How to afford your obsession:)
Yesterday I went to the book signing for Kathryn Finney's new book,
How to Be a Budget Fashionista: The Ultimate Guide to Looking Fabulous For Less. Kathryn is the creator of www.thebudgetfashionista.com and she lives up to exactly what the title states. I was speaking to her about where I worked and right off she acknowledged the outlet store where she shops:) It is nice to know that someone does exactly what they specialize in, i.e. shops for discounts:)
How to Be a Budget Fashionista: The Ultimate Guide to Looking Fabulous For Less. Kathryn is the creator of www.thebudgetfashionista.com and she lives up to exactly what the title states. I was speaking to her about where I worked and right off she acknowledged the outlet store where she shops:) It is nice to know that someone does exactly what they specialize in, i.e. shops for discounts:)
Kathryn has been traveling across the country sharing personal shopping stories and rules to shop by. In the Houston Chronicle on June 23rd, 2006 she gave ten rules to shop by.
Shopping Tips from the budget fashionista
1. Stop buying stuff just because it's on sale. Even a $10 sweater is expensive if you don't wear it. "I don't buy something that I don't love," Finney says. "It takes such discipline to do." The result, she says, is a closet of fewer, better clothes -- every piece of which you can't wait to wear. "You'll actually want to get dressed in the morning," she says.
2 Bargains aren't always good values. Finney calculates the "cost-per-wear" of anything she buys.
By doing this, she figures a classic Burberry trench coat for the bargain-basement price (by Burberry standards) of $450 was a better purchase than a $26 Isaac Mizrahi shirt from Target. She estimates she'll wear the trench about 750 times; the shirt about a dozen. The trench only costs about 60 cents per wear, compared to $2.17 for the trendy shirt.
3 To keep spending in check, Finney buys Visa gift cards in set amounts before shopping trips and leaves the rest of the plastic at home. "Once that card is finished, it's over," she says. "It's time to stop shopping."
4 Limit your clothing and accessories budget to no more than what you're able to sock away in savings each month -- after paying all basic expenses. Finney's fashion budget is about $200-$300 per month, and she also saves at least that amount.
5 Follow a 70-30 rule: 70 percent of your wardrobe should be classic pieces, 30 percent trendy items. This not only makes good fashion sense, she says, but it saves money when only 30 percent of your wardrobe gets recycled as the trends change.
1. Stop buying stuff just because it's on sale. Even a $10 sweater is expensive if you don't wear it. "I don't buy something that I don't love," Finney says. "It takes such discipline to do." The result, she says, is a closet of fewer, better clothes -- every piece of which you can't wait to wear. "You'll actually want to get dressed in the morning," she says.
2 Bargains aren't always good values. Finney calculates the "cost-per-wear" of anything she buys.
By doing this, she figures a classic Burberry trench coat for the bargain-basement price (by Burberry standards) of $450 was a better purchase than a $26 Isaac Mizrahi shirt from Target. She estimates she'll wear the trench about 750 times; the shirt about a dozen. The trench only costs about 60 cents per wear, compared to $2.17 for the trendy shirt.
3 To keep spending in check, Finney buys Visa gift cards in set amounts before shopping trips and leaves the rest of the plastic at home. "Once that card is finished, it's over," she says. "It's time to stop shopping."
4 Limit your clothing and accessories budget to no more than what you're able to sock away in savings each month -- after paying all basic expenses. Finney's fashion budget is about $200-$300 per month, and she also saves at least that amount.
5 Follow a 70-30 rule: 70 percent of your wardrobe should be classic pieces, 30 percent trendy items. This not only makes good fashion sense, she says, but it saves money when only 30 percent of your wardrobe gets recycled as the trends change.
You can purchase her new book at a perfect price of $13 at www.amazon.com.
No comments:
Post a Comment