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).

Style Budget Month 1: January

For a resolution of sorts, I am now going to track and control my fashion related spending. I want to limit myself to no more than $100 spent on clothing, shoes, accessories per month. However, a blogger friend pointed out that I could use Posh and eBay as a loophole. I am applying that principle here. I have created some photos to assist with the budget blog. I'm also hoping to track how the money was spent and to recall if items were worth the $$. The background image on the first picture is the velvet School Boy blazer. It came as a gift from my dad this month and I am debating what to do with it. Also, in the following picture post the unaccounted money from post one was spent at Target or on eBay. The two main retailers that tempted me to spend this month were J. Crew (and Factory) and Old Navy. Without further ado, (thanks Meghan), here are the details:

$192 at J. Crew for six items. All of which I love (the shoes I'm obsessing over), but the lace blouse I'm unsure of the length and the military shirt is quite thick.

$66 at Old Navy, which was more originally but the puffer vest and leggings have been returned. Yoga pants are my work out staple and these were needed to replace older pairs. 

Overall, I could have done worse. But certainly if I can quit spending I will be doing much better. This is step one and here it goes...

Total spent for the month after balancing out with eBay and Poshmark sales =$67!