spring wardrobe

I recently read a book that has changed my life. I know it's not the Bible, Mom! But it's so good. Lessons From Madame Chic was written by Jennifer of The Daily Connoisseur, who studied abroad in Paris and learned so much about how the French live: elegantly and seemingly effortlessly.

One of the 20 lessons she learned was that of the capsule wardrobe. She employs a ten-item wardrobe but stresses that the number is not as important as the idea. Living in California, Jennifer has a
spring/summer wardrobe and a different fall/winter wardrobe. North Carolina really has four distinct seasons, so I've chosen to have four different wardrobes. Of course each season I'll incorporate pieces from the previous season. In addition to the ten (or whatever number) core items, there should be "extras", such as layering pieces (tees, cardigans, etc.), shoes, accessories, occasionwear (like cocktail dresses for women or suits for guys), and outerwear. I've mostly completed my spring wardrobe (am still awaiting the arrival of a few pieces I've ordered), so I thought I'd share with you today so you may get started on yours if you're interested! Another thing to note is that by owning fewer pieces of clothing, you cut down on mindless shopping and multiple Target-clearance-rack trips every month, which in turn means that you will be able to afford more expensive and longer lasting clothing. In the future, as I replace needed items, I will definitely be looking for quality. For now, I do pretty much love all of my pieces, though not all are what I would choose were I starting from scratch. My budget thanks me for using up what I have before throwing it all out and beginning again. Side note: ThredUp is a great resource for new-to-you wardrobe items. They even have tons of pieces that are new with tags (my personal preference). So here's my wardrobe...

The above is a very rough picture of my closet (that I obviously share with my husband. And I do keep my winter coats in here, but only because there is no other place to store them and they are in an out-of-the-way spot for now). I'll begin with my core items:

1. White/khaki short-sleeve, knee-length Shabby Apple dress (from last year - these dresses are great quality!)

2. (Not pictured because it's in the wash) Red short-sleeve dress with horizontal piping and slightly full skirt from Anthropologie (from last year)

3. Coral/gold-ish sleeveless Vince Camuto dress (Dillard's) (from two years ago)

4. Yellow ruffle-front, short-sleeve Shabby Apple dress (from last year)

5. Green/white sleeveless Lilly Pulitzer dress (from 3 years ago)

6. Chambray/white polka dot sleeveless Keds dress (a gift)

7. Navy/white stripe lightweight, loose-fit Gap turtleneck (super duper clearance find this year)

8. (Not pictured because I'm wearing it) mint/white stripe lightweight Gap sweater (from same clearance rack as previous)

9. (Not pictured because it's awaiting ironing) grayish-purplish silky feeling long-sleeve blouse from TJMaxx

10. (Not pictured - awaiting arrival from ThredUp) navy/aqua stripe long sleeve J. Crew tee

11. Black lightweight Talbots midi-skirt (a great consignment find from last year)
*I so love the length and weight of this skirt, but it flies up in the wind. Like, really badly. So I will be keeping an eye out for a slightly heavier version to replace it

12. Coral maxi skirt from Charlotte Russe (got it the other week, a friend wanted me to wear it to her wedding so I took the tags off, but really brighter than my usual style. Soo comfy though, so it stays for now)

13. Turquoise/white polka dot Talbots midi skirt (another consignment find last year - for those in the area, you have got to go to Etc. in Winston-Salem. They have really nice clothes!)

14.  (Not pictured because I'm wearing them) mid-rise darker wash straight-leg (not skinny) Levi's (a little over a year ago)

15. (Not pictured because they're drying) coral skinny Gap ankle jeans (about a year and a half ago)

I am waiting to receive a neutral colored silk J. Crew dress from ThredUp, but I'm not sure whether to add that to my spring or summer wardrobe. I will wait until I see the weight before I decide. If I do add it to spring, though, I will put one of the sleeveless dresses back for summer. As you can see, mine is not a ten-item but a fifteen-item wardrobe. The aforementioned Jennifer does say to be flexible, but I prefer to have a number. Helps keep me in line :) also, if you look at the order in which I listed my items, you will notice I organize my clothing first by type, then in rainbow order (beginning with neutrals, then roygbiv). I have found this to be the easiest way to quickly locate any item, and also keep everything neat. Now I will talk about my "extras" (some are located in my closet, and others are in a drawer). This is the area I have the most trouble paring down. March was very cold still, but by summer it will be very hot.

