**Disclaimer: this blog is a long one**
Fun Fact: Money doesn’t grow on trees, and if any of y’all are like me, I don’t have an endless amount of money to spend. All through my college years, I would constantly spend my money on clothes, accessories, hair, makeup, or anything related to one of those, and I thought nothing of it. I didn’t have a budget, and my parents were paying for me to go to college, so I just spent my money how I wanted to spend it. Have y’all every seen Confessions of a Shopaholic? She was me, and I was her. I was shopping so much that I had no money saved up when I finished.
Since graduating, I quickly learned that spending my money like that only keeps me trendy for so long. In case you didn’t know, constantly buying the latest new arrivals is a very expensive habit. I finally came to the realization that I needed to get my life together when it came to saving ’cause the amount of money I’ve put towards “appearance things” was ridiculous. Another part of that realization is that I can still be trendy and not buy all of the new arrivals that my favorite stores put out each week. So for today’s blog post, I wanted to share some of the tips and tricks I’ve been using to start saving money while looking trendy.
1. Use the Mint Budgeting App (life saver!) — when you connect your bank account(s), it takes your past spending history and automatically sets a budget for things like clothing, groceries, eating out, gas/car, etc. It also sends you notifications when a bill is due, when you’ve spent a third of your credit limit, and other important things to note. This app has really helped me to understand where my money goes as well as see how much I’m spending compared to how much money I have coming in each month.
2. Shop at Walmart (yes, I said Walmart) — before you roll your eyes and move on to the next point, Walmart has really stepped up its game in terms of women’s clothing. I’ve purchased multiple tops, shoes, and purses from there, and I didn’t break the bank!
3. Pair the Old with the New — my mom always told me that you don’t have to wear all brand new clothing to make an outfit look brand new and be “on trend”.
4. Shop the clearance racks — the clearance rack is where it’s at, y’all!! Stores are always trying to get you to purchase the full-price new arrivals {duh!}, but don’t forget about the clearance sections. If the store is constantly receiving new merchandise, then the store is also constantly putting items in clearance…and these items are usually still on trend and from that season!
5. Make clothing wish lists — this has saved me from buying soooo many pieces that I really didn’t want after all. When I find pieces that I love but are more expensive or aren’t on sale, I always take a photo of them or find them on the website. Then I go home and do three things: (1) look in my closet for something similar, (2) look online for something cheaper, and (3) create at least five outfits with the item. If I can’t find something cheaper online or similar that I already own but can create those outfits, then I keep checking on the website until the item is on sale. Once it goes on sale, I repeat those three steps before buying it. I know it seems like a really long and tedious process, but I promise it’ll make you really think about what you own and will help you save tons of money. {A lot of times I don’t end up buying what I originally thought I wanted!}
6. Use gift cards to help with your budget — recently, I started purchasing gift cards and using that money to buy items. For example, my clothing budget via Mint is $150, so I’ll decide at the end of the previous month {i.e. March} how I want to divide that money for the next month {i.e. April}. I might choose to spend all $150 at Target, or $75 at Target and $75 on Amazon, or $50 to Target, $50 to Walmart, and $50 to Amazon. This helps me keep within my budget AND know exactly where my clothing money is going each month.
I also included two tips that I do that aren’t related to clothes but are still super helpful when saving money:
1. Set small goals with rewards — a lot of people just think of goal setting when it comes to fitness, but it can also be applied to saving money. I always try to set small goals such as saving 80% of each paycheck. At the end of the money, I use the left over 20% to buy myself a reward for saving the majority of my paycheck. It sounds kinda complicated and like an extra, unnecessary step, but I’ve found so much success in this method.
2. Drink water when you go to restaurants — have you ever noticed how much money you spend on a drink other than water when you go to a restaurant? $3 here, $2.49 there, etc, etc, etc. – IT ADDS UP! For one week, I looked at my bill every time I ate at a restaurant and determined how much money I spend on my drinks. Now I try to drink water and occasionally drink a sweet tea. Just doing that I’m saving about $15 a week {again, it really adds up!}!
*Disclosure: Some of the links included are affiliate links, meaning that, at no additional cost to you, I may earn a commission if you click through the link and make a purchase.*
*This post is NOT sponsored by Walmart, and content is all my own.*
