Smart Fashion: Lazy Sunday

 

I have a confession.

I've been shoe hoarding the last couple weeks.

It started with these Sperry's that I received as a Christmas gift from my best friend. Then, I picked-up this pair of Elizabeth and James wedges on mega sale (75% off to be exact). Finally, it's culminated with the purchase of these glitter loafers from J.Crew (paid for with a gift card).

The good news is I only paid for one of these pairs of shoes.

The bad news is I'm running out of room in my closet.

PS. I also steal clothes from SSF (see: that sweater I'm wearing)


 

Outfit Details:

 tee: OBX, $5

jeans: AE, $30

 sweater:  SSF's, free?

shoes:  J.Crew, $73

jacket: Express, $30

snood: J.Crew , $50

Total Cost:  $188

Crazy or Brilliant: Handbag Renting

I'm going to need your opinion on this. Bag renting has always intrigued me. So when  stumbled across this article on Yahoo titled "10 Things You Should Rent Instead of Buy" I had a feeling handbags would be on the list, and they sure were, in the number three spot no less.

Call me old fashion but I don't really like to give something like a dress or a handbag back once I've paid for it. We've all heard of Bag Borrow or Steal. Its a genius business plan and as part of the nouveau frugal I love the idea of saving money on things items that are for the most part out of my league, but beyond that I don't think you would ever catch me renting a bag. . While I would love to be spotted about town with my Chanel bag in tow lets be real here for just one minute. If you are willing to spend $225/month to rent a designer bag (that's $2700/year for repeat offender, btw), don't you think you should just find one bag you love and invest in it? Wouldn't you feel better knowing that the beautiful bag slung over your shoulder is 100%  yours and doesn't come with a monthly payment. I couldn't even imagine what SSF would say about that! Imagine his surprise seeing "bag rental" in between BG&E and Sallie Mae.

On the other hand, renting gives you the ability to change your mind without the risk of buying into a bag that you don't use as often as you thought you would. It also gives access to bags that I couldn't afford in my wildest dreams (ahem, this one)

I still think SSF would kill me though.

 What's your take?

Smart Home: Jewelry Box Refresh

I've had this jewelry box since college. There is nothing particularly special about it but for some reason I never want to let it go. And why would I? It's a perfectly good jewelry box. So without even realizing it (until Saturday) I've taken to updating the thing every few years to reflect my current style.

During college, it was a decoupage of great memories...concert tickets, pictures, my idols. Then after moving with SSF it was repainted  to the dark brown color you see. Now, its something a little more modern.

Total Cost: $0

I used some craft supplies I already had around the house including:

Acrylic Paint
Painters Tape
Leftover Fabric
Fabric Glue

Even if you didn't have all of this stuff laying around I couldn't imagine it costing more than $10-$15.





And... done! I'm obsessed with how it turned out.



What did you do this weekend?

SSF- What About Me?

I've asked SSF to be a little a more vocal around here and share his view on everything from our finances to our wedding. Here is his first, and hopefully not last post. Enjoy!
xo,grace


SSF here. 

Hey, it’s hard to argue that all eyes won’t be on my beautiful soon-to-be bride at our wedding.  When she’s walking down the aisle (beach), I will be up at the altar, the afterthought of everyone in attendance.  Every groom knows this, every groom understands this, and every groom accepts this.  Which is fine.  As a low-key kind of guy, that’s actually the way I’d prefer it.  Still, when we’re standing up there together, and people’s eyes eventually make their way over to me, I want them to say, “Gee, that’s a handsome guy she’s marrying” and not, “Gee, what a slob.”

Of course it won’t be like that, I know.  But lately I’ve been stressing about how I’m going to look on my wedding day, and how my groomsmen will look as well.  I’ve been searching for ideas, scavenging the internet (like, all of it), flipping through catalogs, and taking suggestions.  I’ve decided I don’t want to go down the traditional path of renting the black tux.  I want a look that fits with our beach wedding, but isn’t overly casual, that is also unique and different. 

So I decided to do a post that shows some of the looks that I’ve found that I’m into.  Feel free to leave your thoughts, or any ideas/suggestions you might have.

This is probably the look that I envisioned when I first started thinking about my wedding suit.  I like the plaid with the tan suit. It’s different than the traditional plain old white button down shirt that seems to accompany every suit.  A simple Google search of beach weddings show plenty of guys in tan suits with their white shirts, and I want to divert from that norm.  I like the bit of color-pop the plaid offers, as it dresses up the tan suit.  That said, the combination still feels like p.76 out of the JCrew catalog, so I’m not sure I’m getting the uniqueness I want.

