I'm a stylish mom on a budget
When you’re a mom, you know all about the ridiculous rate that your children go through clothes at. And when you’re on a tight budget you have learned every money saving technique known to man when it comes to dressing your kids. You’re a dab hand at finding special deals, you have mastered the art of the hand me down and you make sure that you keep an eye out for coupons that may help you save on anything you’ll need to buy.
But what about you? Has your wardrobe been neglected because you’re spending your entire clothing budget on your kids? You’ve gotten used to wearing the same clothes over and over again and so long as it’s not falling apart, it’s not a problem. But let an interview opportunity or meeting with a potential client come up and suddenly you realize that neglecting yourself was a bad idea!
So how do you keep yourself in style on a tight budget? By doing the following!
Un-clutter that overstuffed wardrobe!
First step is to go through your wardrobe and find every item that you haven’t worn in a long while or that is one wash away from falling apart. Now pull out everything that you wear regularly but is missing a button, has a small tear or needs a little TLC of some kind. Go through everything and decide what is WORTH keeping. If it’s going to cost too much to fix or you’re not sure you actually like or are ever going to wear it then put it on the discard pile. Donate these items to family, sell what you can at a consignment store and donate the rest to a charity for a tax write off.
What do you actually need?
Now have a look at your daily life and make a list of what clothing you’d need for the year if your entire wardrobe set alight. Honestly – starting from zero is a good way to decide what you absolutely have to have and what is simply indulgence. Match what is left in your wardrobe to the list you’ve made. Do you have everything you need to create outfits for work, for possible meetings, for weekends, for special functions? Basically do you have clothing to suit any situation that life may throw at you in the next year?
Now it’s time to start shopping.
With your ‘I need this’ list, head online to Discountrue and start looking for coupons, special deals and promotions for the items on that list. Remember that you don’t HAVE to buy name brand clothing. Quite often an almost exact match of that simply to die for item is available from a lesser known brand that is just as good as the original. Start with the basics – smart slacks, denims, a good jacket, sweaters, hoodies, button-up blouses, t-shirts and tanks. A good quality pair of black slacks can be dressed up when paired with a white blouse and a smart jacket, or they can be dressed down when paired with a bright colored t-shirt and a black hoodie. If you’re not comfortable in tanks(or anything else) – don’t buy them! No matter how versatile they are, they’ll just end up collecting dust in your wardrobe.
Dress up or down using accessories.
Depending on how formal an occasion is it should be possible to dress just about every single item in your wardrobe up or down to suit. Sometimes the look of an entire outfit can be changed just by the accessories you add. Drop earrings, a delicate pendant necklace and a matching bracelet turn denims into an acceptable outfit for a lunch meeting – depending on your industry of course! Pairing that same outfit with a chunky necklace and colorful beaded bracelets turns it into an outfit perfect for a girl’s night on the town. And they don’t have to be sterling silver or 14ct gold accessories. Something which didn’t cost more than $15 might look a whole lot better with a particular outfit than that VERY expensive diamond studded tennis bracelet you’ve been drooling over!
Be neutral – then pop!
Black, grey, white, navy and brown are the neutral shades which should form the base of your wardrobe. Although with brown one needs to be careful of the shade – I tend to stick to chocolate brown for my basics as it is the most versatile. Now start looking for those ‘pop’ color items but make sure that every item you consider buying can be paired with at least three other items. Don’t be afraid of bold colors - a neon pink tank looks great under a white blouse with grey slacks for that more professional look, or it can be paired with blue denims for that fun, flirty weekend casual look. Don’t buy everything you need at once – spread your purchases over the whole year, visit Discountrue as often as possible and it won’t seem like such an expensive exercise!
Comments