1. Cardigans: pale pink, and peach/navy/white. While I do like the second one, it breaks the cardinal capsule wardrobe sin by not coordinating with everything. So this may be moved to fall (perhaps it would work better then?)

2. Light jackets: black, brown leather, and khaki (have not worn the khaki one very often at all, and it was a Goodwill purchase, so I may pass it on to a friend)

3. (Not pictured because they are on a coat rack by the front door) trench coats: lighter weight 3/4 sleeve, slightly heavier long sleeve. They are so classic and I really enjoy having both of these. Still, I feel I have way too many cardigans and jackets. We'll see what happens.

4. Tanks: black, and khaki. I have found both of these to be very essential. I also have an ivory lace tank that really I can only wear under something because it is slightly see-through. I love that it adds length, which is great whenever I want to wear leggings. And it adds some femininity. But it's not quite right for spring. So, ok, I'll move it to fall.

5. Tees: indigo blue, olive green, grey, bright coral. The green and coral tees are loose fitting which I really love for a more relaxed look. The blue is tighter, and I'm not crazy about the color, but when I put it on it is so comfy and looks pretty decent. The grey one is from Talbots but I really don't enjoy wearing it. Ok ok, I will get rid of it.

See what I mean about the "extras"? I sort of feel like it's cheating to claim to have a fifteen-item wardrobe then have so many extras. Writing this has really helped me think through them though, so I will most likely be tweaking!

Some of the lighter spring items will stick around for summer, and some of the heavier ones may be moved to fall, and the rest I will put away for next spring when I switch out my wardrobe for summer. My plan is to evaluate everything I have for the season at the beginning of that season, and move around or pare down accordingly. This is my first time really being serious about doing a capsule wardrobe, so I'm kind of learning as I go. But I can tell you, even from before I did this and had just gotten rid of some of my clothing, that fewer items give surprisingly more freedom. It is ridiculously easy to walk into my closet and choose an outfit for the day. I can see everything clearly, stay up-to-date with my laundry (which never gets out of hand!), and have more emotional space cleared out by having less clutter.

Honestly, my personal style is definitely more neutral and classic than most people my age, and even compared to myself five years ago. I have been a victim of the Target clearance rack plague, but no more! From now on, when an article of clothing comes in, one must go out. So as I wear things out and begin to replace them, I will definitely stick to more of my own style (which, by the way, may very well change a little throughout the years), and not just buy something because it's cheap. A couple of cheap items become very expensive if they are tossed in the Goodwill pile a few months later.

So will you be creating a capsule wardrobe? Remember, the number is not important. Another cool thing to check out would be Project 333. What will you be wearing for spring?

my (pro-activ-free) skin miracle

Let me start off by saying that I am not one to put myself out there when it comes to truly personal things. I used to not tell anyone if they had broccoli in their teeth, because I thought it was rude. But I know people don't want to walk around with broccoli in their teeth, so I'm working on it. If there's something that can help other people, regardless of how uncomfortable it may make me, the kindest thing to do is to share that something. So here goes.

I wish I had taken a before picture so you could truly appreciate the after. But you can use your imagination. Throughout my teenage years, I was basically like every other teenager. I dealt with hormones and all the glorious side effects. Fast forward: I grow up, get married, and we decide to start our family. So I come off birth control. And cue the acne. Way worse than I ever remember it being in high school. One positive is that I'm sure it made me look younger? Because who would think someone in their mid-twenties would struggle with it like I did?

My cousin is getting married next month and I'm in her wedding. I want to look good. One morning a few weeks ago I was just FED. UP. I had found a blog through Pinterest that had piqued my interest, so I consulted Empowered Sustenance. I was heading to "the city" this particular day, so I picked up as much as I could there, and had my mom visit her co-op to get the rest. That night, using what I had on hand, I began my journey.

So here's what I've been doing:

Morning: put 1/2 tsp raw honey in my hands and rub on my face. Rinse with warm-ish water. Follow with an organic toner (I already had this and am trying to use it up before I make my own), and this Egyptian Magic cream (again, trying to use up what I have before I make my own - in this case, I will be making a facial oil). Apply all-natural makeup. Do not pick at face!

