I just saw that there were a few comments on a couple of my lasts posts. Thank you for missing me! I really do appreciate it and it motivates me to soldier on.
Just wanted to give a short update on life in general. In 2 weeks we'll be dropping my son off at college. He is going to a very small private military college close to home. However, he'll be living there and we won't have any contact with him for six weeks. They have intense training during those weeks...sort of like boot camp, and there is a ceremony when he is finished. He's excited, but I'm in denial. I am going to miss that boy.
I will also miss the freedom we've had with our finances. Not that we are well to do by any means, and we've always kept a budget, but now there will be additional expenses for his schooling, as well as saving more each month for tuition. After scholarship money and a loan, we will be paying about $15,000/year. We have withdrawn about $10,000 of that from his college savings, which were in the form of mutual funds and stocks, and the other $5,000 to $7,000 will be coming out of our pockets.
So begins a period of cutting even further back on spending.
I recall that last September, my husband and I agreed to stop spending so much money each month on things like eating out (and clothes) and we did well. I didn't feel deprived, because aside from an "allowance" of $140 every two weeks, I was also allowed to spend $150 on the credit card once a month. I managed to stay within those limits for most of the year. It really only went to pot when my son graduated high school (party), we got our bathroom done and I accessorized it, then we went on vacation, and then did a few things this summer, and spent money on college supplies, and well, we haven't saved a dime in months. We both feel like we've been hemorrhaging cash.
We will probably have one more expensive dinner out the night before we drop my so off at school. I've tasted the food in the dining hall at school, and it's not good, so we'll send him off with the leftover taste of prime rib in his mouth.
I'm not sure if I mentioned that I have a dog sitting business on the side, and that has netted us several thousand dollars over the years. This summer looks to be pretty lucrative when it's all said and done, and that helps. It usually provides the spending money for our vacation each year. It is hard work, and my rugs and yard have taken a beating, but I have a bunch of people who rely on me to watch their dogs when they go away, and I love the pooches I do watch. Still, I am grateful at the end of the summer when vacation season is over and I can give my house a good cleaning.
Anyway, in two weeks, when my elder son is gone, my husband and I will have to sit down and go over our budget and set limits. Somehow, it doesn't seem as hard to do in the fall as it does in the summer, perhaps because I am more satisfied with my fall/winter wardrobe than I usually am with spring/summer. Oh well.
Showing posts with label money. Show all posts
Showing posts with label money. Show all posts
Monday, July 28, 2014
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Oh Those Clothes...
The clothing dilemma. It haunts me. I am not doing well in this department, despite the fact that it was the impetus for my minimalizing.
About four years ago I got heavily into fashion, and as a result, spent more money on clothes than I ever had before. I wanted to be stylish and up to date in what I wore. Call it a midlife crisis. Also, as my kids got older and cost less money (no more daycare, etc.), I had more disposable income. So I started buying from higher end retailers like Talbots and Macy's (yes, that is high end to me), and I would order with abandon when Talbots had one of its outlet clearance sales. I got many pieces of clothing for under $20. My argument was that you couldn't really be picky, but hey, you got quality and a name brand, right? Never mind the fact that they were final sale, and many of the items I got just never fit me properly or were too bulky or whatever. They were Talbots and they were cheap.
Even when I started my new job 1-1/2 years ago, I felt even more justified in my spending because I was now working in a "corporate" environment. I felt important. Women wore skirts and nice pants and even suits. The guys all wore ties. I HAD to keep up. Also, I work with a blithering idiot, so I rewarded myself to lunchtime trips to TJ Maxx (right across the street from the office) two or three times a week because "I deserved it."
Fast forward a year and we're looking at college costs for my son. He's applied to mostly private schools (or out-of-state state schools) which may cost $40,000-$50,000 per year. I'll write more about that in another post, but suffice to say that I could no longer spend like I was. In August, my husband and I had a serious conversation about reigning all of our spending, and by that time, I had given enough thought to minimalism that I was up for the challenge.
I won't say that I haven't spent money on clothes. I have. But I have been filling gaps in my closet and bought things that were only white, black, or gray to get me through the winter. Those are the colors that EVERYBODY wears at work and they are easy. I didn't have enough in my closet, so I limited myself to classic pieces that would go with everything.
