Not so casual Friday (at a bargain)

Back to work last week after being gloriously sidelined with BB2, and Friday was my first official ‘casual Friday’ in seven months. The pressure was on. Not only did I have to adhere to the traditional definition of the alternate work attire, but I had to do with style, grace and glamour. Yes, beautiful people gone are the days when I simply done a pair of well worn jeans and t-shirt. No, I made a promise to myself that I would skip convention and glam it up when it came to work. So, after a seriously mean foray into the smallest wardrobe in the world, I came up with a truly gorgeous outfit consisting of a gold, red and grey batwing silk blouse from Sussans, high waisted flares from Country Road, patent caramel brown peep toe wedges from Wittner, Guess handbag from Macys in LA and bling ring from Diva. And, true to my style, it was all bought for a bargin. Check it out...

Silk blouse, reduced from $109 to $29.95 during the post chrissie sales '09;
Jeans , $14.95 from the country road outlet at DFO South Wharf;
Wedges, reduced from $169.95 to $30 courtesy of a Wittner clearance sale over 12 months ago;
Handbag, purchased in LA for $95.00 at an exchange rate of $A0.93;
Bling ring, $14.95 during a Diva 2-for-1-sale;
Grand total $184.85

Why not post a comment and tell me what you think?

How to save $220 a month without even trying

No, this is not an advertising feature for the next big u-beaut savings scheme. Like I’d know anything about that! This is a tried and nearly true method to accommodate your next big fashion spend. Although I must warn you, if you are a coffee maker or manufacturer then this is probably not for you. So, there I was a couple of months ago enjoying a good coffee with DH - universal forum speak for “dear hubby” - about my need for a new pair of slacks for work. In an effort to provide a positive solution while still pointing out my insatiable desire to spend, DH suggested I give up coffee and instead put the money toward said trousers. I nearly choked on my regular decaf soy flat white, my coffee combination of choice and stared at him as though he had suggested that I give up shopping altogether. What did he mean give up coffee? Coffee is nothing, a small daily indulgence that was at best a teeny tiny kink in the monthly budget. It had got me through the first three years following BB1 - universal Milla speak for Beautiful Baby #1, and had been keeping me relatively sane six months post BB2. It was my upper in the morning and prevented me from crawling into a corner and falling asleep in the afternoon. Was he mad? After all, I am just your average, run-of-the-mill coffee drinker. Two a day on most days, sometimes one, very rarely three. At an average of $4.00 per coffee, it seemed inconsequential in the grand plan at the time of purchase. Then I started to do the sums.

$4.00 a coffee is $8.00 a day: $56 a week: $224.00 a month! Oh my god that is a new pair of shoes and a clutch from Wittner right there. He was right.

I decided to test this and drop my coffee intake to one cup a day. Using my theory of averages, I put the remaining $4.00 into a jar each evening. Within 4 weeks I had saved over $150 and paid off BB2’s glamour portrait collection I‘d commissioned on credit (!) the month before. Not only was I surprised at how quickly the dollars mounted up without even knowing it, but I was shocked and speechless when I realised there were days I didn’t drink coffee at all!!! I know, can you believe it.
So the next time you reach for that loyalty card, just remember. If you stopped drinking coffee and put $8.00 away every day and you did this for 12 months, then that gorgeous hot pink quilted chanel handbag could really be yours.