Financial Responsibility

Financial responsibility is important if you want to stay looking fabulous because being broke is not fashion forward. Don't get me wrong, I love to shop. My heart skips a beat when I lay my eyes on the perfect pair of shoes. Articles of clothing have taken my breath away. And the first time I saw Saks 5th's shoe dept right before the half yearly sale, I saw shoe heaven. I couldn't afford to buy anything... but it was beautiful.

But lets get back to your money. You work hard for it. Or if you don't, someone else does. I mean unless you have a crop of money trees, you should spend it wisely. Why just give it away? While in the world of retail you can never really get your money's worth because the stores would never make a profit, you can always demand as much for your money as possible. This takes patience and it may mean holding out for a while and not buying anything until the prices are reasonably low.

Tips I use to save and stretch my dollars.

Take time to browse and compare prices
Since I had to throw out my worn out staple black pencil skirt over a year ago, I've been on the hunt for another but it is incredibly difficult to find nice fitting, good quality, black skirt with little to no distinguishing details marked down to less than $40. It is important that skirt has no distinguishing details so you can get away with wearing it [to the office] a couple times without anyone having to know it is the same skirt. Also, a gal should always have one in her closet for they come in handy very often. After months of hunting and holding out I found a gray and a black one at $15 each in Banana Republic!! I could hardly believe it and bought without question. It takes great discipline but you too can become a money miser.

Put aside savings and forget about. Act like you don't have that money hiding in separate account or in an envelope in your sock drawer. Money in your debit account is too easily accessible when you feel the urge to spend.

Put away amounts that end in 0
I find it much harder for me to break bills so I like my savings to equal an even amount $500, $650. And I like to use brand new $100 and $50 bills for cash stash so I will be less tempted to slip out a $20 for something I may not really need. Ever notice how as soon as you break a $10 or $20 bill, it's gone almost before you realize it? Smaller bills are easier to spend but they add up.

Bring your lunch
Street food is always more expensive than cooking but cooking saves you money. Think about how much money you can save each week just by bringing your lunch.

Hold out for sales
That's what I do. I save whatever I can outside of my necessary expenses like transportation cost to and from work (as much I would love to be able to eliminate that, reality is, it isn't going anywhere =/) and I don't do much shopping on a regular basis. I browse sales racks and I save up for the big sales so I can afford to really shop when they do happen.

Remember, you can look cute on a dime but not your last dime.. ;)