Current Obsession: Sequins

Leave it to J.Crew (and Madewell) to make sequins oh so perfectly casual.

I can't get enough of this dressed down for day nighttime classic.

shop: madewell

shop: j.crew

Oh, and then there is the dressy sequin.

A surprising favorite for me since I'm not much of a pink or dress person.. but love.

shop: j.crew (not for the faint of heart, slash cheap or on a budget)

A girl can dream, right?

Thanksgiving and Such...

sweater &cords-Gap, top-J.Crew, boots-Aldo

The star of Thanksgiving.. My niece Amelia.

SSBF spent Thanksgiving Day with my family and the remainder of the weekend Christmas shopping and decorating our house a little.

Against my own instincts I wore these skinny cords I went through hell and high water to finally secure. I was hoping the slim fit would help to corral my indulgence on Thanksgiving treats or at the very least a uncomfortable waistband would signal me when it was time to stop eating. To my surprise or maybe disdain these pants did neither of those things. I ate to my hearts content and did not even feel bad about it. (FYI-- if you are considering buying these cords from Gap I definitely recommend trying them on first, all the reviews online suggested sizing up so I did, and they were too big. I would say if you are pear shaped, sizing up may be right. Apple shaped? probably not.)

The rest of the weekend was spent shopping, decorating, and beating SSBF at scrabble. Ok to be fair I'm just leading 2 games to 1.  

How was your long weekend? 

It's (almost) Thanksgiving!

What are you thankful for?

I'm thankful for:

A SSBF, who loves me whether I am silly,whiny, grumpy, messy, spendy, or just plain me.

A Family, that's within driving distance

Friends, both near and far

A job, I enjoy going to everyday

Kitties, that let me talk at them in a silly voice

A home to call my own.

And you, for coming back here day in and day out to read what I have written. It means a lot to me.

Happy Thanksgiving!

all pictures via pinterest

Organizing Your Finances Part 1: Excel

Last week after I professed my love for Mint, Sarah said this:



I myself am a member of a credit union that doesn't play nice with Mint. Luckily for me it's not my primary account and I do not keep much in it. But if you are like Sarah and cannot take advantage of Mint for this reason there are a couple different directions you can take. They may require a little extra effort to set-up, but once you get comfortable they will be just as easy to utilize. Since the topic of this posts risks an extremely long post I will only focus on Excel today.

Personally, I love Excel. It's practically made for budgeting and is easy to use once you get familiar with it. The problem with excel is that it's best asset is also its worst. Excel is a blank slate, you can use it for whatever your heart desires to track which automatically makes completely overwhelming. The key to excel is keeping it simple.



This is a pretty basic buget template you can do in excel. I recommend being as detailed as possible when it comes to your fixed expenses. You can expand on this template by carrying over your "income after expenses" into a new colum that tracks your discretionary spending.



Within the same workbook you can also keep a sheet to track your spending each month, similar to the transaction page you would find on Mint or in Quicken. You can even make a sweet pie chart to go along with it so you can see what percentage of your spending each category occupies.



Some things to keep in mind when using excel:

 Make it a routine: Don't wait until the end of the month to plug everything into your spreadsheet. It is both sucky and time consuming and really does little in the way of helping you attain your goals. I would recommend setting time aside once a week to update your monthly budget and spending diary.

Make it your own: Just because something works for me does not mean it will work for you. Build a budget that suits your needs.

Keep it simple, stupid: As in don't over-complicate things. The budget page should be a guideline for how you should be spending. Use your transaction sheet to get into the nitty-gritty of your spending.

As you get more comfortable with your excel budget you might want to add some extras to your budget page. For example, I like to have everything in one place so I would include my savings goal for the year and actual balance, the remaining balances of my credit cards and student loans, and a list of dates for bills that may not come monthly like my car insurance and water bill.

So Sarah, and anyone else in her situation, I hope this helps. If you don't think excel is right for you, have no fear, my next topic.. Budget Software.

If you have any questions on how to set-up formulas or charts in excel, feel free to contact me.

