Style Budget Month 2: February

February 2015

1. $21 Factory yellow grey plaid flannel (not shown) 

2. $60 J.Crew blacksmith wash toothpicks & destructed miller toothpicks (not shown)

3. $18 J.Crew tassel top in black

4. $30 J.Crew toothpicks in arcade wash 

5. $42 J.Crew toothpicks in miller wash tall (+8 to have them hemmed)

7. $22 J.Crew silk cafe capris on eBay 

Spent= $161 

Made= $188 on Posh  

$188- $166= $27 Made 

Reflection: I never thought I could wear toothpick jeans from J.Crew before, however, it turns out with the new update to many of the styles in 2014, I can.  This month I tried six different pairs of these jeans and ended up keeping four out of the six. 

These are the toothpicks I tried in order of preference:

1. Destructed Millers
2. Blacksmith Wash
3. Arcade Wash
4. Miller Wash (bought the talls and had them hemmed to a 28' inseam, but they are a bit big)
5. Mamba Black
6. Classic Rinse

I kept pairs 1-4 and returned 5& 6. The Mamba black pair may have worked but they felt a bit too tight in the waist and the coated denim part bothered me and felt awkward on me.  The Classic Rinse may look amazing on Rynetta of J.Crew is My Fave Store, but they were awful on me. They fit me too tightly in the legs and looked more like a legging than a jean. 

The good news is that if you have not tried them, you really should. The Millers are amazing and I would wear them every day if I could. I need to find a more grown up wash that fits like these. IF you all know of any that are comparable please let me know!

That's it for my month of pants. I'm linking up with Fran for Budgeting Bloggers as usual.

Thanks for stopping by! 

Style Budget Month 9: September

September

Spent

1. $51 at J. Crew: Tippi in brown & jeweled painter tee in gray. 

2. $33 J. Crew Factory Cap Toe Satin Pumps NEW on Poshmark 

3. $22 J. Crew Factory dot/ dash sweater

4. $75 to Anne for capris, shirt, and skirt (not shown) 

5. $11 groopdealz tassel necklace 

6. $50 Sam Eldman Blake ballet flats (not shown) 

7. $53 at Target leopard belt, bracelet, and Oxford color block Altuzarra blouse (not shown) 

8. $19 J. Crew stone necklace 

9. $50 J. Crew Factory: sweatshirt in Kiss and jeweled ballet flats in black

10. $12 leopard cafe capris from eBay 

11. $13 on groopdealz for replacement tortoise necklace (not shown) 

Spent= $389

Made on Poshmark = $301

$389- $301=

Total Spent= $88

Linking up with Fran as usual. 

Style Budget Month 5: May

Wow! It has been almost a month since I posted here. Sorry! When you see the items below you will think I spent the entire month shopping. Instead, I spent the entire month grading AP essays, senior portfolios, final exams, and now finishing up my semester grades. Sheesh!

On to the budget...

Is bad that I started May's budget on April 26th? I hope not. That combined with my Birthday ended up being a bad month. In fact, this may have been my worst month budget wise yet. Oddly, all my shopping was either the end of April or on my birthday weekend too. I basically went crazy with shopping on a few days this month and now my summer budget is at $0! At least I got some fun pieces that should keep me busy for a bit.

Here they are.

May Shopping

1 &2.  $16 for 2 necklaces on Groopdealz mint & white

3-5. $45 for three (used once) Tippi's on eBay for $45 for all, normally $80 each 

6. $19 for a NWT  J. Crew lace merino sweater via eBay instead of $98 retail 

7. $20 Ameernoor on Jane.com for necklace, Flower Lattice necklace retail $228

8-10. $72 at J. Crew Factory: $12 earrings, $12  hat,  $48 shoes 

11. $25 for NWT J. Crew navy tuxedo stripe cafe capris on eBay normally $89. 