I’ve been feeling the grey suit lately, but I’m not sure if it is beach-y enough.  I like the contrast in colors a grey suit would give me.  In the picture above, the yellow and blues really stand out.  I feel I could have some fun creating a more personalized look.  If I were to go with a grey suit, I’d probably want a lighter shade of grey, like this:

(Like the grey, but definitely not feeling the linen suit.)

Love this look.  The skinny ties with the suspenders are how I envision my groomsmen.  Plus this might be the lighter shade of grey I’m looking for.  The casualness of the look also lends itself well to our laid back beach wedding.  The shoes and no socks are also a perfect touch.  Love, love, love. 

***

So that’s a taste of where I’m at as a future groom.  I’ve got ideas that seem to be all over the place, and it’s getting close to the time where I need to start narrowing down some options.  Sheesh, who knew planning a wedding would be so stressful? 

I’d love to hear your thoughts.  How would you like your beach groom to look?   

~SSF

Today Feels Like...

A sequin jacket and tall shoe kind of day....



sequin jacket: $25, ebay auction
elizabeth and james hali wedge: $82 (down from $275) shopbop

just saying.....

Student Loans First Steps

Student loans have been all the talk around the Croshaw-SSF household these days. My in-school deferment will be ending at the end of this month which means come February we will be taking on a $900 loan payment in addition to our other monthly expenses. It sucks, but it's life. In anticipation of that dreadful day we've been working on a strategy on how to manage the added monthly expense, while still living our normal lives and paying for a wedding.

Our strategy consisted of 3 steps.

First, lower monthly payments 


I have a mix of private and federal loans. Because the terms of my private loans are less agreeable than those backed by the government, paying off the private loans is a priority. As a result, I wanted to make my monthly payment on my federal loans as low as possible. In order to this I have to consolidate all of my federal debt into one loan. Once that process is complete, I will be applying for Income-Based Repayment, or IBR. IBR is a repayment option available to those with more than $30,000 in federal student loan debt. What makes IBR different from most repayment plans is that your payment amount under IBR is dictated by your income as opposed to factors like principle, interest rate, and term.

Second, identify cash inflows and plan for extra income 

Between tax returns, tuition reimbursement, and bonuses SSF and I have some serious bonus cash coming in that needs to be accounted for and earmarked before it gets here. SSF made a list of all our expected "extra income" and together we made decisions on where it should  go. While quite a bit of it will go towards the wedding we would also like to pay off at least one of our cars and keep some tucked away for a rainy day.

Third, identify cash outflows and cut back on expenses

As of right now we are focusing on one expense: our grocery bill. Despite my attempts at couponing this is the one area we always tend to go over on so starting this month we established a strict budget of $320 per month for groceries. That's a generous $80 a week, and $20 less than we had been spending. How did we come to this number? Well I basically looked at our average spend over the last few months and cut it by 20%.

And that's that. Thrilling right? Not really. But its nice to have a plan. If you are like me though a plan is not enough, so I made a goal too. My goal is to have all my private student loan debt paid off in less than 10 years. (My repayment term is 15 for them.) I've yet to figure out how much that would save me in-terms of interest, but mostly likely a lot. Wish me luck.

How do you cope with your student loans?

Smart Wedding: Finding "the" Dress

Anyone remember this post from way back in March of last year? No? Ok, well let me refresh your memory. I had recently taken a trip to New York City to try on dresses at Kleinfeld's where I fell hopelessly in love with this beauty from designer Augusta Jones. I have basically been pining over this dress for the last 8 months. I've been considering  busting my budget for it. That is until recently, when reality set in. Who am I to think I can go out and drop three grand on a dress?

I've heard people say: 

"It's your day"

"You'll always regret not getting "the" dress"

"You only get one wedding"

Blah. Blah. Blah. 

At the end of the day, it's still money. So to the relief of SSF and my parents, I came to my senses and decided to keep looking. And you know what? It is possible to find more than one dress that looks absolutely amazing on you. It's also possible to find a dress that's a more affordable. I went last weekend and tried on a few dresses and found two beautiful ones I could see myself in for the wedding. I have a 2 more appointments this weekend, one of them being a follow-up to last week's, and I am dragging everyone but SSF with me so I can finally make a decision. 

So to all you ladies out there, getting married in the next year, longing for that expensive dress that in no way, shape, or form, fits your budget. My advice is don't believe the hype. Don't buy in to all the excitement of getting married and buying a wedding dress. Stay focused and most importantly stay under budget!  Oh, and once you found your dress, stop looking!

