Friday, September 10, 2010

Weekly Money Check- Up

Money is a funny topic that is rarely talked about in the fashion blogging world. Some bloggers seem to put it all out there, while others like to keep their finances to themselves. I think one thing that we all have in common however, is we are always thinking about expanding our wardrobe and the hit that our wallets take because of it.

Yesterday, I stopped by a local Consignment shop and decided to look around. As the weather has begun to change instead of feeling the need to fill my closet with trendy items, I just want to make sure that I have my cold weather necessities. I tend to have issues buying pants because of my long legs, so I'm always on the look-out for great work pants. This Consignment shop seemed to know I was coming as they must have recently taken in a few different longer length items. I left with two perfect pairs of New York and Company work Trousers, one black and one gray, and an amazing Pair of Gap Wide Leg Jeans. I arrived home feeling satisfied with the hole I had just filled and decided to take things a step further by pulling out my packed away winter clothes and starting the dreaded closet switch. To my surprise I had apparently found a few pairs of work pants last Spring, and had them packed away. I completely forgot I had these items. Instead of filling the hole of Work Pant options, I added to a collection I didn't even know I had started. The Consignment shop sells items at reasonable prices, and I know I will get my money's worth, but it was still a few dollars I didn't need to spend. I have spent some time recently thinking about my spending when it comes to clothes and as always talked myself off the ledge and into the idea of another shopping budget. Along comes two awesome blogs, My Pretty Pennies is a great personal finance blog and Grace over at Money Smart Fashion, is a strong willed fashionable blogger who is on the quest to lessen her debt without loosing her sense of fashion. Today, Grace participated in a feature by My Pretty Pennies by completing a 5 Question Personal Money Survey. I hope to include more information about my personal spending on this blog, and this combined with yesterday's purchase seems like a great place to start. Truth be told, you can't have fashion or clothes without money so let's start openly talking about the two!

1. The most I’ve spent this last week was on _____. : I spent $95 at Oldnavy.com this week. I ended up coming across some great online coupons and so I stocked Johnny and I up on necessary Steeler's gear as we head into Football Season. I had a minor anxiety attack as I entered my Credit Card information into the online check-out as I almost never buy things online, but I've been in the market for these items for awhile. In the end it was 5 total items ( 2 Hoodie's, 2 Tees and 1 Long Sleeve Tee) all NFL Official and all for a fantastic price. The purchase of these items did however mean that I put the purchase of my new straightener on hold another week.


2. Today I feel _______towards money. : Can I say ambivalent? Friday's are always hard. Opening the paycheck always made me sign a sort of relief that I made it to another week, and than I quickly start the math of my bills for the week. It's a Catch 22. You work all week to earn this money, and with-in 30 minutes and a few bills it is gone again.

3. Money can’t buy happiness. One free/inexpensive thing I did last week that made me happy was_____________. : Played Scrabble on the back porch with Johnny and his family. Is there anything better than boardgames and laughs with family and friends?

4. I will consider this week a success if I _____________. : Remember to set-up my Online Bill Pay. It's a system I've decided to start utilizing through my bank but I have yet to actually set it up! I think I may be a bit nervous because this will give me no excuse to be irresponsible with my bill payments. Sometimes ignorance really is bliss.

5. My first job was ____________________. : My first Big Girl Paycheck receiving job ( we'll leave Babysitting out of it) was a retail job. I used to walk to the store at my local mall and would spend about 16 hours a week folding shirts and putting sensors in the seams after school. That's probably were my love of fashion started from.


I recommend everyone stops by the blogs above. They are such amazing women, and we could all stand to let a few of our personal financial demons out of the closet every once in a while! Thanks to Grace for introducing me to this feature!

3 comments:

Meli said...

I have introduced the topic of money into my blog- but so few comment or ignore the entire post that I didn't go too far.

I was honestly drowning in CC debt last year. I took a major turn in January- I started budgeting, saving $ seriously, and paid off all my debt recently. I am very $ focused now!

I always have been all about bargains- and using what I have- but I really am focused now on not BUYING this or that, but getting what I want out of what I have- or replacing it with something that I can.

I am checking those blogs out rightnow! :)

Grace, Money Smart Fashion said...

Hey Kayla!

You are so sweet!
Thank you for all the kind words.
I know what you mean about sometimes forgetting what you already own. I try not to put too many clothes away, even the winter ones so I can always know what I have but there is just not enough room in my tiny townhome for all of that!

Anyway, I love the blog! Thanks for keeping the weekly mney check-up going!

Kristen Haskell said...

I have been paying my bills online for seven years. Yes that is right 7 years and I have never, ever had one problem. In fact, it is because of bill pay that I can even keep a budget. The greatest thing about it is that I only pay bills once a month. I pay absolutely everything online and I love it. If you have any questions or need some encouragement I'd be happy to help. By the Way I am really enjoying your blog a lot.