12-15. $41 at Old Navy: 1 pair of jean shorts $16, a heather blue boat neck $4, boat neck navy tee $12, and a linen split neck tee $9

16. $13 at GAP for a fitted boyfriend Swiss dot top originally $55

[17-24 were Birthday gifts from myself & or husband. ]

17-19. $52 at J. Crew: $20Vintage cotton silk tee from $50, jeweled oxford Peter Pan boy shirt$40 instead of $110, side panel merino sweater $18 from $90 (paid some with rewards card) 

20. Out of print tee for $19.60 vs $28 (and for a good cause!) 

21 & 22. $28 for 2 Edith Marie necklaces, Trish and Goldie 

23.  $116 at the Kate Spade outlet: for Neda and Sophie

24.  $40 at J. Crew Factory for the Anya flats in blue suede

Total Spent = $486

Made:  $80 eBay + $260 Posh  =$340

Spent= $146

Wow! My total spent is really embarrassing! 

Here is a quick summary of the items. I have not yet worn the mint leaf necklace yet (#2), nor have I worn any of the new Tippi sweaters (3-6). I also haven't worn 17 from J.Crew yet either, but I love the soft grey color in person. Also, it is close to 100 degrees each day here in FL, so I can't even think about wearing wool.

I have gotten tons of wear out of the Anya suede flats (both pairs 10 &24). Those of you looking for shoes like the Cece flats, these are just as nice and maybe a bit wider. I've also worn the black vintage cotton silk back tee from J.Crew a ton, it is versatile enough to go from work to weekend for me.

I have worn both Edith Marie necklaces (21 & 22) a bunch since I got them and the prices and quality continue to please me. This was my second order and I will likely order again when I can.

I've worn all the ON items quite a bit, particularly the jean shorts and the split neck linen top and if you are looking for cooler weight summer items I would recommend them. I may buy more in the top as I just saw they are on sale for $11 today. I also got a crepe midi skirt when shopping with my mom that is not shown above that I adore. Check it out if you need something more conservative and cool for summer/work.

Linking up with Fran for Budgeting Bloggers.

Style Budget Month 4: April

Hello All, it is time for my monthly Budgeting Blogger post again. 

Here are the items I bought this month.

1-4. $63  all from J. Crew, scroll work necklace from $75, tuxedo tank from $88, Tippi in Turquoise from $79.50 (used a gift card for some of order), $18 for the merino tipped side panel v neck sweater from $89.50

5. $47 Green Cece's on eBay from $128 normally 

6.$25 tipped silk tee in windowpane J. Crew from $118

7. $25 tipped silk tee in diamond print from J. Crew from $118

8- 13.$114 on J. Crew Factory: stripe boat neck at $15 instead of $42, two Clare cardigans at $15 each instead of $55 each, camp shirt for $18 instead of $65, printed cotton button down for $22 instead of $65, polka dot popover for $22 instead of $70

14. $16 (including shipping cost) Edith Marie Necklace, The Amy

15. $31 Pre- Owned Gentle Souls Fortune Stella via eBay from $238 retail

I Spent $321 for the month of April.

However, I made money too. 

+328 on Poshmark +50 on eBay = Total Made $378

$378 Made- $321 spent =$57 Made for the month of April

If I paid retail prices for the items I would have spent a whopping $1198! By not paying retail prices for anything and shopping sales I managed to save $877. 

I am really happy with items 1-4 for this post. Of course, I'm a J. Crew addict, but these pieces are timeless, versatile, and all around amazing prices. Yes, I may have purchased a Tippi (Item 1) sweater (or two) every month this year. I just can't help myself. They are literally the best sweaters ever. I mean why wear anything else? Item 3, the tipped side panel merino sweater in poolside navy, was a surprise love for me. It is a baggy fit, but I felt comfortable with it and a pair of skinny jeans. I haven't worn the scroll-work necklace or the tuxedo tank, so that tells me they may get resold in the future. 

My main shoe purchase (item 5) for the month of April is a pair of green suede Cece flats from eBay, NIB. I paid $47 for them while they retail for $128 new. I also went up half a size in them to a 9.5. I don't own anything quite this color green, but I think the color will look nice with navy, which I seem to wear almost every day.  I have worn them twice already and am a fan of the fit and style.

