july budget

Loft blouse top: originally $39 + 35% off = $25

Ann Taylor dress [reviewed here]: on sale for $120 + 50% off = $60

Nordstrom Tee: on sale for $16 (for only a few more days!)

July budget: $101 

Quarterly budget:  $119 in May + $195 in June + $101 in July = $415

Not too bad! I knew that July would be a really light shopping month for me as I spent most of it on my general surgery rotation where I wore scrubs from 4:45 AM - 5 PM+. With going to sleep by 9, and not spending as much time on my computer, there wasn't a lot of time to spend money! I do like the three items I purchased though. My favorite is definitely this eyelet dress from Ann Taylor. I got it during a pretty good promotion which is currently still going on, so if you are interested in this dress, I highly recommend it. You can read the full review here.

I purchased the black top last weekend when I was in Pittsburgh - I know it'll be the perfect layering top. I love the black on black look, and once I finally find a few cardigans, it'll probably be in pretty heavy rotation. If you are interested, I chose to stick with a large in this top. The medium fit me fine, but I liked the extra length that came with the large. 

The last tee is the striped tee that I picked up during the Nordstrom sale. I actually ordered the black + white stripes in a medium and white + black stripes version in a large. I preferred the looser look of the size large top - again, the medium was fine, but it did feel a bit tight in the arms. I was pulling on them the whole time I wore the shirt, so I knew it was definitely not the right shirt for me in that size! I'm very happy with the size large tee, and am excited to wear it on my days off (which I have just a few of coming up!)

I also ordered a few other items from the sale that didn't work out for me. This mixed media tunic seems really cute in theory - flattering v-neck, long sleeves, pretty colors. I totally agree with Audrey though, in that it is super wrinkly. I already hate ironing, and especially for a top that is meant to be more for my personal life, I didn't find it would be worth the effort. SO CLOSE though.

Last is this long open cardigan. I kind of knew that this wouldn't really work for me, but I wanted to try just in case (that's what free returns are good for!). I'm wearing a large here in the charcoal color. Besides the fact that I feel a bit ridiculous wearing a giant sweater while it's 90 degrees out (notice the shorts and tee below...), it wasn't very flattering on me. The dropped shoulders are never a good thing on me, and overall it was just a bit too big on me. I definitely am interested in this type of sweater for when it cools down (in three months) but if I'm going to spend $60+ on a sweater, I want it to look good on me!

You may notice that the Ann Taylor tunic I reviewed here isn't included. I actually found a hole in the seam a few days after I reviewed it, and had to return it. They didn't have any left in the store I was, so I was kind of out of luck. I'm pretty bummed, but there will be other shirts ;)

So I was a bit under for my quarterly budget, which is always a good thing! I may or may not transfer the rest of the funds into the next months - we'll see (I explained a bit more of my budgeting philosophy here if you are interested). I did put in a good sized order to Banana Republic this weekend with a 40% off promotion they had. I fell in love with this tuxedo boyfriend shirt over the weekend, and I can't wait to see how it works with my actual jeans and boots. I also saw these charcoal grey slim ankle pants in store - they only had 00, so I ordered both a 10 and a 12 to try on. Why is it so hard to find grey work pants?! Last but not least, I ordered this v-neck popover top in white, as well a pair of green shorts I realllllllly hope work out.

So that's me! What about you? I'd love to see how your budgeting worked out this week - please feel free to link up below, and as always, please let your readers know where they can find more budgeting bloggers!