*I am in no way a financial professional. This blog is strictly an expression of my opinion and reflects my own use of personal finance. For advice on investing and finances please contact a licensed professional. Thanks.

Comfy Cozy

sweater-minkpink via Piperlime, jean leggings-Old Navy, shirt & flats-Gap

Saturday was one of those days in front of the camera. In my defense though the right side of my face was still swollen from my surgery the day before. Yup that's right, I finally got ride of my last baby tooth after 26 years. All is well, just a few stitches and plenty of pain medicine. If I didn't know better I'd swear my oral surgeon had removed the laziest bone in my body because ever since Friday I've been crazy productive. I even vacuumed, which I think just about put SSBF in shock.

I like to think SSBF and I have similar priorities in life, they just happen to be ranked differently. Like for example cleaning, SSBF has cleaning way up there on his perpetual list of things to do. I on the other hand keep it somewhere around the middle. As in, I clean when I can't stand to look at the mess anymore. I'm trying to be better though. I prefer SSBF to think of me has his cute girlfriend instead of his messy one. Except for this weekend when I was his whiny girlfriend. Oh well, can't win them all.

Some Things I've been Loving Lately..

Normally on Friday's I head over to Robyn's blog to enjoy her "Five Things I Love" post. This Friday I wanted to share some of the things that I've been loving lately. Then you can head over to Robyn's blog and it will be a full-on love fest.

Braids

 Modern Christmas Decorations



 Owls

Slouchy Sweaters

Organized Work Spaces

What are you loving right now?

All photos from pinterest

Weekly Money Check-up

Courtesy of My Pretty Pennies

image via pinterest

1. The most I’ve spent this last week was on my gap card. Total bill $113.

2. Today I feel fan-freaking-tastic towards money. I finally rolled my 401k over to an IRA, my tooth is going to only cost $200 to remove, and I got a balance transfer offer in the mail from my bank for 1.9% with no fees! Hello interest savings...

3. Money can’t buy happiness. One free/inexpensive thing I did last week that made me happy was took a walk around Ellicott City with SSBF. Ellicott City is a historic area in Maryland with loads of antique shops. We spent the afternoon rooting through vintage items and didn't spend a dime!

4. I will consider this week a success if I get an outfit post up. I've been really slacking on the personal style side of this blog. I'm kind of disappointed in myself, but at the same time it's not where my head has been. As much as this blog has been about my personal style in the past sometimes I didn't feel quite like myself writing it. Like, I was trying too hard to get your attention and ultimately lost focus on why I really started this blog: to talk about personal finance AND style. Anyway, I've been working to find my voice. I realize I may lose some readers which I don't want to happen but I want to take this blog in a direction that is more representative of me. I'm not a trendsetter by any means so I'm going to concentrate on what I do best, dressing well on a budget and organizing my life.

(wow, sorry for the rambling)

5. I am afraid of the dentist. Not just because I'm getting a tooth pulled on Friday either. I've been chock full of drama with my teeth since well, always. When I was little I used to cry when I had to go to the dentist,  and when my mom tried to brush my hair.

My long-term relationship with Mint

I have a love/hate relationship with budgeting software (who doesn't?). I used Quicken and Microsoft Money on and off through college but never managed to stick with them. I'm sure it was the task of manually entering transactions that drove me away. Even the ability to download transactions from my bank and then upload them to Quicken didn't keep me around for long. They just weren't right for me.
Then came Mint. Ahhh Mint.
We've had our up's and down's.

Up: It let's me see everything, from account balances to my net worth.

Down: It let's me see almost everything. There are days when the accounts don't sync, or I need to update my log-in credentials, or in the case of my one credit account it only sees the store account and not the visa portion.

Up: It collects all of my transactions for me.

Down: It collects all my transactions for me and then miscategorizes them requiring me to go back and fix said transactions.

Up: Mint sends me automatic alerts when withdraws are made from my account that exceed my preset threshold.

Down: Mint sends me alerts 3-4 days after the withdraw has already occurred.

