to look for: Savings

Image courtesy of BestCashCow.com

Okay, I think it's time for a confession.  I'm ashamed to say that I have failed a few of my objectives of this blog.  If you've read my "About Me" section, you'll see that a subset of the goals are:

• Prove to myself that I don’t need to constantly shop to have a solid, mix & match closet of clothes: This may be a delusion on my part.  But, I figure that the blog will keep me honest, and also will help me shop my own closet.
• Develop a system for adding pieces to my closet: A blog archive will help me find the gaps in my wardrobe – and the unnecessary.  (I’m talking to YOU, frilly pink prom dress!)

The sad truth of the matter is not only have I failed to meet these objectives, I actually went in the opposite direction! I spent the better part of the first 6 months of writing this blog shopping.  Constantly.  Its the peril of reading other blogs focused on fashion as well as looking for inspiration for my own blog posts.  What? The trends are micro-pleated skirts and red skinny jeans?  OMG. Must. Find. Now.  I ended up getting sucked into a money-grubbing monster of my own making. 

I'm fortunate to have a career such that I didn't end up in tens of thousands of dollars of debt.  That money, however, could have been saved to go towards a better distribution of things.  Like vacations.  Like savings for a house.  Instead, I bought things -- things that, after wearing them for the first time, I couldn't figure out how to wear them a second.  And it was too late to return them.  Now I have closet full of clothes that desperately needs to be edited and possibly purged.

So what am I going to do about it?  Well, I'm not going to stop blogging about style.  It's something I'm passionate about and I still find it really fun.  I am, however, going to start the (painful) journey of learning how to edit my wardrobe and practice restraint.  Here are the goals I am now setting for myself:

• Reduce my budget for clothing/accessories to $100/month.  This is going to tough.  Really tough.  I know that this may be a much higher budget that some of you have, but trust me, I used to blow this number away.  No more. 
• Use Pinterest to clearly identify and pin the items that I'm vying for.  Sometimes I get swept up in sales at my favorite stores or flash sales hosted by RueLaLa or Gilt.  Doing this will provide me a documented reminder of what I actually want in my wardrobe.
• Only buy items that are thrifted or 75% off or more.  Good style is timeless.  This will help me save money, but allow me to satisfy my love for shopping.  There is a caveat in the next bullet...
• One freebie a month.  I can buy one full priced or slightly discounted item a month.  I'll have to consider carefully and make it count. That's where Pinterest will come in.  

I'm going to start there.  Lessening my budget will free up funds for other fun things.   Eventually I want to do a few challenges where I wear everything in my closet or style up an item I haven't worn several times to determine whether or not I want to keep it.  But for now, I plan to disclose what I've bought and how well (or badly) I'm doing.  Nothing like blasting your finances on the interwebs right?

This is going to be really hard for me (oh first world problems).  I may destroy this goal more than once.  But the first step is accountability, so I'm just going to go with it.  

What do you do to curb your shopping habit?  Do you even have one?  How do you develop your wardrobe?  Share in the comments!

Thanks for stopping by!