During the day: here's probably the key. Make better food/drink choices! Instead of fried, choose grilled. Instead of fries, choose fruit cup. Skip dessert. Have water with lemon, and occasionally tea. It's ok to cheat every once in a while, but that should be the exception rather than the rule. Do not pick at face!

Night: put some coconut oil on my hands and rub together until it becomes more oil-like in consistency. Rub on face (do not take makeup off before, do not wet before, just put it straight on my face). Massage my face, making this a relaxing ritual. Wet washcloth with very warm water. Lay over face for 20 seconds to open pores. Wipe face clean (don't scrub). Apply toner. Use more coconut oil as moisturizer as needed. Thoroughly wet the end of a q-tip with tea tree oil to use as spot treatment. Lather lips with Vaseline (nothing to do with acne, but my lips have also been crazy dry this winter). Do not pick at face!

It's been a week and a half and I can tell a HUGE differene! This thrills me. Yesterday I wore abut half the amount of makeup I usually do, and when I woke up this morning and looked in the mirror, I was pleased to see that I could walk out the door with NO makeup on if I wanted! I will not be doing that, however, as I would be confused for a young boy (I have super short hair and a young-looking face). But it's now an option! I will continue doing what I've been doing for a long while, and look forward to continued improvement. Let me know if you try it and it works for you!

more ways to save on groceries

Sorry I haven't posted in a while. I'm working a lot more now so posts may be few and far between! Last night, I sat down and made out a monthly meal plan for the first time since beginning working so much, and I have to say, it feels so great. I don't know if I can go back to not meal planning. Along with the meal plan I made out a grocery list. I want to share with you some new ways I've started using to save on groceries.

1. conscious box Sorry, the link is not wanting to work for me. But anyway. A friend told me about this subscription service and she really loves it. My first box is currently on its way to my house. She said her last box had some teas, sunscreen, and several other things. This is a way she exposes herself to things we might never learn about, living in the boondocks and all. I thought it would be a good way to encorporate some more healthful products. Since my grocery budget includes household items, this is perfect for us. I chose to subscribe on a month-by-month basis, so it will be $19.95 every month.

2. amazon subscribe & save I am so excited to try this! So basically, certain items on Amazon are eligible to be in the subscribe & save program. You can choose to receive the item anywhere from every month to every 6 months. You get a 5% discount on these items. And if you choose 5 subscription items in any one month, you get a 15% discount. Yay!

3. I took my grocery budget, which is $200, and subtracted $20 for conscious box and the price of the items I subscribed to on Amazon. I ended up with $157 left for the month. I already had my completed grocery list so I ended up dividing the remainder of my budget among the categories of groceries. $55 for meat, $40 for dairy (2 gallons of milk a week - it's actually an improvement from a year ago), etc. Within the general categories like the ones I just mentioned, I broke down the money even more. $10 for butter. Obviously that will be a lot of butter, so it will enable me to stock up.

Nothing super fancy here, but I felt really good about my plan for March groceries, and I wanted to share with you how I did it. Hope it helps :)

semi-necessities: the rest

home improvement: we put a variable amount here every month, depending on jake's pay month to month. this category is not for window treatments (boo). it's for gas for the lawnmower, or weedkiller (still working on getting hubs on the "green" bandwagon), or maybe a little mini-furnace or something this winter. needs more so than wants.

gifts: $10/month. we really don't have that many people with whom we exchange gifts. truthfully we are more about experiences and time together than material things (that few people really need, and just end up in a goodwill or re-gift box or the trash -- if we're honest). we set an approximate $15 spending limit on gifts. basically this is for birthdays or random occasions that come up throughout the year (of course there are times when we spend more; $15 is a guideline).

christmas: may seem redundant, but this one is for christmas gifts. we put $10/month here. but this also covers any christmas decor we may find we need. i know, not a true need, but something might come up. like maybe christmas card postage. or we may want to throw an impromptu holiday social thing. obviously this amount won't cover very much; but we want to have a little money available just in case.

