march.

March. Was. Insane. and thank goodness because I did not even notice that I wasn't shopping. Yes, I remember that I did in fact do a little shopping in Singapore, but this is the time that girls like to shop the most. Stores are coming out with spring dresses, flouncy skirts, and super cute tanks. I? Cannot even bare to look at magazines for fear that there will be an amazing Target ad or something. Luckily in March I had no time to even think about flouncy skirts. I was too busy thinking about surviving the last couple months of school and packing up all our crap for the "big" move. Anyways, I've counted up March of '09 (pretty easy this time) and here it is:

$68-- Banana Republic

Huh. Seems like I actually SPENT more this March than last March, but hey, last March I didn't go anywhere cool. I'm not letting it get me down, I just keep looking at last February and it encourages me. If nothing else I'm learning self control which, come to think of it, I kind of already feel like I have. So if nothing else I'm EXCERCISING my self control. Yea, that sounds good. and maybe realizing my shopping problem wasn't as bad as I thought. Eh, it'll make a good story.

$110.

I had an internal struggle before leaving for Singapore. Everytime I mentioned going there people would say "Oh, they have GREAT shopping!" I'd just smile and think to myself "Why do they insist on teasing me so?" Several people asked if I was going to let myself shop and I'd hesitate and say probably not. I mean, I took on this challenge so I needed to stick with it. A few people (and these are my favorites) thought that was ridiculous and I definitely needed to let myself have fun. I decided to listen to them. I mean going half way around the world is kind of a once in a lifetime thing and I surely wanted to make the most of it. And let me tell you, when they say Singapore has great shopping, that is an understatement. Sure they have all the fancy pants stores, but then they have all these awesome small stores. Like tons of them. So I made a decision to let myself spend no more than $150. I think that's a fair amount. And I didn't shop at any stores we have here in the US. Although MOST of the stores in the malls over there aren't stores we have in the US so that was easy. I feel a little guilty for going shopping, but I'm trying to let that go.

Here is what I bought for a grand total of $110:

  

Yea, that's right-- about $18 per item. Ha.

february.

Who knew I'd be so glad that I had a frivolous February in 09?! This is slightly more rewarding than January was. Here is why:

$61-- Target
$35-- Nine West
$80-- Target
$75-- Macy's
$96-- Nordstrom *ouch*

That makes a grand total of $347. Yowza! I feel like I should put in a disclaimer that I was indeed getting married last year so I tended to use that as an excuse for just about everything I bought. I can't say that EVERYTHING from Target was clothes/shoes, but I know myself and my Target obsession so I'd have to admit that most of it is probably clothes and shoes. I also have had a tendency to buy clothes at Target, go home, try them on and talk myself out of some of the things I bought. We knew this was going to be a very rough estimate, and I'm actually strangely happy to see that number. *Insert sigh of relief with a hint of embarassment for how much I spent last February.*

passed.

Today Erin made me go to Forever 21 with her. If you are a girl, you are aware of what amazing deals Forever 21 has. Nobody is saying the clothes at F21 are going to last you a lifetime, but you also didn't have to save up a lifetime to afford them so I think it's fair. Anyways there and Target are the 2 stores I am most afraid to go in to due to their fabulousness and cheapness, however, Erin insisted. It. was. tough. I left with $16 worth of accessories (I hope you had faith in me and didn't think I was going to say "clothes") and my pride. I bought some headbands, clips, and a couple necklaces. These were the first accessory purchases I've made, so I think I'm doing pretty good 2 months into it. Wow. Only 2 months into it. Actually I might be being a tad dramatic, it hasn't really been that bad. Life's been pretty busy so I don't really even have anywhere fun to wear new clothes to at the moment. I'm just waiting for my kiddos to say something like "Mrs. Hawkins, why do you always wear that?" Trust me, they have no shame. I'm hoping Mother Nature gets it together here pretty soon and starts warming up so I can start busting out some springy clothes. Sweaters? I'm over them.

