New Budget Totals

Check out the sidebar for updated post-Portland totals! —————->

Vintage silk sari (for whenever) = $55.00 + $6.00 s&h = $61.00

Corduroy dress (for Fall 2010) = $35.00

Faux-fur reversible vest (for Fall 2010) = $10.00

Multi-colored wool wristlet from Peru (for Fall 2010) = $7.00

Multi-chain necklace = 50% off $12.50 (dug out of sale bin) = $6.25

Totals: ($99.87 from March + 35.92 left from Feb.) – $119.25 (above) = $16.54 left for March

Good thing I saved some money for Portland!

Girls' Night

Note the new budget totals on the side ——->

I went out last night for a lovely secondhand shopping trip with one of my best girlfriends, Monique. After some searching, I found two amazing pairs of shoes (one pair of red leather peep-toe pumps & the summer black sandals I wanted this month) and I finally bought the totally insane gold sequined pants I’d wanted since November. At last, the price had dropped AND I had a 10% off coupon.

I promise pictures this weekend when I get ahold of my sister’s camera!

Now I need to save the rest for my trip to Portland in two weeks, because I am sure to find something there.

Finds for Spring

My roomate and I went secondhand shopping on Saturday to three stores: Goodwill, Value Village, and Village Thrift. She bought some lovely things for spring and summer, and I also dug up a few “finds” to change up my summer wardrobe.

From Goodwill…

Banana Republic Gray Tank Top (Gray is a big color for spring) – $5.23

From Value Village…

Banana Republic Gray Wool Sweater – $5.20

Ann Taylor Gray Tee – $5.20

From Village Thrift (having a 1/2 off sale on yellow tags)…

J.Crew Khaki Skirt (totally getting in on the khaki trend) – $4.15

Black Rayon Sweater (I never have enough of these) – $2.57

Vintage 1970s Peep-toe sandals – $9.05

Fairly productive day, if I do say so myself. New totals: $55.92 left out of $200 for the month of February.

March budget

New budget totals for March on the sidebar!!!!! ——>

Possible investments this month: Black sandals or a bathing suit.

Vintage 1950s Gingham Dress

This adorable dress is now all mine from allencompanyinc…I’m so excited!

Cost: $72 + $7 shipping = $79.00

New totals on the side —–>

Now I need some edgy shoes to ground my outfit and I’m set!

Building a Wardrobe Week 3: Making a Shopping List

Now you have (1) discovered the colors that show you off to your best advantage and (2) gone through your clothes to find the gaps in the wardrobe that fits your lifestyle. This week it is time to take those gaps and make a concrete shopping list to work from over the coming months.

Be honest with yourself when you create this list. Maybe you need a lot of things to build a decent wardrobe; maybe you need very few. Maybe you are tired of items you have from last year and want to freshen up your wardrobe by giving away old pieces and buying new ones. It is okay if your list seems too long or too short. You have a budget and you will stick to it, so you don’t need to feel badly about your list.

Make a list of EVERYTHING you need based on the gaps in your wardrobe and your lifestyle. EVERYTHING means clothes, shoes, jewelry, accessories, and even underwear. Don’t be too specific yet about style or color — you should do a little preliminary browsing first to decide what you like. I generally use Microsoft Excel for my wardrobe lists because I can add columns if I like to keep track of where I buy things, how much I paid, etc.

Now, divide your list into two: one of things you are willing to buy cheaply/secondhand/deeply discounted and one of the few things you are really picky about and on which you are willing to spend some extra $$$. This is the hard part. Only list a few things — maybe four or at most five.

For my part, I am in the market for two things that I am willing to spend extra money on: a new bathing suit and a new pair of amazing sandals. Everything else I am perfectly happy buying off the Goodwill or Value Village rack.

Happy listing!!!!!!

My next planned purchase...

Pssst….want to know a secret? I’m stalking several 1950s vintage dresses in the hopes of snagging one this month!

Budget tip: PLAN YOUR PURCHASES AT THE BEGINNING OF THE MONTH. What do you need? What are you looking for? Anticipate the next season, your next vacation, or (in my case) the next family wedding to which you are invited.

Statement jewelry

I am in the market for some new jewelry/statement pieces – February 15 is marked on my calendar as a deadline. I find giving myself dates to buy things helps keep me within my budget, because it saves me from impulse buys as (a) I fill my Etsy cart and then have to wait 1-2 weeks to buy anything, (b) I can think through my wardrobe and decide if that piece/accessory will go with more than two outfits, and (c) sometimes things sell in that time and I know then that I wasn’t meant to have it.

