thinking about when to start your own Year

One of our 2011 members started her Year on her birthday. She gave this program to herself as a birthday gift. She did this because she had previously started a “Do It Yourself” challenge of a year without clothes shopping on January 1, and had failed by the time Valentines Day rolled around mid February.

Rather than continue to do the same thing over and over and expect a different result (the definition of insanity), she did three things differently. These things changed everything for her:

1. She picked a date that was personally meaningful to her to start such an important challenge: her birthday.
2. She joined this program which gave her the structure, motivation, content and support she needed – knowing she would not be able to do this on her own (she’d tried that before, and it hadn’t worked).
3. And finally, she reframed this challenge as a gift to herself – an investment in her mental, physical, financial and emotional health.

She is now a very proud alumni of My Year Without Clothes Shopping and reports feeling free and alive in a way she hasn’t experienced in years!

We have designed the My Year Without Clothes Shopping program to inspire, guide and support you for the full 12 months. We encourage you to be fully committed when you start the program.

Our side of the bargain is that every week we provide something outstandingly good coming fresh into your Inbox, and every week there’s a sensational Resource to illustrate key concepts and encourage you to take action. There are 12 key themes over the 12 months (learn more here), contributed by an outstanding faculty.

That said, we realise that sometimes life takes unexpected turns and you may need to cancel out of the program. We would be very sad to see you go and would hope you would consider this very seriously before deciding, but you can drop out of the program if you choose to. When you wanted to re-start, we’d welcome you and your new registration back with open arms at Week One of the program.

This is an excellent question, because the program will take some time each week. Change is a process, not an event, and you’ll need to dedicate some time each week to interact with the material and do the activities.

Some of our members spend over an hour each week on the material (the Weekly Lesson and Resource). Others spend about an hour, sometimes a little less.

The material you’ll be receiving each week is relevant, engaging and thorough – and you’ll want to be reading it all and doing the exercises. So, yes, there is time involved each week for you to get any value out of this program. Any quality program requires that you spend time engaging with the material and making it your own.

Think of how much time you’re spending shopping now – either physically in the stores, or online, and include window shopping and just looking/surfing. Tote it up to get a rough estimate of how much of your time you’re putting into shopping pursuits, on a weekly basis, now.

Research suggests that the “average” shopper spends a couple of hours each week shopping in the mall or online – buying or ‘just looking’. So it’s not much of a stretch to imagine that the “average” shopaholic or overspender is spending much more time than that a week in shopping pursuits.

One way of looking at the time you’ll want to invest in this program is: use the time that you previously spent in shopping pursuits to read the Weekly Lessons and do the activities/exercises in the Weekly Resources. You’ll likely have time to spare! (and like our current members, you’ll also feel much, much better about yourself).

Every person’s savings is going to be different. Here’s a rough guideline on how to work out what you’re likely to save. Add up what you are spending per week or month on clothes, shoes, accessories, handbags and all other adornments of the body (include fabric, beads, etc). Multiply that by 52 (or 12 if you did a monthly guestimate) and you’ll have the ballpark number of what you’re likely to save during the year by doing this program.

It could be hundreds, thousands, or even tens of thousands of dollars. It may be that what you are spending in a week will more than cover the cost of tuition.

But that’s just the beginning of what you’ll save. The other part of the equation is what you’ll save after the program is finished. Because you’ll know the building blocks to creating a truly working wardrobe … because you will have explored your relationship to money … because you will understand the emotional and psychological drivers of your shopping … because you’ll know the true options you have in shopping consciously … because you’ll be able to organise your wardrobe so you can truly shop your wardrobe …because you will have developed a healthier relationship to shopping, in your own terms …. because you’ll know all these things and much, much more – your investment in this program will pay dividends long after the last lesson is delivered to your inbox.

This program provides you with material — tools, illustrations and resources — that you can use over and over again, long past the last day of your challenge.

This program is also an investment. An investment in you, your wardrobe, your finances, your emotional and psychological health. We give you so much in this program to set you up to succeed. The tuition cost is an incredibly small outlay in comparison to what you’ll receive in return.

We hear from women who want to do the program but aren’t sure their computer skills are adequate to do an online course. The answer is: there are no special computer skills required to be able to do this program.

If you can get online to visit this website and navigate around the pages here (which I’m guessing you can, if you are reading these words right now), and if you can do email — then you have all the computer skills you need to do this program.

