September 2014 Clothing Budget

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This month, I realized my school’s basic (free) health insurance plan provides more than enough services for my needs so I’ve decided to add the $50 I was planning to set aside for insurance to my monthly clothing budget resulting in $200/month. Also, in my August budget part 2 post, I gave myself a lump sum of $350 for the next 3 months to buy winter gear, and I’ll be including those purchases in this post as well.

Here’s what I got this month:

September 2014 purchases

Old Navy:

• Women’s The Boyfriend Cropped Skinny Jeans in next day ($34.94 $12.61, some colors currently on sale at $11.97 not including additional sale discounts)
  I love these jeans and these are actually my second pair. The petite and short lengths are actually the perfect cropped length of petites which is normally hard to find since regular cropped jeans tend to hit me a little past the ankle. These run large/have a lot of stretch and I got both pairs in 2P (I’m 5’2″, normally a 26-27 in jeans). The thigh area stretches out after a couple wears and I would’ve sized down to a 0P but the calf area of the 2p are already a little snug on my man calves.
• Women’s Sweater-Knit Infinity Scarf in go pinot go ($18.94 $12.61)
  They had a similar style last year that I didn’t buy and ended up regretting it major time (Tammy got one and I wanted to steal it from her) so when I saw this one, I snatched it up when there was a discount. The dark/almost maroon red is so beautiful.
• Women’s Crossbody Bag in saucy red ($29.94 $16.96)
  Got this bag in Saucy Red and Bluetiful since both colors looked amazing online. I’ve been looking for a small red or blue bag and hoped these would both work out. The Bluetiful bag ended up being more royal blue/creamy blue than I liked so I’ll be returning it. But the red one, I’m keeping. Gorgeous color (more of a rich darker red than a maroon) and so many compartments and it’s a great size.
  

Macys:

• DKNY Jeans Cropped Sweatpants in mood indigo ($49.50 $18.32, currently $14.99)
  Added these onto my order to get free shipping and had every intention of returning them but ended up keeping them. I’ve been looking for a more loose-fit type of pant so I can wear leggings underneath for winter. These didn’t make my thighs look too wide (a problem I have with these more drape-y pants) and they’re really comfy and are a length on me).
• Maidenform Comfort Devotion Demi Bra in ivory dot (not pictured, $40.00 $15.89)
  Threw out a few old bras and needed replacements. These were on sale for $15 a few weeks back, and the black one I have is so comfy I got another one in a more nude color combo. I couldn’t find a photo of the ivory dot one without a model wearing it so I didn’t include a picture because it feels weird to me to include a picture of another person’s bust without their approval/knowledge.

Uniqlo:

• Women’s Lambswool Blend Crew Neck Sweater in 34 brown ($22.90)
  I can’t remember the last time I bought a legit clothing item (not including Everlane!) at full price but at just under $23, this sweater is not breaking the bank. I scoured the web for thicker sweaters at a price I was willing to pay (the maximum I’m usually willing to spend on a sweater is $25, unless I’m completely in love with it). But most sweaters seemed either made of thinner cotton or made of warmer materials and over $60. But this sweater is so, so great. I’m surprisingly not too bothered by itchy materials but more sensitive people might want to avoid this one since it does prickle a little. Fits TTS (I got a small) and it’s so comfy. Waiting for Uniqlo to restock other colors in small so I can pick up a few more.

Everlane:

Oh Everlane, you’re both the bane and light of my monetary existence. Never change.

• Women’s Cotton U-neck in huckleberry ($15)
• Women’s Silk Point Collar in pine ($78 $32.41, used credit)
  My first silk purchase! It’s a beautiful color and such nice quality. I now know why Tammy’s addicted to their silks.
• Women’s Drape Tank in navy ($24 $9.97, used credit, now sold out)
  A little large and long on me but I’m going to make it work. I’ve wanted a frat boy/bro style tank for a while and this seems to be a similar cut haha

Bing Bang NYC:

Lucky Mag has these daily deals where certain stores have huge discounts (usually 50% off) on certain (sometimes all!) items in the store. Here’s the link if you want more info about it or want to sign up for the emails. Been lusting for some cute nice jewelry so I splurged a little. They offered free shipping on $50 which is why I added on the earrings. Lol excuses.