I love this glass pendant “walkways through europe” from photoglassworks (based in Durham, NC) and would work well with any late winter outfit.

These gold floral ovals from sweetmini (based in sunny California) would compliment any spring outfit.

I am obsessed with lengthy earrings, TEXTURE and lace/crochet and these octopussy earrings from This Ilk (based in Montreal) combine all three.

Budget stats

I’ve reset my budget stats to start afresh for the month of February. What do you do with the unspent $$$ for the month? Go on a shopping spree? NO! Bank the money and save for your next investment piece (e.g. that pair of amazing $150 boots at the secondhand store or that awesome suit jacket that probably won’t be there next time you go).

Also, I have decided to branch out a bit and save $10 of the monthly budget for books about fashion. We’ll see how that goes.

VS Wrap - Price Stalker Worthy?

A friend of mine alerted me to this lovely wrap from VS. It is $58, but with a coupon (and VS is usually generous with coupons) you could get it 20% off or so. Has anyone tried one on in the store? It comes in lots of colors and can be worn in “at least six ways” — I can’t wait to get to a store and try it on to see if it is price-stalker-worthy!

(Just a hint: if you like VS, google search “Pink Nation” and sign up. They will send you coupons for freebies via email…)

How do I make myself a fashion budget?

Money has been on my mind a lot today. As I pulled my W-2 out of my mailbox at work this morning, as I wrote my monthly check for rent, and as I perused my bills due at school for the class I am taking this semester, I laughed quietly to myself at the idea that people on average pay $28,000 for a wedding and usually more. I’ve said it a million times and I’ll say it again: money is crazy.

I realized that I didn’t even mention how I came up with a $200 per month budget for clothing. That budget is certainly not one-size-fits-all. Last summer, I called my mom to complain about how guilty I felt about a recent purchase and she (in all her motherly wisdom) suggested I set a budget for myself so I didn’t have to feel guilty anymore about my clothes and simply enjoy them. This is what she had me do:

1. Carefully, with a fine-toothed-comb, go over my bank statements for the past 12 months and add up what I spent total on clothes, shoes, accessories, underwear, and jewelry.

2. Divide this number by 12.

3. Start by budgeting that much money for myself per month. Later, if it felt like too much, I could adjust accordingly.

My problem had been that every time I tried to start a budget before, I fell right off of it because I tried to stick to something unrealistic (for myself!) like $50 a month. It just isn’t going to work.

Noting trends like (a) I spend twice as much as usual in November on Black Friday and (b) I spend much less than usual (almost nothing) on clothing in December, I budgeted my $200 and have stuck to it very well ever since. Not a shadow of guilt!

MLK Day Shopping

On Monday, I convinced my mother and sisters to do my favorite leisure activity: shopping! First, we went to Anthropologie.

Pros of the store:

1. Awesome place for fashion inspiration and the chance to try new trends. Raid the sale racks and try on a variety of things to see what you like on yourself.

2. Their clothes are very expensive full-price but they are fairly generous when it comes to sales.

Cons of the store:

1. The clothes are not structured, so they do not work on all body types.

2. Everything is displayed beautifully, to best influence you to buy *everything*. You must resist this urge.

Anyway, after trying on four or five things from the sale rack and taking note of brand names/sizes for future eBay reference (more on eBay shopping another time), I came upon this lovely belt…

I have been in the market for a wide belt for a couple years. A caution for short (& possibly squat) people: if you are going to wear a wide belt, make sure you are wearing a long tunic or dress to lengthen your frame and counteract the belt.

I bought the 100% leather belt for $10.49 including tax. Score!

Later, my mum and I swung by Value Village, a huge secondhand store. The store is dirty and the merchandise requires a discerning eye – if the employees even remotely recognize a label (e.g. Ann Taylor) they have the habit of WAY overpricing secondhand clothes – but shopping there is quite an adventure and I have found many treasures.

Today I found two handpainted 1-inch pinback brooches: one from Russia and the other from Poland (?) that would look lovely on a purse or lapel. I bought them: 2 ($3.45 ea.) + 50% off on federal holidays + tax = $4.15. Score!

[I will try to post a pic of the pins later.]

Current budget: $200 – 10.49 for the belt – 4.15 for the pins = $185.36