One time while we were on a break I even experimented with a site called Strive (which is now apparently defunct). But I always come back to Mint. Here's why:

Mint Saves Time

Mint gives me the big picture without having to sign-in to the fifty-million accounts I have. I can see how my investments did while making sure my mortgage was paid.

Easy to Set Budgets

I am awful at setting a budget for and tracking individual spending categories. As long as I come in under budget as whole I'm happy. That shouldn't be good enough because I am most likely missing opportunities to save. Mint makes it easy  for me to set a spending limit and then see if I've met or exceeded that spending limit.

Pie Charts

Yes really, pie charts. I love pie charts! They let  me see by category what my spending is compared to my total income. While spending by category will vary depending on personal preferences I can see if my spending is way out of line. It also helps me identify categories I may need to cut back in.

Goals

Mint has a new (to me) feature that let's me set goals to pay off my debt, stash some savings, plan for a trip. Anything. I enter some basic information (or in my case link it to an existing account) and Mint tells me how much and how long it will take.

MintLife Blog

The blog didn't start out as much but has exploded into a resource rich with information.

I've told you what I love about Mint, what about you? Do you use it? What do you love most? Do you use another platform for tracking your spending/saving? What do you love about it?

Monday Must Have

J.Crew Gem-Laden Snood $98

Need I say more?

Truth or Dare

Truth.

I've been on a personal finance bender this last week.

So far I've rolled over my old 401k to an IRA, reacquainted myself with Mint, and gave up Saturday dinners out to save some extra money.

With all of that going on in addition to work and school I've had little time to blog. So I decided to break my "no blogging on weekends" rule to bring you a a little round-up of what's been keeping me busy this last week or so. Enjoy!

Punch Debt in the Face: Things I Want to Punch in the Face Baby Worshippers, and Cats.  If you haven't noticed from all the times I've linked to it, I love this blog. The writer is as hilarious as he is insightful.

Blonde and Balanced: Some Thoughts on Shopping Spending. Amber taps into some feelings and thoughts I'm all too familiar with.

Budgets are Sexy: Don't Put Yourself in the Situation. Similar to Amber's post, a funny reminder our life is what we make of it.

Dramatis Personae: Finance & the Fashion Blogger: Fighting the Addictive Feeling. I love Ashe's posts from her "Finance & the Fashion Blogger" series. It's the dark side of being a fashion blogger, owning up to the reality of limited finances, and dealing with the need to shop.

Grit & Glamour: Why I'm Not on Weardrobe, Chictopia, Lookbook, or Hypeed. I was already on the fence regarding my own involvement with these sites (because they are nothing more then a time suck) when this intelligent post from V convinced me that not only are they a time suck, but idealist.

oh an of course the December J.Crew catalogue.

Multitasking

I know, normally this is an outfit post day. I managed to squeeze some in on Monday before the sun set but to be completely honest, I hate them. Maybe if you are good readers at the end of the post I will share a few with you.

Luckily, Janey, from Janey's Jewels must have known my outfit post would go awry this week so she sent me a peek at one of her newest custom cut rings.

This is a white sapphire,a personal favorite of mine (I'm a September baby, what can I say?) with Janey's signature Rose Petal cut in a handmade sterling silver setting. No matter the stone the Rose Petal cut is just dazzling, but I think the setting steals the show here. The most important part of a piece of jewelry for me is the always setting (yes, seriously, size doesn't matter, I said it) and this is one of my favorites. The stone sits in it so naturally. Even better, from what Janey tells me this setting is the first of many in collection maybe?

I'm always so excited to see what Janey comes up with.  If you are in the market for gem stone jewelry I insist you check out Janey's Etsy shop, Janeys Jewels. You will love it. While this piece has a price tag out of budget for me at $400, Janey's shop has a plethora a jewelry including earrings and pendants at a variety of price points to fit any budget.

Now, since you were good I guess you can see what I wore on Monday. I said earlier I hate these pictures. I guess that's not entirely accurate. I loved the outfit, I loved me hair I just don't think either were properly represented in these pictures. I'll blame the camera... or the cameraman, no better stick with just the camera. (love you SSBF). 

shirt-old navy, pants-j.crew, shoes-macy's?

