Category Archives: Shopping

Mastering CyberMonday

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It was a black, Black Friday for me.  I spent most of the day on the train returning home from my thanksgiving in Connecticut, and OF COURSE, the internet was not working. My plans to shop online (for Christmas presents, that is) during the trip home were completely foiled. Thankfully CyberMonday is tomorrow, and there are plenty of deals still to be had.

Here are a few that I’ve discovered today during my preparations.

Kate Spade Cyber Sale
My aunt asked for the Kate Spade perfume for Christmas.  Whaddaya know – they had a gift set on super sale! Done and done. They also had some pretty cute purses and shoes, but I’m not supposed to be buying those so I stayed away.

JCrew Sale
I’m always a sucker for a good JCrew sale as well. You can get 25% off your entire online order, plus free shipping on orders over $150 using the code: COLOR25.

Lands End Canvas
They’ve really stepped it up a notch at Land’s End, especially with their Canvas line. I’d highly recommend you check it out.

GAP
30% off your total order on Gap.com using this code: CYBER

SPANX
Free shipping on Spanx.com using this code: FREESHIP12. Spanx are a holiday staple – less as gifts and more as a way to keep your clothes fitting until new years.

This is just a sampling of deals. You can find more at www.CyberMonday.com. They have a full roster of participating stores – everything from Horchow and Lillian Vernon (who knew that still existed!) to Sephora and Target.

May the discount force be with you. Happy shopping!

DC’s Hipster Haven

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This weekend I took my first trip to Union Market in DC for the Crafty Bastards art fair. The fair was packed with local artisans, vendors, and most of all, people. I have never seen so many DC hipsters in one place! See below.

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I went to the fair to do some Christmas shopping, but of course, I found nothing for anyone, but myself. I only spent $30 though, so I think I did pretty well.

I scored a cool leather cuff bracelet from a local company is called Fisticuffs (eeeek!), and all of their work is original and one-of-a-kind (and discountess-friendly!). I also got a stamp of a bicycle from another booth. I plan to use it to make homemade tags for Christmas presents. I love stamps – they are so versatile (there’s definitely a post on stamps coming later!).

Anywhoozer, I didn’t get to spend as much time perusing the aisles on Union Market as I wanted. There were so many people that it made it hard to get around. That said, I’d love to go back on a normal Saturday. From what I can tell, they have great food shops, fresh veggies, wine and more. It’s the perfect place to grab a coffee, a paper, and do some serious people watching on a sunny Saturday. Talk about inexpensive entertainment!

Discount Dressing for Success – Bridesmaid Style

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My dearest friend from high school is getting married next spring, and I’m so excited to be a part of her day! She picked out a lovely color from the JCrew chiffon collection for the bridesmaids – dusty shale. We each get to pick our own dress, which is nice because I get to find a cut that is flattering for my figure. Of course, the style I want is FULL price at $250 – sort of steep for the Discountess.

Thank GOD for Ebay! I went on last night only to find my dress in my size on sale for $149.99. I immediately snapped it up. Some are worried about shopping on EBay, but after I checking out the seller, I felt good about the purchase. They had some pretty solid marks in their favor. Namely, these:

1. The seller was based in southwest Virginia. JCrew’s warehouses are based in SW VA, and if you ever get down there, they have a RIDICULOUS J Crew outlet in Lynchburg. I have been several times, and it’s awesome. This isn’t the outlet that you find in a Mills Mall, but a store that actually has current clothing from the catalog that has been overstocked in their warehouse. I’m pretty sure that’s where this person got the dress.

2. The dress was listed New With Tags (NWT). Never worn, not smelly. YES!

3. The seller was listed as top-rated. After selling 4317 items on EBay (most of them from JCrew), I figured they were good for the sale.

The dress is expected to arrive this week, so I’ll let you know how it goes.

 

Budget Check In – I Still Have a Shopping Problem

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So I’m officially one month down in my budgeting process. I figure that now is a good time for a gut-check moment. First off, I should say that I did officially save this month. Woo hoo! Whether or not I saved in the right areas, is a different story. Here’s where my budget checks out as of 10/31/12.

I’m over in the following categories:

Auto/Transportation – 14% over
Cash/ATM – 10% over
Personal Care  – 14% over
Groceries – 25% over
Shopping – 89% over (Clearly this one needs work – EEK!)

I was even or I only used part of the budget (i.e. I saved) in the following categories:

Bills/Utilities (includes rent, gym, etc) – Even
Business/Office – 16% used
Entertainment – 48% used (I was pretty surprised at this one!)
Food/Drink – 83% used (Again, surprised.)
Dry Cleaning – 26% used (I think this one is an anomaly)
Gifts – 70% used

Given all of this spending/saving, I managed to save more than my target amount for the month. But, I ended up having to use half of it to buy a train ticket for my Thanksgiving trip, so my final savings this month is 62% of my target amount.  Therefore, I rule this month as a marginal success.

Clearly, I need to address the shopping issue, but I’m pretty proud of myself that I managed to curtail spending on eating out. That is another big downfall for me (I say this as I have dinner plans tonight at Napoleon with friends).

I’ll admit I’m starting to get nervous about November and December budgeting. They are going to be tough months, especially with the holidays. I have at least three parties that I plan to throw in the next few months, and I need to buy Christmas presents – eek! My plan is to combine the shopping and gift budgets during the next two months to buy presents, and who knows what I’m going to do about the parties.

I’m contemplating buying lottery tickets in the hopes that I have a financial windfall. Fingers crossed!

Proof: Halloween Costumes Don’t Need to be Expensive to be Awesome

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Halloween is my favorite holiday of the year. Any excuse to dress up in something ridiculous and head out on the town is a-ok with me.

This year, given my current budget strife, I needed to produce a costume on a dime. For those of you attending parties tomorrow night, I highly recommend this one. especially if you have a friend you can rope into doing it with you.

50 Shades of Grey Fan Club

Nightgown – $19.99 (TJ Maxx)

Grey tie – $9.99 (TJ Maxx)

Reading Specs – $12.99 (split between 2 people)

Curlers, fancy earrings, and book – Free from my own collection

Riding Crop – Free from a friend (don’t ask)

Grand total: $36.00

Bonus – Not only was this costume HILARIOUS and easy to put together, but it was also the most comfortable thing I’ve ever worn. I highly recommend it for those who are costumeless at this late hour.

Budget Fail – Part Deux

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So my week of budget failure continues. I went to TJ Maxx today to purchase my Halloween costume, and managed to spend $67.80. Of COURSE, I picked up 2 unnecessary items including an adorable pair of sunglasses that were $7.99 (Naturalizer – who knew?!) and some lavender linen spray. Still, I shouldn’t have spent that much and to make matters worse – they double charged me for one of the items. Ugh! I didn’t notice until I got home, and there is very little hope that they will believe me when I try to reverse the charge. Grrr.

The good news is that I didn’t buy this.

In my former life, this Tory Burch coat would have been marched to the cash register as soon as I saw it. But now that I am the Discountess, I know better.

NOTE: This is still a pretty good deal for any interested Washingtonians out there, and it’s $449. Now, I realize that you can buy 6 coats for that price at LL Bean, but this is a good price for Tory.

Last one to get to the  TJ Maxx at Metro Center, is a rotten egg! Oh and there are other good Tory deals there too – definitely worth checking out!