2. Barbour Vest, thrifted: $4
3. Ralph Lauren Oxford, thrifted: $4, $0 with Goodwill points
4. Forever 21 Lace Tee (seen here): $22
5. Nicole Boots via DSW (seen here): $110
6. J.Crew Tee (seen here): originally $45, $20 on sale
7. Blazer, thrifted & DIY altered (seen here): $8
8. Urban Outfitters Jeans: $40 with coupon code + $8 alterations
9. Christian Dior Blazer, thrifted: $8 + $25 alterations
10. Nine West Flats (seen here): $18, $0 with a Christmas giftcard from my girl Hannah
= $252
Well. I did not do that great this month. Even if I take the $25 "leftover" from last month, and the $25 I made from selling two things on eBay, I'm still about $50 over my self-established budget of $150. I do feel guilty about that because although I purchased some of these items before I found out I got into school, I didn't really try that hard to stick to my budget afterwards. My new boots are largely at fault - they're 2/3 of my entire month's budget! Besides that purchase though, I feel I found some really great deals. I found a Burberry jacket for $8, a Christian Dior Blazer for $8 (it needs to be altered around the sleeves though, so that jacks the end price up), and a Barbour vest (although I'm debating selling it on eBay as they go for around $60 on there) while thrifting. I also added ribbon piping and a new button to another thrifted blazer, so it was like a craft project/entertainment and a new clothing piece in one ;). I ordered the high-rise Urban Outfitters cigarette jeans in a size longer than my last pair so I can get them hemmed to the perfect length, so I'm really excited to have black skinny jeans again.
So in the end, I did fill a few holes in my closet with the boots and the jeans and I found some once in a lifetime thrifting finds. Like I mentioned, I'm really going to work towards saving money the next ~4 months while I'm still working. I am allowing myself $250 (around 10%) from my tax return (the rest is going straight into DO NOT TOUCH savings) to shop next weekend in Chicago. There are so many stores down there that we obviously don't have in Madison, so my goal is to find some of the following items:
- dark wash boot cut jeans, hopefully at Nordstrom Rack (like this pair, this pair, or this pair)
- tweed/boucle blazer (like this one, this one, or this one)
- Hunter rain boots (this color, this color, or this color?)
- bright floral scarf (like this, this, or this beauty)
I think having a list of things will curb my "throw money at all the stores and buy all the unneeded things" feelings I will have having that "free" money in my wallet. Hopefully I'll find a few things I'll really get some use out of. Of course, none of those items are actually necessary in the sense that food and water, and only having one pair of pants is necessary, but they are items I am hoping to add to my closet as I know I would get a lot of wear out of them, unlike some of my impulse buys in the past have.
So how did you do this month? Better than I did? Just as horrible and guilty? Link up below with budgetting bloggers! Please make sure you link back so your readers can discover and be inspired by all of the other bloggers who budget (even if they fail at it ha)
P.S. Linking up with Thrifters Anonymous, Random Wednesday, and Penniless Socialite.