A Tale of Procrastination

Oh Procrastination, we've had a lot of good times together. Remember that one time when I put off getting my oil changed until it hit 7,000 miles?  What about that time that I waited until Christmas Eve to buy everyone's Christmas gifts? Or all those other times I spent they day wandering aimlessly through the internet when I should have been studying? Those were the good ol'days. Others had warned me about your toxic nature but I stuck by you nonetheless. 

Now here I am, with an abscessed tooth that needs to be removed by an oral surgeon and replaced with a bridge. For shame.

I think I've finally learned my lesson about procrastination and it is a crappy one. At first glance an abscessed tooth sounds like nothing I can control. But to be fair to my dentist, she has recommended that I have said tooth removed since I started seeing her three years ago. I'm a big baby though when it comes to my teeth and used the excuse " I didn't have the money" to cover up the fact that I just was scared to have it done. Now I have no choice but to go forward with dental work that will cost me at least $1200 with little time to save for it.

So while the consequences of procrastination may not always be easy to quantify, believe me, procrastination will make you pay one way or another.

ps. If you are thinking about putting off holiday shopping, it's a no no. According to an article in the Baltimore Sun retailers will be rolling out their best deals early (even before Black Friday) to compete for precious consumer dollars!

pps. Don't forget to contribute to your 401k! I see you.

Bringing Home Baby

blazer-j.crew, cascade blouse & jean leggings-gap, heels-target

Before I get to the meat of this post I just want to say one thing.. BRRR. It felt like winter this weekend and I am not a fan. What happened to fall? End scene.

Lately, oversize/flowy shirts and me have been a match made in heaven. They are the perfect companion for my ever expanding collection of blazers and skinny jeans. Let's just hope skinny jeans do not go the way of home values any time soon, or else I am in real trouble my friends. This shirt in particular was the latest addition to my closet. I found her tucked away on the clearance rack during an impromptu visit to Gap on Saturday. $14.95 was an offer I could not refuse. The shirt is quite sheer and feminine, much different then most of the shirts I wear but I knew it was meant to be as soon as I saw her.

Some people may call that compulsive, or even impulsive. I call it fate.

After bringing her home I immediately styled her three or four times and told her she was pretty. The others  in my closet are a little jealous but they will adjust. It's all part of being a family.

My Best J.Crew Impersonation

shirt-old navy, skirt-goodwill, blazer-j.crew, boots-zigi soho via dsw, tights-gap

Tweed. check.

Blazer with rolled cuffs. check.

Kitschy tights. check.

Casual Tee. check.

Layered jewlery. check.

Call J.Crew, I stole their look. Except, my tweed only cost $4.50. In your face Sunnie Pencil Skirt.

In all seriousness, I wasn't actually wearing this exact outfit when I left for work yesterday. The skirt, boots, and tights-yes, the shirt and blazer- not so much. I thought of tweed skirt 2.0 in the car as I was driving in the morning. I hate when that happens. It's not that what I wore was bad or anything, it's just after I thought of the outfit I really wanted to wear it. So I came home and changed into this for pictures and dinner. Ha. Maybe next time I will wear it for a full day.

On a personal note I'm freaking out right now. By the time you read this I will have had my dentist appointment already, but I'm currently dreading it. I have a a baby tooth that has been shaved down and built up with molding (a temporary fix, that has lasted longer then anyone thought) to be the same size as the others. Well, over the weekend some of the molding just brooke off! I've been in some pain and I'm worried about what the fix will be. Partly because I hate dentists but mostly because I don't want to spend a lot of money to fix my tooth! Haha. I think I've hit the rock bottom of cheap. I'm willing to spend serious money on clothes. But my teeth? Nah.

 

A Basic Holiday Spending Plan

I made my first official holiday gift purchase last night, which makes this the perfect time to talk about my plan for holiday spending this year. As I'm sure you can imagine (and maybe relate) I lose my fiscal sanity around this time of year and usually find myself a ball of anxious nerves waiting for my credit card bill to arrive come January. What makes matters worse is all the hard to pass up on sales. I probably end up spending as much on myself as I do on others this time of year. Considering I have some pretty aggressive goals set for paying my credit card off by the end of March I needed to establish plan for this holiday season.