We hear this a lot. Women who are intrigued by and attracted to what the program offers, but something is holding them back. And that thing is usually fear. There are two things to consider here:

1. Deliberate program design. The program is deliberately designed to be an enriching and engaging experience. Every week you’ll receive a lesson fresh into your inbox, full of inspiration and ideas on that month’s theme – click here to learn more about how the program is put together. There is a resource for each weekly lesson to get you taking action at your own pace. We’ve done all the hard work in setting up the program so it’s easy for you to access the weekly material.

The program is designed by me and there is a phenomenal faculty who have contributed to much of the program. The program is chockablock full of interesting and enlightening ideas and practical suggestions, arranged in 12 key themes.

Most women who join our program have been working on their shopping habits for years, sometimes decades. These kinds of entrenched habits won’t disappear overnight, or with a single downloadable info product. Real change is a process – not an event.

This program is a year in length for a very deliberate reason, and that is it can take that long to get some real traction in changing your relationship to yourself, your shopping, your wallet and your wardrobe. Anything less than a year may just be scratching the surface.

If you are looking for real change, and not just a band-aid solution, you need to dedicate yourself to a process of change. And that’s what we offer with this program’s deliberate design.

2. Join with a friend. Consider doing the challenge with a friend or family member. Enrol your friends, your sister, your sister-in-law, your mother, your neighbour, your workout buddies, your classmates, your book club!

You’ll receive a lot of support via the program itself (in the weekly two-part tutorial and in the protected Members Only area where the members forum area and weekly bulletin boards are accessed). You’ll multiply that if you do the program with someone else – you can share the journey together!

The answer to this question depends on which membership level you choose.

My Year Without Clothes Shopping standard online program

This program is designed to be a cost-effective way of inspiring and supporting you to make changes in how you shop. This is achieved through weekly Lessons (they come straight into your Inbox), supported by an interactive Resource that encourages you to take action, and through the Members Only area of the website.

It’s true that the standard online program is deliberately designed for you to be somewhat self-motivated, and to do the things that are asked of you in the Weekly Lessons and Resources. But we make that as easy as possible. Every month has a different theme (click here to read about each theme and how the program is pulled together) so the material is always fresh and engaging.

In the Members Only area you will have access to the members forum area and weekly bulletin boards where you can ask a specific/personal question (as many as you like over the course of the 12 months). Here you can check-in and share what is happening for you (a great way to keep yourself accountable). You can also connect with others in this a safe place to share what’s happening for you throughout your challenge.

The Members Only area is one of the ways you receive outstanding value from the program, as not only can you ask questions and receive support and encouragement, but I throw in extra tips and techniques there as well. It’s also a great place to share in the community of other women who are facing their shopping dragons by doing this challenge.

Doing the 12 month program with a friend is another way that you can build in accountability so that you actually take action and do the weekly exercises. Working through the program with a friend also provides an opportunity for mutual support and inspiration, in addition to the material you’re receiving via the weekly lessons and resources.

The Gold Class membership program

If you feel you need a more intensive personalised program, you can upgrade to the Gold Class membership which gives you everything from the standard online program plus:

• Unlimited email contact throughout your Year with me, with access to my private email account. I respond personally to every email you send – not an intern or an assistant – you get me. You can share privately and know that you’ll receive a rapid response on your specific individual issues
• One power call each month (via Skype) throughout your Year, where you receive individual support, guidance, encouragement and coaching from me
• Automatic entry into our exclusive 6 month support program following your Year

Click here for more information about the two levels of membership for My Year Without Clothes Shopping.

We understand that women join the program for many and varied reasons. Some join because they want to maximise their current wardrobes – they know they have some good pieces but they’re not sure how to make the most of them. They know this program will walk them through the building blocks to creating a wonderful working wardrobe.

Others join because they want to radically cut down on their shopping, a problem they may have been dealing with for years, decades sometimes. They know this program explores the emotional and psychological reasons that we shop, and gently but firmly takes them through an understanding of how money fits into the picture.

And some join because the spirit and the specific parameters of the challenge are what they want – they want to have a year without clothes shopping. They know this program covers the jigsaw puzzle of over-shopping like no other program in the world, delivered by the most phenomenal faculty you can imagine assembled.

You’ll join for your own reasons. We know that. We’re cool with that.

We’re equally up front that this program is designed around the concept of a year without clothes shopping. That said, the spirit of the challenge can be upheld even if the specific rules aren’t always possible to be strictly applied in all situations for all members (I could go into Parliament with that kind of “qualified statement” capability, couldn’t I? And yet it’s true).