medical care: we put $5/month into this category. this is purely for routine care. co-pays, prescriptions, etc. i have a little money in an HSA left over from a previous job, so we are using that for now (fyi: every month they charge a $1 service charge and take it out of your account. may want to keep an eye on that if you have one you're not using). we're working on transitioning to more homeopathic...stuff? so this may go to help purchase essential oils, flower essences, etc. in the future.

dolly: our sweet princess. our baby. how we love her. but not more than $30/month. we estimated this would cover vet visits, and food, and occasional grooming. jake has been dabbling in her grooming recently, so that will save some. the first time we bought basically the cheapest food available. but now that we have had some time, we will likely replace that brand with something more natural (if it's not a million dollars). we also may try to get by with every other year vet visits. or something. we're not trying to invest in this dog by any means... we just want to love her and give her a good home and life (she was a rescue).
update: found some rachael ray natural dog food at food lion. didn't really read the label but i'm going to assume it's truly natural...and it wasn't that much more than any other dog food! there were also some all-natural treats - several options - that i picked up too

so that finishes up our semi-necessities! next we will look at wants, and ways we save on them. as always, questions are welcome :)

semi-necessities: insurance

*i wrote this a few days ago, before oct. 1...i will make some changes based on obamacare (what i know if it right now)

we thought life insurance would be more than we can afford, but it's actually not that bad. and we realized that the more in debt we are, really the more we need it. jake's insurance covers what we still owe on the house, and my student loans, and roughly one year of his salary, and a little extra (we rounded up). so if something were to happen to him tomorrow, i would be more than covered. i would have no more debt, be able to give him a nice funeral, and take some time off work without worrying about anything. since we live on jake's salary, with our debt out of the way i'd then be able to live on mine. i'd probably be able to still work only part-time (this would be most important to us if we had kids). it's making me sad to think about all this! but it's the reality. my insurance would cover my student loans, a funeral, and a little extra. since my salary pays for debt only, basically he would be wiping out what he would otherwise have had to cover on one less salary. if we had kids, our moms/grandmas would likely be able to cover childcare, so that wouldn't be an additional cost.

sorry to seem morbid. but after looking at all that, i am once again so glad we have life insurance. we pay about $64/month for both of us. mine is a 30 year term policy. but in 30 years my loans will be paid off anyway. the majority of jake's is a 30 year as well, but again, at that time the house and student loans will be non-issues. jake does have a little in a lifetime policy -- it would cover about a year of his salary. so that's the life insurance.

because i work part-time, we do purchase my health insurance. it is beyond outrageous what it would cost to add me to jake's; i would literally be working to pay for my insurance. so anyway. we have the super duper cheap-o plan from blue cross blue shield. it doesn't even cover maternity costs, but i guess obamacare is going to change all of it anyway? but i'll just talk about the way it is right now. i think my deductible is about $5000, with a maximum out of pocket of $8000. i happen to know that we qualify for financial aid at our local hospital. so if something awful happened, we would first apply for that. it would knock off about 50% of the bill (from my estimations and the info given on their website). NOT that anyone should plan their lives around a handout -- but we are talking worst-case scenario here. anyway, we would then take out our "emergency medical" amount in our savings, and if we still owe, we could tap into our IRAs. it's kind of scary to think about. but the truth is that i'm very healthy, and have no propensity for anything right now, so a high deductible plan is fine. we really could even raise it. on sept. 30 i received a letter from blue cross blue shield. they automatically chose a plan for me for next year that is similar to the one i have currently. it is simply unaffordable. i have been unable to get on the marketplace, but from what bcbs is telling me, since i am eligible to be added to jake's insurance, that negates my eligibility for any subsidies? which is pretty devastating for us. otherwise i would have been eligible for at least one (everyone under 400% of the poverty level) and probably the other (under 250% of the poverty level). i have chosen a bcbs "catastrophic" plan that looks like it would be fine - this is only an option for those under age 30. i am anxious to get into the marketplace to see what other options i have. so anyway, just keep in mind that our health insurance mindset/planning is now different than when i originally wrote this.

so there's insurance. not so much about ways to save, but more some important things to consider when looking at insurance. hope it's helped :)

semi-necessities: transportation

i know that is totally not a thing, but i didn't know what else to call this next section of budget categories i will address. so these are the things that are definitely not necessities, but they're not pure wants either. today we will talk about all things transportation.