This endeavor has been successful, but I kind of fell off the wagon this past weekend. I am a big fan of the Jockey Person to Person line because their clothes are crazy high quality and made for women. Their blouses and pants are cut for the regular woman's body and I love them. However, I won't buy them full price, because that's just a bit out of my price range. So I buy a few pieces during their semiannual sale, and on Sunday, I went to my rep's house to try something on for size and to place an order for three items that I very carefully selected, after much thought and consideration. Still, I ended up buying four additional pieces of her sample items too. Granted, they are deeply discounted because a bunch of women like myself have tried them on countless times, but I don't really need any of them.
And yet, and yet, I WANT them. They are basic pieces that will go with everything I have and they will last me for years. I treat all of my clothes with kid gloves now, and I can get three or four seasons out of an Old Navy t-shirt that cost me $2.99.
I need to give myself a little credit here though. The way I've purchased my clothes has changed -- I only pay in cash, try everyting on, make sure it all goes with everything else, and are higher in quality. I no longer buy clothes because they were a good deal. Because we all know that if you don't need them, then they're no deal at all.
Anyway, today I wore another three pieces from my selection for Project333, so even though they aren't catalogued yet as such, they are still part of the experiment. When I finally move things around in my closet, I'll post a picture.
What is your philosophy on clothing purchases? If you changed your spending habits, how long did it take before you stopped really wanting to buy, buy, buy?
About four years ago I got heavily into fashion, and as a result, spent more money on clothes than I ever had before. I wanted to be stylish and up to date in what I wore. Call it a midlife crisis. Also, as my kids got older and cost less money (no more daycare, etc.), I had more disposable income. So I started buying from higher end retailers like Talbots and Macy's (yes, that is high end to me), and I would order with abandon when Talbots had one of its outlet clearance sales. I got many pieces of clothing for under $20. My argument was that you couldn't really be picky, but hey, you got quality and a name brand, right? Never mind the fact that they were final sale, and many of the items I got just never fit me properly or were too bulky or whatever. They were Talbots and they were cheap.
Even when I started my new job 1-1/2 years ago, I felt even more justified in my spending because I was now working in a "corporate" environment. I felt important. Women wore skirts and nice pants and even suits. The guys all wore ties. I HAD to keep up. Also, I work with a blithering idiot, so I rewarded myself to lunchtime trips to TJ Maxx (right across the street from the office) two or three times a week because "I deserved it."
Fast forward a year and we're looking at college costs for my son. He's applied to mostly private schools (or out-of-state state schools) which may cost $40,000-$50,000 per year. I'll write more about that in another post, but suffice to say that I could no longer spend like I was. In August, my husband and I had a serious conversation about reigning all of our spending, and by that time, I had given enough thought to minimalism that I was up for the challenge.
I won't say that I haven't spent money on clothes. I have. But I have been filling gaps in my closet and bought things that were only white, black, or gray to get me through the winter. Those are the colors that EVERYBODY wears at work and they are easy. I didn't have enough in my closet, so I limited myself to classic pieces that would go with everything.
This endeavor has been successful, but I kind of fell off the wagon this past weekend. I am a big fan of the Jockey Person to Person line because their clothes are crazy high quality and made for women. Their blouses and pants are cut for the regular woman's body and I love them. However, I won't buy them full price, because that's just a bit out of my price range. So I buy a few pieces during their semiannual sale, and on Sunday, I went to my rep's house to try something on for size and to place an order for three items that I very carefully selected, after much thought and consideration. Still, I ended up buying four additional pieces of her sample items too. Granted, they are deeply discounted because a bunch of women like myself have tried them on countless times, but I don't really need any of them.
And yet, and yet, I WANT them. They are basic pieces that will go with everything I have and they will last me for years. I treat all of my clothes with kid gloves now, and I can get three or four seasons out of an Old Navy t-shirt that cost me $2.99.
I need to give myself a little credit here though. The way I've purchased my clothes has changed -- I only pay in cash, try everyting on, make sure it all goes with everything else, and are higher in quality. I no longer buy clothes because they were a good deal. Because we all know that if you don't need them, then they're no deal at all.
Anyway, today I wore another three pieces from my selection for Project333, so even though they aren't catalogued yet as such, they are still part of the experiment. When I finally move things around in my closet, I'll post a picture.
What is your philosophy on clothing purchases? If you changed your spending habits, how long did it take before you stopped really wanting to buy, buy, buy?
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