April 2015 Wardrobe Additions
Madewell Jeans (seen here): $79 (originally $128)
Madewell Dress (seen here): $57 (originally $98)
LOFT Skirt: $19 (originally $69.50)
LOFT Top: $11 (originally $39.50)
LOFT Sunglasses (seen here): $13 (originally $24.50)
LOFT Jeans: $37 (originally $69.50)
Lilly Pulitzer for Target Shorts: $23 (originally $24)
Lilly Pulitzer for Target Top (seen here): $30 (originally $32)
Old Navy Dress: $16 (originally $35; paid with PayPal)
Fashion Union Dress (via ASOS): $45 (originally $50)
Target Sandals (seen here): $28
Earthies Sandals (courtesy of Earth Brands; seen here)
April Total = $342
$413 ($500 quarterly budget – $87 overspent) – $152.50 (March) - $342 (April) = -$81.50
Saying that I went a little overboard this month is an understatement. I actually have a lot listed on eBay right now but it's not moving very quickly, which is a bummer. As always. I know that's a really lame excuse but, to be completely honest, these were all really good buys and I don't regret any of them. I just wish I was able to contain myself a little more since I know I have a hard time banning myself from shopping for a month. And I was doing SO WELL the past few months! I have a couple of last minute orders that should be arriving within the next week (and will be counted in next month's budget post if I keep anything), but otherwise I'm hoping to stick to only buying items with gift cards I've had saved since Christmas. The only reason why I haven't spent them yet is because I keep forgetting that I have them, lol. Anyway, I hope I can make thoughtful purchases with the gift cards and truly limit my spending in May. I'm going to NYC in June and I'm planning on shopping there!
So as far as what I got this month... LOFT had a huge flash sale at the end of March and I placed a huge order because of that. I ended up only keeping two things from it because I ordered a bunch of things in two sizes and, you know, budgetary reasons. I fell in love with the windowpane skirt that everyone has; I realized why everyone loves it so much! I also picked up a nice flow-y top for the spring and summer. When LOFT had their 50% off sale plus free shipping, I placed two orders: one for the white jeans (in two sizes) and one for the sunglasses. I ended up keeping the jeans in the smaller of the two sizes after much debate because they feel really stretchy so hopefully I don't look like a stuffed sausage to other people, lol. White jeans have been on my wish list for a LONG time so I'm very excited to finally have a pair that work for me. I originally was considering two other pairs as seen here, but in the end I like the LOFT pair the best. I decided on the sunglasses since I left my ModCloth pair at my parents' home and was nervous about only having one pair of sunglasses.
I stopped in Madewell one weekend when both the jeans and dress were on promo. The additional 30% off sale applied to them, and they let me stack my student discount on top of that (though I heard J.Crew might not be doing that anymore? I hope that's not the case). The jeans topped my spring/summer wishlist and I'm so happy to have been able to pick them up before spring ends!
As briefly mentioned in this post, I shopped the Lilly for Target madness in stores and got my hands on the crochet tank top and pompom shorts in the "upstream" print. I'm not a typical Lilly girl, but I love the versatility of the top and the cute, unexpected print on the shorts. I also liked the shorts because they are navy and white--two colors I own already and wear a lot, so they fit into my wardrobe seamlessly!
I picked up a couple more dresses to round out my collection a bit: a basic navy sheath dress from Old Navy, which I wore just last week since it's perfect for dressier events, and a fun striped crop dress from ASOS. After cleaning out my closet over the past few months, I realized that my dresses took the biggest hit and I was ready for new ones to love. I love how the striped dress gives the illusion of a matching crop top and skirt (I LOVE matching sets but have such a hard time finding sets I love at a reasonable price point).
Finally, I added two new pairs of sandals this month. After seeing the Target sandals everywhere and being sad about the fact that my store didn't have any, Fran was so kind to go to her store and buy them for me. Of course, my store received them just before my pair arrived in the mail, haha. I guess we are just behind everyone else a bit. I had jeweled sandals on my wishlist, too, and while I had my eye on a different pair, the Target sandals were a great compromise at a much nicer price point. Additionally, in the spirit of transparency, I was lucky to receive a pair of shoes courtesy of Earth Brands. I picked out neutral wedged sandals because I wanted a pair that would get lots of wear this spring and summer!
There aren't very many things left on my wish list, thank goodness! I'd really like a pair of black shorts, a pair of navy shorts (likely buying J.Crew's chino shorts), a seersucker dress, a floral skirt, dark wash denim shorts (from Madewell, of course), and some items from Uniqlo's Airism line. I always have my eyes peeled for the perfect grey dress, striped tees, and other fun tops, though! I don't know why, but I have a harder time feeling content with my spring/summer wardrobe. I hope I can figure that out more this year (I think I said this last year, too, haha...I REALLY hope it happens this year, though!).
Linking up with Franish & my fellow budgeting bloggers