I also left there knowing exactly what I'm going to do for my birthday. June 9th is going to be a great day in which I go armed with birthday money, Mom, and Erin to F21 and Target. I get such a warm fuzzy feeling just thinking about it. *sigh*

I think I'll go "shopping" in Erin's closet this weekend. I'll be back in A-Town in a couple weeks so I can return them then.

Feb. 27th challenge: passed (with a hint of slight pain)

january.

An alternate title for this post could be january=lame.  I just checked my bank statement from January 09 and it was sorely disappointing. According to Bank of America I didn't spend a dime on clothes last January. Hmmmm..... I find that hard to believe, but I only had the one account and I NEVER use cash so it must be true. I literally said out loud, "You have GOT to be kidding me," when I realized it wasn't such a feat to go through January without shopping. Apparently I did it last year only probably didn't complain as much at the time. I did however spend a crap load on eating out. Please don't tell me I made the wrong resolution. I'm trying really hard not to be pissed off, I was just hoping for a little more gratification than "congratulations, all this pain (yes, pain) you're going through is for not." Crossing my fingers for foolishly extravagant spending in February 09.

"shopping".

Today I went "shopping." Don't worry, it's not what you think. Remember how I said I had some articles of clothing I got for Christmas that needed to be exchanged? Well today was the last day to do so, so I made a trip to the mall with my biggest supporter, Brandon. Right away I knew it was going to be difficult, so we parked by a neutral entrance and not one that goes directly into a store. I'm a strong girl, but I don't need unnecessary torture. As soon as we walked in there was an amazing dress in Neimans, but luckily it would have been a dress that was not possible to buy whether I was doing this crazy resolution or not. I mean a Carolina Herrera dress for $2200 is not exactly in the Hawkins's budget.

Anyways, things were going well until I saw them. The greatest pair of Toms I've ever seen (cue light shining down accompanied by a choir singing alleluia). No really, it was love at first sight. Check it:

I mean come on. They have "Kara" written all over them. Or I guess they have "Kara's birthday present" written all over them. Don't worry Prima Classics *sigh*, I won't forget about you I promise.

So...long story short, it was tough, but I made it w/o too much distress.

business.

I know it's WAY to early to be making exceptions to the rules, but I have a legitimate reason for a new shirt. I've recently gotten involved in a business adventure (get your mona vie on) and I need a mona vie shirt. Distributors wear the shirts to the tastings and also just to spread the news of this fab juice. It's not personal, it's business. I've pretty much already decided I will be purchasing one--I mean come on, it can be a tax write off since it's part of my journey as a personal business woman. I hope nobody thinks I already lost this challenge. This is the year of not only saving money, but MAKING money and this shirt is part of the latter.

Here's my next problem, but I think I've already trouble-shooted (hmmm...shot?) this one. B and I will most likely be making a quick stop in Moscow in March on our way back from Singapore. And by quick I mean quick like a day. 24 hours. That. Is. It. The normal old Kara would definitely be buying loads of new outfits for an international trip, but the new Kara sees that it's not necessary. HOWEVER, were you aware that the temperature in Moscow today was -18? Sure, it'll warm up in March to a toasty -8 reaching maybe 0, but that's still pretty darn chilly and I don't know if I have the appropriate attire for that. My thought is to bug my cousins in NY to bring down some skiing things when they visit in March so that I wont need to buy anything really. Fashion will not be the concern in negative degree temperatures.

And there were a couple thoughts of how to track my savings. Mom and Nicole had the same idea, which I think was so stinkin smart. I'm going to take a look at my monthly bank statements from last year and get a rough estimate of what I spent on clothes. Receipts from Target are tricky b/c Target has so much more than clothes, but I would say the majority of money spent there was on clothes. I will have no shame and will publish about how much I spent last year (eek!) as long as there is no judgement from the audience. :)

Done and done.