Thursday, May 28, 2015

Budgeting Bloggers: April and May

In true trying-to-do-too-much-at-once fashion--aka my daily struggle--I had to blow off a few to-dos in late April and early May. One of those things was my Budgeting Bloggers post, which is a (relative) shame because I had a crazy haul in April! In comparison, I didn't technically buy clothes in May...but I did use some honeymoon spending money to pick up a couple cute souvenir-type pieces while we were in Mexico. So, better late than never, here's my April budget breakdown:

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1. Adorbs t-shirt from Target. I was shopping with my sister and grandma, hungover, the day after my bachelorette party. I practically sprinted to this shirt, the last one in the store, and realized it was miraculously in my size. I've been wearing it almost nonstop ever since. (Including on my wedding morning, natch.) | $12.99 {exact}

2. Lace-trimmed t-shirt from H&M. Another totally frivolous, unnecessary impulse purchase that I don't regret in the slightest. | $9.95 {exact}

3. "Cold Shoulder" top from Express. My first non-warehouse/thrifted Express purchase. Hayley and I were shopping for a dress for her to wear to my bachelorette, and I decided I NEEDED DIS for my pre-bachelorette shindig in Athens. | $34.90 {exact}

4. Ankle-strop flats from Forever 21. Another "this is perfect for Athens" shopping spree spoil. Though walkable, Athens has a ton of brick streets and heels are a definite no. While these were a pain to break in (literally, the buckles cut my ankles wide open), they're super comfy to wear now. | $15.90 {similar}

5. Sidekicks roll-up flats from Party City. Yes, I bought shoes from Party City. But with the heels I was wearing for actual bachelorette party in Columbus (see #6), I knew pack-a-flats were a must. I regret nothing. | $15 {exact}

6. BCBGeneration Cynthia pumps via Macy's. These were exactly what I was looking for. The mesh itself is much finer IRL; it's less of a fishnet and more of a sheer black material. They were on super sale, plus I had a gift card, so my total out-of-pocket was a whopping... | $5.67 {exact, for $30.99)}

7. Tote from Target. Purchased last-minute when I realized I didn't have a beach bag to take on the honeymoon. Doubled as my "bag of emergency crap" that I made my sister lug around the day of the wedding. | $14.99 {exact}

8. Bachelorette party dress from H&M. Because no bachelorette is complete without a lacy, short, see-through-on-top, totally skimpy dress. I've never worn a dress like this and honestly? I felt like a million bucks in it. I have nowhere else to wear it but I love how it looked on me so much, I'm just gonna keep it. Maybe I can dye it black? | $29.95 {exact}

9. Calvin Klein dress from Nordstrom Rack. So I originally had planned to rewear the white Calvin Klein dress I bought secondhand for $10 (worn first at my family bridal shower) to my rehearsal dinner. Then I saw this beauty and fell in love. The hurriedly-taken photo doesn't do it justice; this is another dress I can't quite get rid of because I felt freaking fantastic in it. | $48.16 (with tax)

10. Gold necklace from Old Navy. This was a bad month for impulse buys. I blame my "spend all the money" from last-minute wedding purchases and vendor checks. This grabbed my eye as I was buying flip flops for all my bridesmaids, as you do, and I just snagged it. To be fair, I've been looking for a good, inexpensive, chunky gold necklace for like two years now. Justified? | $12

And that's April! Grand total, including tax: $201.97. Okay so technically I did spend my May budget...just a month early. Oops. The three items I bought in May were all purchased when Matt and I realized we converted way too much wedding-present cash to pesos for our trip. We figured eh, we'd written it off already, and we didn't want to pay the fees to convert it, so we did a fair amount of shopping. We bought a ridiculous amount of Mexican tchotchkies, like the obligatory shot glasses, hot sauce and the like. Matt got a dude-necklace, and I got...

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1. THIS GORGEOUS DRESS. I saw it hanging in one of the vendor market stalls outside Tulum before we went in to the ruins themselves, and it sat in the back of my mind for the next hour as we walked around. Naturally, I had to have it by the time we left. I scored the dress, but not without some gentle haggling on the price, of course.

2. Mother-of-pearl and abalone necklace. Kind of cheesy, sure, but I love both of those types of shell and think they make lovely jewelry. This guy had a stall right out on the beach and had tons of shell, shark-tooth and other sea-themed jewelry. I got a few compliments on it already, so I figure it was worth it.

3. Pearl necklace. This was one of those "buy an oyster and crack it open and there's a pearl inside" deals (which came with the necklace itself), which I've always thought was really cool. The resort's gift shop had a ton of these. The packaging said the pearls ranged in color, but I lucked out with a pure white one.

4. Sun hat. Another gift shop purchase, on our second-to-last day when we started to realize how many leftover pesos we had. Ridiculously overpriced for a straw hat, but we were on our way to Tulum and I wanted some extra sun protection for my face. Gotta keep this face youthful and wrinkle-free!

Can we just take another look at that red dress again? I can't even. I have no idea where else I might wear it, what with the whole can't-wear-a-bra-and-v-neck-plunging-down-to-my-sternum, but it makes me feel sexy as hell and I love it to pieces. (Though I wasn't wearing makeup in these pictures so I just cropped my face out, haha.)

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And there you have it, folks. Check yet another item off my to-do list...even if it is a month late.

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