I want to talk about Kate Middleton because she is my fashion role model. I look up to her and love her style. My obsession with Kate Middleton started the year I got married. I remember seeing a picture of her on the cover of a People magazine. I just thought that she was so pretty and natural-looking. She didn’t look like she was trying too hard to look perfect, but she still did. I followed all of the royal wedding coverage. At the same time, I was planning my own wedding. After their wedding, I watched as her style matured when she became the Duchess of Cambridge.
Plan Before you Buy
Like I have said before, it is not always easy to go shopping on a small budget. It takes a lot of discipline. One thing that I find helpful, is to plan ahead before I buy. I like to do my research first and find items that I will actually get good use out of. I try to keep an ongoing list of items that I want to buy eventually. Sometimes my list changes, but I usually keep it on hand with me at all times. This way I know what I’m looking for. I try not to buy things I don’t need. Having a list helps me avoid buyers’ remorse.
I start my research by looking at Pinterest. Pinterest is a great way to keep up with the latest fashion trends. I pin looks that I think are cute and I would actually wear, but a lot of times the clothes I pin are too expensive for my budget. What I like to do is keep an eye out for cheaper options. I usually look around on the internet first to price things out. I don’t usually buy online, because I prefer to see it in person. I like to try things on and touch it before I buy it, but that’s just me. After I have an idea of how much I want to pay for something, then I can look in the stores. Sometimes I can find something right away, other times it takes me months. It took me all summer to finally find a maxi skirt that I liked.
Here is an example of how I used a Pinterest idea and found an affordable option…
I am obsessed with Tory Burch flats. They’re so cute for everyday shoes. Well, I can’t spend $200 on a pair of flats. So, I had to keep my eyes open for something similar, that was also affordable. I got lucky. At DSW, I found a pair of Audrey Brooke flats. They look very similar to the Tory Burch flats I wanted. They were originally sold for $100 at the department store, but at DSW they were marked at $59.95. Well, I found them on the clearance rack for 40% off. I also used a coupon and ended up paying $32.83 with tax. I wear them all the time and love them! No buyers remorse here.
My Closet~ What I Wore Wednesday
I thought it would be fun to start a “what I wore” weekly blog post. Wednesday, as we all know, in the middle of the week. It’s the day that makes us believe the weekend is right around the corner. You need to keep the week going strong and what better way to do that than putting a cute outfit together.
I think that looking good and feeling good go hand and hand. I’ve had those mornings, like everyone else, where I just don’t care. I just want to make it through the day, so I throw my barely dry hair up in a ponytail, put on whatever I pull from my drawer and do the bare minimum makeup. In the past, when I have done this my day ends up going the same way it started. I end up not caring and not doing the best job I can do at work. I spend 40+ hours a week at my job. That’s a lot of time and I want to feel good when I’m there. I want to feel confident and professional. Honestly, I think the way you present yourself reflects on the kind of person you are. Especially in the workplace, no matter where you work. Would you not care about your appearance when you go to a job interview?
Trust me, I don’t have a very glamorous job. I am an infant teacher at a child care center, so finding something to wear to work involves, finding something that’s appropriate, cute, comfortable and something I don’t mind getting the occasional spit upon. That’s not going to stop me from putting together something cute.
So here is my Wednesday outfit. The dress code at my work is no jeans except for Fridays.
Grey khaki- Old Navy
Black long sleeve shirt- Old Navy
Pink and grey infinity scarf- Five Below
Black flats- Target
It’s casual, comfortable and of course affordable. I make sure to designated my work clothes as “work only” clothes. This means I can wear them around babies, without being afraid to get paint, baby food or anything else that might come out of my little friends.
I hope to keep up with this post and continue to find cute work outfits to share.
Happy Wednesday! Friday is almost here!
Stretching your dollar$$
I have to admit that I’ve been on a bit of a shopping kick lately. I always get like this at the beginning of a new season. The problem for me, as always, is that I don’t have very much money to be spending on new clothes. I have to make do with the small amount of money I can spend. This means I can’t just walk into a store and buy whatever I want. I have to be smart about it to stretch my money or else I’m going to have an empty closet.
