Wednesday, August 28, 2013

Budgeting Bloggers ~ August

Hey everyone!  It's time for Budgeting Bloggers!  Sorry I've been MIA most of this month...  School starting and a(nother not my fault) car accident have been a huge time suck.  I've still been working part-time on the weekends on top of that all, so I've had very little down time to blog.  That said, I'm super happy to be back, though, and share this month's purchases.  I feel like I got a little bit of everything this month, but I've already gotten some good use out of a lot of my purchases!  I apologize for not having as many links / pics as usual...  I just didn't have the time and wanted to go on and get my post up!

J.Crew Factory Tiny Dot Tee - $16
Factory tiny dot tee
One thing I love about the J.Crew Factory store is that they bring back patterns that have previously been in their retail stores.  Does anyone remember the sweater and scarf in this last year?  I was super excited to find it in a tee and even more super excited when they ran a half price tee sale!

Groop Dealz Rosette Necklace - $8

These necklaces have definitely been growing on me, so when Groop Dealz ran a special for $7.99 I decided I needed to just go for it and get one.  I also bought a turquoise one for my mom, which I plan to steal borrow.  

Target Sandals - $8

The brown version of these have been all over the blogs and Instagram this summer and I've been wearing mine a ton.  My other (non-Nike) black sandals have seen better days, so these were a great addition to my summer sandal wardrobe!

Abercrombie Tee - $13

Sometimes a girl just needs some casual clothes...  And gets sucked in by promos.  Even though this was kind of an impulse buy (I went in for the baseball cap and to look for stuff for the 'lil bro), I do really like this tee for those days when I want to be dressed down, but not wear a schlumpy t-shirt.

Abercrombie Baseball Caps - $10 & $5

I've found myself wearing baseball caps a lot on weekends and to the gym and decided that I wanted another cute baseball cap that *gasp* wasn't a K-State hat.  With the coupons and promos that Abercrombie was running a few weeks back I decided this was a good opportunity to grab a few cute ones!

Gap Shirt Dress - $20
Image via Gap
After staying out of Gap during July in anticipation for their Friends & Family sale, I'd had my eye on a few items.  You might remember that I bought a bright pink version of this dress back in the Spring.  This was my first day of school dress and I felt very cute and teacher-y in it!

Gap Scarf - $13
Image via Gao
I have a serious scarf hoarding problem.  I will probably need rehab soon.  I may need to make a goal not to buy scarves for a month.

Gap Skirt - $26

I really enjoy wearing dresses and skirts to school when the weather is warm enough.  Remember how I posted about how I don't do pencil skirts? I was super happy to find this skirt, but then crushed (and surprised) when it was too short for work.  I went up a size, but to be honest, it's too big in the waist (perfect length, though) and I may take it back.  It's so darn cute, so I may explore some options in getting it altered to actually fit.

Monogram Necklace - $10

I've been really wanting to jump onto the monogram bandwagon lately, but most that I saw online were a little more than I wanted to pay.  I found some initial necklaces at our awesome accessory store, Versona, and thought this would be a cheap and easy way to see if I like this trend and if a more expensive version might be worth it someday.

Old Navy Diva Skinny Ankle Pants - $35

I very very VERY rarely pay full price for anything at Old Navy, but when I found these super dark "denim" trouser skinnies I decided they weren't worth the risk waiting for a sale.  I have a really hard time finding pants for work, so I was super happy that these fit and are a nice alternative to black pants.  I'm tempted to go back for some more colors!

Total = $164

Not too bad!  The dress pants were kind of a last minute purchase, but still fit within my budget for the most part.  While I did get some items that are more on the casual side, I also managed to get some good items for school.

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September Budget Plan

I have my 10 year (!) high school reunion and a wedding on the same day this month, so I decided that would probably be a good reason to buy a new dress.  I've had some extra income recently and am thinking I will allow myself a splurge or two during the Labor Day weekend sales.  I tend to be an emotional shopper and also a person that rewards myself through shopping.  Other than that, I am going to try to save a good chunk of this month's budget for a trip out of town with my mom that I am planning on in early October.  I hope to hit some outlets (J.Crew, Banana, Gap, Michael Kors maybe?) as well as a few other stores (J.Crew & Loft) that we don't have here.  Speaking of Loft, we're getting one here in October!  I'm so happy that I'll have that store 5 minutes away and not 2 1/2 hours away!  Loft can be hit or miss for me, but having one nearby excites me a lot because I know that they can have some amazing in-store sales!

2 comments:

  1. YAY for Loft opening soon! It's also hit or miss for me, but there are some great deals to be found. We are getting outlets this fall, and I am SO EXCITED to have outlet shopping 15 minutes from my house (instead of 3 hours). It might be trouble, but I think it will be awesome.

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    1. I wish they would put some good outlets near here... KC and OKC both have good ones, but that's a good 2 1/2 hour drive! I've had a lot of good success at the Loft Outlet and the J.Crew Factory is one of my favorite stores right now! I'm planning on hitting those up in a month or so when I get out of town!

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