jake's car is paid for. in the future, we plan to be able to say that about all vehicles, always. but right now we are still paying for my car. financing a car is about one of the least financially responsible things to do, in my opinion. i don't say that judgmentally; i'm in the boat with ya. i just feel so stupid continuing to pay for something that is losing value every day. a few months ago, we looked into getting a less expensive car, and essentially spending whatever amount we could get from the sale of my car to purchase one. but we decided against that, because my car (a honda accord) is one that holds its value much better than others, it's safe, will be a great family car, and gets pretty good gas mileage. so we took as much money out of savings as we felt comfortable with, and used it to pay a chunk down on the car. we refinanced it with a credit union. we did opt for a longer repayment term (five years), but we are paying the same amount we would have had we financed for four years. it still saves us over $100/month from our previous payment. again, our goal now is to pay off the student loans. when those are paid off, if we still owe on the car at that point, it will become our new goal. so for the sake of transparency here: we owe about $4500? on my car. we pay $115/month. the car is valued at about $13,000. so while our current situation is not our ideal, it's a lot better than the "norm". as i mentioned in the post about savings, we do plan to pay cash for our vehicles in the future. if we need a car and only have $1000 saved, well, we'll be driving a pretty lousy car until we can afford a better one :) but we will be driving our current cars until they plumb won't run anymore.

we have a local insurance agent, and ended up saving a lot over what i was paying previously. i have no idea if it's the best rate possible. ideally we would check around every few years. we do pay our insurance once a year, which is the most financially responsible way to do it. we put back about $75/month, so by the time the bill comes, we will have all we need to pay it. if you decide to do this (and i think you should if at all possible), it will cost a chunk up front. we have both our cars and our home all with the same people, so that also saves.

we put $10/month back for car maintenance. would be nice to do more, but we just can't right now. we would love to get it built up and keep $500 on hand at all times but we definitely aren't there yet. we use this money now for regular maintenance, but at some point we will need to have some saved up for other things as our cars age.

both our cars get good gas mileage - anywhere from 27-35 mpg, depending. we drive straight drives, which helps a little, and enables us to be in a little more control over mpg. we basically try to be smart about our gas usage. i don't make random trips to just one place; i combine stops in one general area and take one trip. we budget $40/month for jake (he gets paid mileage through work, but he has to drive 30 miles to get to his first stop, which is not covered by work), and $100/month for me. those are really not high amounts. but by being smart about it, we can make it work.

so that's that on transportation. the whole not-financing-cars thing is a touchy subject, i am aware. at the very least, please, PLEASE don't ever be satisfied with or adopt the mindset that you'll always have a car payment. you do get to decide that, you know.

how we save on necessities: clothing

i will start off by saying that for about 99% of us, this no longer is a necessity. we have clothes. some of you have kids, and they grow and need other clothes. new clothes, not necessarily. new to them, yes. but i will go into all of that.

hand-me-downs are awesome. ideally, i would love to have a few girlfriends who could get together and swap clothes as we get tired of them, or change sizes, or whatever. because we all have everything we need, and at this point it's about wants. i shop at goodwill and consignment stores for clothes for us, but again, those are all wants. we are actually moving toward a minimalist approach to our clothing (in addition to other areas of our lives), which means we only have a few of each type of clothing. normally people wear about 20% of their wardrobe 80% of the time. so we opted to just own the 20%.

in order to really master the art of thrift store dressing, you have to go regularly. some days you will leave with nothing. some days you will find 20 things. there is plenty of brand name, in-fashion clothing to be found at places like goodwill, and especially at consignment stores (but go to thrift stores first - they are cheaper). then there are those rare, fun, vintage goodies that everyone will wish they could "pull off" too :)

we budget $5/month for clothing. it would be fun to budget more, and maybe we can in the future. but truly we don't need any more. that amount is basically for new underwear when ours all have holes and can no longer be worn. so whenever i buy "new" clothes (rarely for me anymore does that actually mean new!), it comes from any additional spending/fun money i may have.

reading over this, we sound pretty hobo-esque. ha. but it all ties into cutting our expenses to the bare minimum in order to get out of "slavery" (the biblical description of debt/owing anything to anyone).