We don’t call you up to the front of the class at any time and ask you to report in. The program is based on the premise that you’re self-motivated and committed to a year without clothes shopping – however you apply that to your specific circumstances.

For those who want to stick to the spirit and intent of the challenge but aren’t sure they can make it, we offer one “free pass” throughout the year. This is so you can buy necessary items that, without them, your life would be intolerably miserable (not a state that motivates many people).

Our suggestion – during and post- challenge — is “borrow rather than buy, swap rather than shop”. So during the year, we also suggest clothes swaps and borrowing from friends and family as another way to add necessary items to your wardrobe during the year without buying new.

If you join the standard online program and choose to pay using the recurring payment option (vs. paying the full amount up front, which comes with a sizable discount), then each quarter your fee will be deducted from your PayPal account. Once you have set up your recurring payments (using PayPal), you just need to be sure that you have enough funds in your account every time a payment is due, and the rest will happen automatically.

Please note that the recurring payments option uses PayPal, and we have no control or influence over PayPal; if an issue does crop up (eg: your funds are slow to clear or your payment is skipped or you want to change your recurring payment in some way), it will be up to you to sort that out with PayPal.

When you join, check out the Members FAQ for more important info on the recurring payments.

It’s a myth that all women love shopping and all women love clothes. I’ve learned that a good proportion of women don’t like shopping or clothes. This program may still be good fit for you.

If you do not know the building blocks to creating a working wardrobe (such as if you don’t know what styles and colours suit you… what fabrics wear well on your shape… what ‘gaps’ you have in your wardrobe… how to maximise what you already have by mixing and matching well… how to organise what you have so it supports and inspires your clothing choices every day)…. in short – if you don’t have a wardrobe that works harder than you do … or if you’d like to understand your relationship to money and your spending habits better…. this program will have a lot in it for you.

A lot of women are overwhelmed by the choices they are faced with in clothing and department stores. They’re confused about what will suit them, afraid of wasting money, and have no time for squandering in shops. They don’t know how to set their closets up so they feel like they can ‘shop’ in them. All those things (and so much more) are addressed in this online program.

Shopping can be an enjoyable pastime, and it can fulfil many needs from the social to the practical and the emotional. If you’re not sure what the definition of a shopaholic is and whether that term applies to you, sign up for our Free Report (12 Keys to Conscious Clothes Shopping) and our Free Assessment (Are You a Shopaholic?) to learn more. Or just go straight to our Mini Course - it’s only 6 weeks and will introduce you to the key concepts of conscious shopping.

Here’s another suggestion if you’re not sure you overshop: buy a small notebook that you can carry in your bag. Over the next week, or next few weeks, write down everything you spend. Every. Single. Item. At the end of the week, or few weeks if you’ve tracked your shopping for longer, have a look at what you’ve spent, and on what.

There is nothing like hard data to provide a clear view of what you are actually spending your money on.

We often hold a distorted view of what we spend – we think it’s less than what it is. Our wallet is lighter, our credit card statement seems longer… but we’re not quite courageous enough to look closely to see what’s really going on. Tracking every dollar that leaves your wallet, whether it’s in cash or on plastic, is a great way to get an accurate picture of what you’re spending. Once you’ve done that, you’ll be able to know if your spending is healthy. Or not.

If you have forgotten your password, click on the “Lost your password” link under the login form. And have a look at Lost Password Help where we talk you through the whole process.

On the very rare occasions this happens, it’s almost always because you didn’t return to the website after you completed the payment process via PayPal. Such problems are easily and quickly fixed. The best thing to do is to contact technical support and let us know of the issue, and we’ll get back to you as quickly as we can (almost always within 24 hours). Please don’t take any other action as this just slows the process down.

So if you have paid but haven’t been able to complete your registration, contact technical support and know that we will prioritise your query and get back to you ASAP. We’ll get the problem sorted out quick smart!

First thing to mention here is that if you are receiving emails from us, it means you have subscribed to our blog updates, probably because you wanted to get your copy of the free report: The 12 Keys to Conscious Shopping.

We all sometimes forget where and when we signed up for something, but rest assured that your permission was expressly granted – there’s no other way for you get on our list to be receiving emails from us. The reason for that is the system we use (Aweber) has what is called a “double opt in” process, which means that you had to have confirmed you wanted to hear from us, otherwise you wouldn’t be confirmed on the list.

And it’s also worth saying that it our pleasure and privilege to be communicating with you! We know how much information is available “out there” and how easy it is to be overwhelmed by too much “incoming” in your Inbox.