First off, I decided to start shopping as early as possible to spread my spending over more credit card statements. Thanks to my uncanny ability to procrastinate early=November. So I will have two credit card statements to work with.

I also put a spending plan in place. Note I said spending plan instead of budget. Doesn't it just sound better? Anyway, I have a budgeted number of what I want to spend total, but didn't limit what I could spend on each individual's gift.

Here's what it looks like:

I tried to include a category for anything I could spend money on.

At the end of the season, if there is money left over, I will be putting that towards my debt.

In addition, SSBF still split up our gifting duties according to our respective families. Which I would assume is what most people do, but what do I know.

 What's your spending plan this year for the holidays? Do you set a budget for each individual? Total? When do you start your shopping?

His, Mine, and Ours

SSBF and I talk about money. A lot. Surprising? Probably not. Our plans with money tend to change often depending on what is important to us at the time. After setting some financial goals for myself last week I decided to turn the tables to couple Grace & SSBF (as opposed Grace and SSBF?). While we are not yet married, we are just one joint checking account away from combined finances so I thought it would be a good time to make sure our financial goals we're heading in the same direction.

Using 3x5 cards (I love 3x5 cards!) we each wrote down what we wanted us to accomplish in the next 5-years, mostly financially.



As you can see we have some pretty similar goals. I can probably thank lots of open communication for that. SSBF included some of his personal goals. That was my fault for trying to do this on a Sunday while he set his fantasy football team.

Anyway, next  we went through the individual lists and picked the five goals that were most important to us and put them on a third index card.

Viola, a quick and easy 5-year plan for the financially lazy. Myself included.

We haven't yet put together an action plan on how we expect to achieve these goals. That will be for the next rainy day.

For all those readers that are attached, have you ever tried something like this with your significant other? Did you not because you were afraid your weren't going to see eye-to-eye? (I was a little worried about that). Any ideas for getting your boyfriend to pay attention to you for just 10 minutes on a Sunday?

Do You Know How Much...

...it costs to drive from Baltimore to Philly? Guess. $37 dollars for tolls and gas ( in a Honda Civic). $17 of that in tolls. Ridiculous. I will vote for any congressmen that agrees to repeal all tolls levied in Maryland and Delaware. Mostly Delaware. I hate that stupid first state! Do you know what I could have done with $17 dollars? Me either, but it would way more awesome then paying tolls.

tunic & snood-j.crew, jean leggings-old navy, jacket-express, boots-coach, ring- janeys jewels

Since the drive up there is two hours, SSBF was forced to not only wake up early, but the take pictures for me at the crack of 7:30. As you can see I'm wearing my morning face,hair, and my cozy little snood I picked up from J.Crew. It was a total impulse buy but I have a feeling I will be getting some miles out of it this winter. It's like an infinity scarf only thicker and can be worn like a faux hood (see here).  

Despite the early start and outrageous toll situation the trip to Philly was worth it. I drove up there to go bridesmaid dress shopping with my best friend and bride-to-be Anne along with another one of my closest friends Ellen, and the bride's sister Jen and her mom. They are all people I've known since high school or longer so it was an incredibly fun day. As a group we were able to narrow the bridesmaid dresses down to just two. The color will be navy blue, and it's between these two.

worn by Jen, Anne's Sister

(from the back, me and ellen, pardon my bra tag)

I love both of these dresses for entirely different reasons, they are so beautiful, no wonder it's so hard for us to choose.

The most exciting part of the day by far was Anne picking out her dress. It was not part of the plan that day but it just kind of happened and it is amazing. This is the third wedding I've been in but the first time I was there when the bride bought her dress. Anne is not a crier, but I was pretty close to crying. I was so happy for her! I can not wait until the wedding. I'm not going to show you the one she picked, but by the looks of the losers I bet you can imagine how beautiful it is!

Sorry for the long post, I hope you enjoyed it though :)

How was your weekend?