January No Spend Challenge — One Week Check-In

January 9, 2019

For the month of January I’m doing a no spend challenge. For the entire month, I’m trying to only shop for the essentials and nothing else. For the rules of the challenge, check out this post.

Here’s how I did for the first week.

I’ve mostly been able to stick to my goal of only shopping for the essentials, except for last Saturday when I got my hair done. I’d actually forgotten about the appointment until the salon called to confirm, and I almost canceled it, because haircuts don’t fit under the rules of the challenge.

But I didn’t.

Why?

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January No Spend Challenge

January 2, 2019

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Image from: pixabay.com

Now that the holiday season is over and the new year is here, January is the perfect time to embark on a no-spend challenge. By allowing yourself to take a break from shopping and spending, you give both your wallet and your impulse drives a chance to reset themselves. Not shopping for one month forces you to use what you have, instead of focusing on what you want to buy.

The rules for a no-spend challenge are very simple. For one month (a mere 31-days for the month of January) you simply don’t buy anything that isn’t necessary for you to live.

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Merry Shop-mas Or Merry Christ-mas?

December 21, 2018

“Unique gift ideas.”

“Personalized gift ideas.”

“Thoughtful gift ideas.”

With Christmas only a few days away, both stores and bloggers are pushing their last minute gift ideas with a feverish passion.

In turn, the pressure to buy the perfect gift can send one’s stress levels skyrocketing to the top.

Especially if you’re a last minute shopper.

The tradition of giving gifts at Christmas is an old one. Depending on whom you ask, you may hear that is first began with pagan rituals held during the winter, or during the winter solstice in ancient Rome, or from the the Christianity custom associated with the day of Jesus’s birth.

Regardless of why you exchange gifts during the holiday season, it’s important to remember one thing above all else.

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One Top For 3 Types Of Holiday Parties

December 5, 2018

Red Lace Top

Gibson Glam Squad Shaeffer Lace Top

The holiday season is the perfect time of year for dressing up in something a little extra special. Three of the most common holiday parties I attend during the holiday season are for work, for friends, and for family, and each party has its own dress code.

While 3 different holiday parties is a great excuse to buy 3 different holiday outfits, I prefer to stretch my dollar further and buy only ONE top that I remix 3 different ways.

Shine, sparkle, and lace are all stylish options that look festive for the holiday season and can be remixed into different outfits. Here’s the 1 top I’m planning to style 3 different ways for the holidays.

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Holiday Shopping Tips To Keep You On Budget

November 23, 2018

Gift box

Black Friday, the day after Thanksgiving, is often considered the start of the Christmas shopping season. It can be easy to become overwhelmed, with what to buy, when the stores are shouting “sale, sale, sale” everyday from now til December 25.

Here are a few tips to help keep you focused and on budget when shopping this holiday season:

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The Cost Of A Fall Capsule Wardrobe

November 15, 2018

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A capsule wardrobe is when you take a select portion of your wardrobe and wear only those pieces for a specific length of time. For myself, my daily outfits are picked out from a seasonal capsule wardrobe and, since I live in a four season state, I sport my capsule wardrobe for 3 months before switching to a new capsule wardrobe.

Our fall season this year has included a wide range of temperatures, daytime highs have been has warm as ~70F and as cool as 32F. With such dramatic swings in temperatures, I’ve had to be careful to ensure that my fall capsule wardrobe included pieces that would work well for both cool and warm days.

Here’s everything included in my fall capsule wardrobe for 2018:

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Stop Impulse Shopping Fast — 4 Questions To Ask Yourself, Before You Buy

October 25, 2018

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Making unplanned purchases—impulse shopping—is one of the areas that a shopaholic struggles to contain every single day. It’s also the apple in the eye of business owners and marketers.

Impulse buying is an important sales driver of businesses and they spend a lot of time and money to make sure consumers that enter their brick and mortar stores, or online websites, do exactly that. Free shipping, sales and promotions, well designed websites, and mobile optimization are all methods employed to encourage consumers to buy something.

With so many methods carefully crafted to get you to buy, buy, buy, how do you stop yourself from making an impulse purchase when you are in the heat of the moment?

Here are 4 questions to ask yourself:

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Why Celebrities Look Good In Their Clothes—And How You Can Too

September 12, 2018

Jennifer-Aniston-Street-Style

Jennifer Aniston is known to regularly tailor her t-shirts and jeans | Image Source: Pacific Coast News Online and popsugar.com

Celebrities are often decked out in expensive clothing from the latest fashion collections, which certainly helps them look good in their clothes. But there’s 1 secret to getting any outfit to look just right—tailoring.

Speak to any personal stylist to the stars and they’ll tell you, in order for a star to get that “I look fabulous” look, regardless of their outfit, every piece of clothing they wear—jeans, t-shirts, shorts, skirts, dresses, etc.—will have been tailored for a perfect fit.

Here are 4 ways that you can look good in your clothes too:

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Update Your Fall Wardrobe In Two Simple Steps

August 31, 2018

Gap outfit

Gap Classic Bomber Jacket | Gap Textured Knit Tank Top | Gap High Rise Wide Straight Jeans | Gap Flat Mules

Back to school shopping is not just for children and young adults returning to school. Grown-ups who have already graduated from the classroom to a daily commute can also use this time of year to give their wardrobe a burst of fresh air and a jolt of new energy.

Updating a wardrobe doesn’t have to cost a lot of money, or require bags and bags of new clothes. You can update your fall wardrobe in two simple steps.

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Small Wardrobe Victories

August 13, 2018

Rockport Gabby

My 1 pair of sandals for summer | Rockport Gabby Lace Up Sandal in Taupe

When you’re a shopaholic who is trying to change your habits and behavior, the end goal of being able to shop smarter may seem years and year away. And this may be true. For someone who has to battle decades of out of control behavior, this change is not going to happen over night.

Setbacks can and do occur as one walks along the path of a life shaping change. That’s why it is so important to set not only a goal for your final destination—stop excessive shopping—but to also set smaller goals along the way. Goal setting allows you to have both a long-term vision, and a short-term destination. Through effective goal setting, you can focus on the things you want to change in smaller bite sized chunks.

One thing that goes hand-in-hand with goal setting, is celebrating small victories for your wardrobe. If you are struggling to measure your success, perhaps some of my goals will jumpstart your thinking.

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