Items 6 and 7 were not needed, but again a sale got me for 7 and then by chance an amazing J. Crew VPS was able to locate the windowpane tee when I thought for sure it was gone, and so I ended up with two of these. Yep. I have since worn both silk tops and I am complety enamored of them. I wil wear them year round and they are well worth the money. 

Then J. Crew Factory had a sale and Giltcity.com offered 25% off on top of that and I went a bit crazy shopping. Items 8-13 are all Factory items and the crazy part is I got them all for only $114!

Next, I heard about Edith Marie jewelry on Ginny's blog and again of Intsagram, so naturally I couldn't resist placing an order. I got one item to start but it is as fabulous as I imagine I will be back for more soon. I already have my eye on the tassel necklace after seeing both Ginny and Tara style it in amazing ways. 

The last item was a bid I wasn't sure if I'd get on eBay and with shipping I managed to score these Gentle Souls black pumps for $31! They retail for $238, so this felt like a good buy.  They have yet to arrive so I can't attest to the fit and style at this time, but I have tried the brand before and they have been incredibly comfy and well made.

Alright, well this month was not really an improvement over last month. If anything I spent just as much and made less. I feel bad that I was not able to keep more of a profit this month and I really need to work hard to make money for our family as the summer is quickly approaching. As a teacher that means almost three whole months without getting paid! Also, next month is my birthday month and that seems like a good month to take it easy on the spending.

I'm linking up with Franish of Budgeting Bloggers as usual here.

Style Budget Month 2: February

The quotation "Neither a borrower nor a lender be" is said to Laertes, by his father Polonius, in the play Hamlet and this quote is one that has come to my mind often this month. One because I'm teaching the play at school and two because I have a ton of outstanding debt. Largely this is due to the excessive cost of tuition for grad school, but my shopping habit (coupled with the unfortunate teacher salary) certainly hasn't helped this issue.

That being said, I am working on changing, and I am using this blog to hold myself accountable. I want to sell more and when I do shop I want it to be for quality items that will get worn. If something is languishing away unworn in my real closet- chances are- I will soon be listing it in my Poshmark closet (link above) or I will re sell it on eBay. 

This month I did much better than last month. In fact this month I actually made money. I also was able to go into Target and Old Navy and I did not shop! I'm pretty pleased to report this months spending. I've also updated my format to now show the items I bought with the prices I paid, plus shipping costs. This way I will have visuals of the items to help remember them and to see if they actually get worn. Here are the images. 

Five items bought  at the start of the month for a total of $122 spent. $62 on Posh and the rest J. Crew Factory. However, then J. Crew had to get me with a big 50% off sale and I spent a bit more, but since I had a rewards card it wasn't THAT much more.

1. Charley Merino Sweater in Grey: Normally $69.50, paid $21
2. Plaid Boy Shirt: Normally $88, paid $32
3. Navy Skimmer Pants: Normally $59.50, paid $24 UPDATE: RETURNED= +19 back to budget (after return shipping)
4. Factory Classic Printed Cotton Button Down Shirt: Normally $64.50, paid $12
5. Cafe Capris: Normally $89.50, paid $30

6. Pear Bracelet : $70, paid $12.50

7. Pack Green Tippi Sweater: $79.50, paid $22.50

8. Tortoise Cece Ballet flats on Posh: $138, paid $30

9. Multistripe Popover in Azalea Guava : $78, paid $22

If I paid retail prices for these items I would have spent $736.50 and instead I spent only $194.  And since I actually made money this month I'm not feeling too bad about spending. I need to work to not BUY anything, but I'm taking baby steps here.

This month on Posh I made a total of $319, so subtract my $194 that I spent and I actually made $125 this month!

I'm also linking up with one of my favorite blogger role models this month, so here is her button/link for you to investigate the lady who came up with the budgeting blogger idea first.

Coming up next:  I am planning to work on a post detailing a comparison (and a review) on my favorite pants the Café Capris (retail- shown bottom left above) and the Skimmer pants from Factory (top right).