Right now, my husband and I have absolutely no dept. We don’t have a car payment, a mortgage, student loans or any credit cards with balances on them. We still use credit cards and put everything we spend on them. This is a great way of tracking how much we spend each month, plus we get cashback rewards, which who doesn’t love getting free money every few months? We have a $1,500 budget each month for both of us. That includes our phone bills, energy bill, cable/internet bill, grocery’s, gas and anything else we spend. For two people this is not a lot of money. This is why I try to do my best to spend as little money as I can on the extras.
How do I still go shopping on this low of a budget? Well here are some tips on how to still be able to shop and buy new clothes, but spend as little as possible…
1.) Always check out the clearance racks! This is my favorite place in any store. I have found some of the best deals here. I feel like sometimes people have such a negative view of clearance clothes. I know they’re last season’s clothes, they’re the ugly colors no one wants or worse they have nothing cute in your size. Yes, all these things can be true, but it’s just like the thrift store thing, you have to be selective. Keep your eyes open and look through every item. Usually the end of the season is a great time to look for clearance clothes. There is a great selection and the deals get better and better the closer you get to the new season!
2.) Use coupons and store loyalty programs! I love getting those e-mails with coupons in them! I get e-mails from all kinds of stores. 20% off here, $5 off there. They really add up and help you save. Most of the time you can use those coupons on top of clearance and sale items.
3.) Look for Apps on your smartphone! I use my iPhone for everything. There are so many great store apps that offer rewards or coupons. One app that I am a huge fan of is Old Navy’s Snap App. It’s so easy to use. All you do is take a picture of the Old Navy store logo and you have a chance to get a coupon to save anywhere between $5 to $15. My favorite is the Snap Five, because it gives you $5 off anything in the store, as long as it is at least $5.
4.) Make it into a game! For me, it’s fun to find the deals. Set a budget before you go shopping and stick to it! Sometimes you will lose at this game and sometimes you will win. Have fun with it!
Here is my latest outfit. All these items came from clearance racks and I used coupons.
(Oh yes, don’t judge the white pants after Labor Day. I did my research and most people say white pants are fine to wear all the way through the winter.)
Shirt- Target-$5.98
Pants- Target-$6.88
Shoes- DSW-$32.83
Necklace-$4.20
Total price of outfit– 49.88
Honestly my best advice to stretch your dollar is to never pay full price! I challenge everyone to try to stretch their money! You will feel great knowing how much you saved!
Shopping Finds~ Finding a Great Deal!
In my last post about thrift stores, I mentioned that your not always going to have luck. Well, today I went for the big Labor Day half off sale at the Salvation Army. I spent about an hour looking around the store. I picked out about 10 items and I ended up walking out empty-handed. It’s hard when you really don’t have the extra money to spend, to buy something you don’t love. I mean, I always look for deals when I shop, but sometimes I have to ask myself “do I really need this?” So, I was a little disappointed, but it’s okay. You never know when you will find something that’s a steal.
For example, this dress below. I found this randomly at Target last weekend. My husband and I had to stop at Target for a couple of household items. I never make it through Target without taking a quick peek at all the clearance items. I’ve been keeping my eyes open for stripes lately, so this blue and white striped dress caught my eye. I looked it over and it was in my size. Best of all the price tag read $2.06. There was no doubt in my mind that I was going to buy it. I mean, I spend more than that on a cup of coffee at Starbucks.
I wore the dress with some brown wedges and a white sweater. I just love it when I find a great deal!
Thrift Stores
I used to be afraid of the thrift store. There was nothing about it that appealed to me. They always smelled like an old ladies’ basement and had knick-knacks from that basement all over. I would look through the racks and find elastic waistline jeans and shirts with birdhouses all over them. I also never liked the idea of wearing someone’s old unwanted clothes.