All that said, if you want to unsubscribe so that you no longer receive emails from us (such as our weekly blog updates, or the free updates that come as part of the free report: The 12 Keys to Conscious Shopping), you can easily unsubscribe by clicking on the Unsubscribe link at the end of every email.

Our Mini Course confirmation email automatically goes to the email address that is associated with your PayPal account.

Please sign in to that account and look for the email with the title:

Response Required: Please confirm from My Year Without Clothes Shopping

You need to click on the link in that email to confirm your subscription and start receiving the mini course emails. (If you can’t find that email, remember to check your junk/spam folder because the email might have been directed to there).

You can change the email address that the Mini Course emails are sent to, after you click on the confirm link.  (Once you receive the first Mini Course email, click on the “Change subscriber options” link at the bottom.)

You can change the email address that the Mini Course emails are sent to at any time after clicking on the link in the confirmation email.

Once you receive the first (or any subsequent) Mini Course email,  click on the “Change subscriber options” link at the bottom of the email, to go to the Subscriber Information page.

Click on the “edit contact information“ link, then enter your new email address and click “Submit” to confirm the change.

We’ve designed the program so that every week you receive something stimulating, relevant and helpful into your inbox (and in the Members Only area). We hope you’ll love the program and want to stay for the entire year. We know that ‘life happens’ and sometimes the best laid plans can’t be seen through, and that you may find it necessary to withdraw from the program.

It’s important to note that if you have signed up for MYWCS using the quarterly payment option, you are giving your express permission for quarterly payments to be automatically withdrawn from your PayPal account. And if you decide to drop out of the program, it is your responsibility to cancel the quarterly payments – we have no access to your PayPal account and cannot do this for you.

It is also your responsibility to be aware of when your quarterly payments are due so that you proactively cancel the payment prior to it being withdrawn if that is your wish. Please note that we do not offer refunds if you decide to cancel out of the program but do not do so prior to your next quarterly payment being withdrawn.

We provide detailed instructions on how to cancel your quarterly payment in the Frequently Asked Questions for Members area (you may need to Log in using your username and password first).  Under the My Membership and Payment heading, click on the question: Can I cancel out of the program?

If you have a technical issue such as:

• you haven’t received a Weekly Lesson, or
• you can’t get into the Members Only area, or
• you aren’t able to download something, or
• any other problem of a technical nature

then contact our Tech Support. We’ll be back to you very quickly and help you sort out your issue. We get very few technical issues, but those we do, we always sort out (we have a 100% success rate with fixing idiosyncratic problems), and we do so quickly.

We have two key programs:

1. The 6 Week Conscious Clothes Shopping Mini Course. This is a sensational short course that introduces you to the principles of conscious clothes shopping. Read all about it and sign up here.
2. The 12 month My Year Without Clothes Shopping program. The FAQ you’re reading now, and many other pages on this site (such as this one which lays out the 6 pieces of the overshopping puzzle, and this one which gives you details on each of the 12 themes covered in the 12 months), will give you all the information you need about this program. This is our flagship program – unmatched by any other we know of in the world. With this program, you have two choices of membership level:
   • The standard online program, which is delivered completely online. You can sign up for this program here.
   • The Gold Class membership, which gives you everything you receive from the standard online program plus additional 1:1 support benefits. Click here for more information.

If you’re interested in conscious shopping, start with the Mini Course.

If you’re serious about creating a healthier relationship to shopping, yourself, your wardrobe and your wallet - sign up for My Year Without Clothes Shopping.

If you have a question about the program that we haven’t answered here, send an email via the Contact Form and we’ll answer as soon as we can. We occasionally respond positively to well-worded flattery and bribery.

If you are a website or blog owner and wish to support My Year Without Clothes Shopping, there are a number of ways you can do that:

1. Become an affiliate - learn how you can earn a lovely commission for every member who joins the program based on your recommendation by clicking here.

2. Upload a banner onto your site/blog, like the one to the left – that’s one of six (6) banners you can choose from.

Banners add visual interest and variety to your site/blog.

All the information (including full instructions on how to upload one of the six (6) banners) can be found on this page.

3. Blog/articles and newsletter mentions. We’re very open to exchanging article and blog postings, and/or writing a series of posts for your blog or site.

If you have a regular newsletter and are looking for newsy items to include, consider adding something about our program and the conscious shopping movement we are part of.

Please be in touch if this idea appeals to you and we’ll discuss the best ways to support you and provide you with the information you need.

Other ideas? If you’d like to talk with us about any other ideas for collaboration or mutual support – please be in touch!