• Tiny Triangle Ring in yellow (gold plated) ($58 $29)
  Need Supply Co. had  these cute oxidized tiny triangle rings a year or two ago but I didn’t buy them at the time and oh man, I’ve wanted them ever since. This ring is pretty much the same design but without the oxidized silver option. But no matter; still cute! Decided to get my first gold colored piece of jewelry. I hope it’ll work out okay.
• Lightning Bolt Studs in silver ($42 $21, rose gold version pictured)
  Because they remind me of Harry Potter! And I’d love to wear these for Halloween 🙂

Monthly clothing budget: $150 -> $200

Spent: $383.40 $206.59

Not bad. A little over my budget, but that’s mainly due to my last minute impulse jewelry buy. I haven’t received them yet but I bet they’re adorable and worth it, especially since my jewelry collection is pretty lacking. Everything else I got were (mostly) new items that filled a hole in my wardrobe so that’s good. I’ve been trying to not buy things I already have multiples of, like I already have a lot of long skinny jeans so I decided to invest in loose fitting pairs of pants or cropped jeans (especially since stores are trying to get rid of their summer inventory).

Now onto the winter items!

Winter item purchases

Trekt.com:

• Marmot Montreal Jacket in olive ($285 $145.35, old season’s version sold out, linked to current season’s version)
  So fluffy. So green. I love this jacket. I like to think I look like a cute little green tea marshmallow when I wear this. 700-fill power down insulation and I had just enough room for layering, too. Can’t wait to properly test this jacket out. I’ve also realized all my weather related jackets (parka, rain jacket and now this) are all different shades of olive green. #ofcourse

Shoes.com:

• Sorel Women’s 1964 Premium Leather Boot in cappuccino ($139.95 $118.96)
  Definitely run a little large. I usually wear a women’s 7M for shoes that require socks but since at that time, I couldn’t find 6.5’s or 7’s available like anywhere (except sorel.com but I refuse to pay tax and shipping), I ordered a size 6M. These fit snugly on my non-socked feet but I’m hoping these will stretch out a little. If not, I feel like wearing these with thin socks will be pretty warm too. I’d say a 6.5M would’ve been perfect. Found it in 6.5M at Dick’s Sporting Goods but I’m too lazy to go through the trouble of returning this pair since they do fit. Gosh darn it.

Uniqlo:

• Women’s Ultra Light Down Jacket in black ($69.90 $59.90, old season’s version sold out, linked to current season’s version on sale at $59.90)
  About two days after I got these jacket, the old season’s jackets were marked down to $49.90 and the current season’s jackets were marked down to $59.90. How annoying. I emailed Uniqlo on Monday (9/23) asking about a price adjustment on the item but it’s been four days and I haven’t heard back from them at all, despite getting an email that same day saying they’d get back to me within a business day. I sized up to a M since I wanted to give my boobs more room. It’s a tad large but will be perfect for layering and it’s really light weight and comfortable. final verdict: love the jacket, iffy customer service.

Target:

• Wool socks (not pictured, $8.48)

Winter gear budget: $350/3mo

Spent: $502.85 $332.69

Left: $17.31

Well. That didn’t go how I expected. However, I did knock off many of the items on my original winter item list except the gloves and rain boots. New plan then: I’ll look for gloves for less than $17.31 and if I do end up getting rain boots, I’ll take that amount out of my monthly budget of whatever month that happens to be. Sounds reasonable, doesn’t it? Hopefully it’ll work.

Hope you enjoyed this post! I expanded more about why I got certain things and why I decided to keep them since a list of items isn’t exactly the most helpful thing in the world.

Lastly, I’d like to thank anyone who’s used my Everlane referral link to buy something. It means a lot! Also, I haven’t had time to update my old Everlane review posts but I wanted to give a heads up that they’ve currently upped the referral credit from $15 to $25.

Again, linking up with other budgeting bloggers over at Franish. 🙂

-amy