Now, pretty pictures: 

Source: thesweetestoccasion.com via Grace on Pinterest

Bridemaids: I hope you are reading this. This is my vision. Go buy your dresses. 

Source: stylemepretty.com via Grace on Pinterest

this cracks me up.

Source: reasonstobreathe.tumblr.com via Grace on Pinterest

love the intimacy of a long table, it will be perfect for our small wedding.

Source: shineonwithlb.com via Grace on Pinterest

Again, bridesmaids.. be prepared. I may make you do this the morning after the wedding.


Have a good weekend! 

Smart Fashion: Making Do

Early last week there was a brief chill in the air. It lasted about 30 seconds (or 3 days, but who's counting?) and then it went right back to near 60 degrees. This is seriously the most mild winter I've ever experienced. SSF is totally bummed. Snow is one of the things that both him and his students look forward to.

Anyway, Once the cold weather hit I was dying to wear something furry, anything furry. Buying was not an option. I considered one of my cats but then settled for the next best thing, a detachable hood-liner. I swear as I ripped it from its normal home I heard Tim Gunn saying "make it work".

And so I did, or tried to. A broke girls got to do what a broke girls got to do.

PS. the cats loved it.

Outfit Details: 

Shirt: Urban Outfitters:  $15

Pants: Lands End Canvas c/o Lucky

Boots: MIA via DSW: $79

Belt: thrifted: $4

Total: $98 

  

Smart Home: Linen Closet Makover

After making my New Year's Resolution to "build a beautiful home" it didn't take me long to decide on my first project... the linen closet. I don't have a before picture.. but imagine it looked like this:


photo credit

Now it looks like this...





True Story.

Total Cost: $23.50
What I got: 3 (pretty) baskets to corral our baby stockpile. 

Coming up with this idea was not the hard part.   I mean, all you have to do is search "linen closet" on pinterest and you will find plenty of organization ideas. The hard part is getting the right price.

Luckily Michael's made it easy. They are currently running 50% off their entire stock of baskets.
Other great places to check for discounted baskets are goodwill or thrift stores, Hobby Lobby, and even ebay.

Happy Birthday SSF (his birthday was on Monday), I cleaned the closet. Consider this my gift to you.

Goals for a (Happy) New Year

If you were at all curious what I did on New Year's Eve, there it is. I ate semi-fancy but reasonably priced cheese and crackers, drank an entire bottle of "sparkling wine" and watched bits and pieces of Dick Clark's New Year's Rockin' Eve with SSF. Don't hate.

In addition to all  that, earlier in the day, when I was not drinking I sat down and wrote a future letter to myself. It's an idea that I picked-up from Jess over at MML. I had never done it before and found it painfully uncomfortable, but it was an interesting way to craft some new goals for the coming year. You can see a full explanation of the exercise here but simply stated, the idea is to write a letter to yourself from the perspective of one year in the future looking back on all you accomplished throughout the year .

I liked this exercise because it helped me to open up and write from my heart. I feel like the things I envisioned myself accomplishing over the next year are things I really want to do, not things I feel like I have to do. From that letter I was able to draw out major themes that I wanted to share.



There are only so many ways we can cut money from our spending, but the potential to earn money is unlimited. Couple that with the fact that  I've always wanted to open my own business and you've got my first goal for 2012. I have no plans on leaving my current job, but I can't say that it's salary alone is enough to keep SSF and I financially comfortable. With my student loans coming due very soon, we need some additional income. So in 2012, thanks to a little  inspiration from her, her, and her, I am going to start a small (side) business. I don't want to give away too many details right now, but you better believe it has something to do with fashion.



This may (or may not, depending on how well you know me) surprise you, but I am a nerd. But I'm also lazy. I'm worried now that I am out of an intellectual environment I won't keep learning. So I've made it a point to put reading at the top of my to-do list.



It's so easy to get swept up in the wedding details and forget why you are getting married, and what your budget is. I don't want to lose touch with reality so I will be keeping one eye focused on the bottom-line at all times. That includes my dress. I'm having second thoughts about the super expensive one I fell in love with last year and have decided to keep looking for something more budget appropriate.



I really can be selfish with my time and too often I put myself ahead of my friends, and even my family. This year I want to put them before me. I want to be the friend/sister/daughter that remembers important dates, calls often, and is always there.




Don't get me wrong, I think SSF and I have a beautiful home, I just wanted it to really feel like home. I want to look around the house and see things that SSF and I created together. I want to feel like my house is worth of a magazine without spending a fortune. I want to do lots of DIY's.


What resolutions did you make for 2012?