Welcome to another edition of Money Smart Fashion's Spending Diary. Honestly, I did a horrible job keeping track of my spending this week. Luckily, Ely from Ripped Nylon was kind enough to pick up my slack and share her spending diary with us!
Hello my Frugal Fashionistas! I'm 23 years old, pursuing a Master's degree, living at home and working part time as an intern at a local firm.
*disclaimer* This is a slightly warped projection of my spending, I did have a birthday and mother's day in the same week! Here goes...
Sunday: Gifts($71.96) for Mom, the BF and his Mom, Grandma, and Sister.
Monday: Had a lovely Thai dinner ($18.99) w/my BFF.
Tuesday: Sick, stayed home, miserable!
Wednesday: Still sick, I went to the mall an hour before closing time to avoid the crowd and find a gift ($35.29) for my cousin's birthday and recent graduation. Also picked up a summer dress ($19.99) I promised my youngest sister and gave in to the temptation of American Apparel's Le Sac dress and even got an alternate Le String, ($48.00).
Thursday:Still home and sicktastic, bought food for the middle child. ($10.54)
Friday: For $26.00, bought a domain name and host space to get my online portfolio rolling. (and yes, still home, can you believe it?!)
Saturday:($17.00) on rings for Mom & I; My cousin's grad/birthday party is Sunday (tomorrow) and we were lacking essential accessories... ok, I confess... we just couldn't resist! ($24.00) for Papa John's when my parents abandoned my sister and I in the house.
Total Spent: $271.77
Thoughts: Nearly $300 and almost nothing to show for it! I know for a fact that I habitually spend most of my money on other people, but this week was pretty out of control in that category. I obviously need to stop overextending myself when I have grad school to pay for! I also have to cut down on spoiling myself, which shouldn't be too hard because while I was still in school I wasn't even making weekly what I spent here. I like the idea of stepping up and taking control, my savings are next to nothing and I'd like to move out by the end of the year, so this was pretty eye-opening as to how loosely I handle my hard-earned money. I feel like this is both empowering and humbling, and will definitely keep this going!
Great Job Ely! I think that your biggest area of opportunity to maximize your savings would be your spending on others. Set a (realistic) budget, I would recommend maybe 5-7% of your monthly take home pay, for the amount of money you think is reasonable to spend on others. By keeping track throughout the month you will know when its time to say no. Also, its seems you may be a bit of an impulsive buyer. Take a minute to think before buying those impulse items. Maybe even do a lap around the store or mall before purchasing to make sure you truly want that item.
If you want to learn more about Ely and her amazing eye for fashion head on over to her blog Ripped Nylon. I always love her interesting architectural finds. Thank you so much for sharing your spending this week!
As always, I am always looking for lovely ladies to feature for this weekly post. If you are interested e-mail me at grace.croshaw@gmail.com.
I'm so glad I found your blog. I'm a total shopaholic that needs to figure out a better way to budget for myself, so it's nice for me to read what other gals do. I agree, I tent to overspend especially on others, and somehow it figures in my head that gifts don't count. I also somehow convinced myself that Ebay purchases don't count either - ack.
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