Budgets and Decluttering

Thank you all for your comments and opinions on my last post.  After giving it some more thought, I decided to return the skirt.  I put it in the mail this afternoon (so as to avoid more temptation while returning it at the store), so it's a done deal.  It's really cute, but I just don't know if I'd get a lot of wear out of it.  I think I'd like it more if it were black or white, or any other color that I wear pretty regularly.  Cynthia made the point of asking when/where I would wear it, and I can't really answer that.  I agree that it's too cutesy for work (a touch too short too), but I'm not sure where it'd be appropriate.  And as SFE and others mentioned, if I have to ask if I should return it, I should probably return it.

I may not have thought so much about it if I hadn't just made a list of all of things that I want to get for our new condo, and that stuff all really adds up!  Do I need another skirt, or do I want to get a nice set of curtains to cover our new windows?  Or a new rug?  Or a new bed set?  Lanterns for our new back porch?  Flowers to plant in our new yard?  You get the idea.  As much as I love clothes shopping, I think I need to take a serious break and save my money for bigger things.  Style Nation, can you help keep me in check on this?  Starting April 1st, I'm giving myself a monthly budget of $100 to spend on things like clothes, shoes, accessories, make-up, and even yarn (I've gotten hooked on knitting, and that stuff adds up!).  That probably still seems like a lot for someone who needs to save money, but compared to what I've spent in past months... it's not too bad.  There's not a lot that I really need right now, so hopefully it shouldn't be too hard.  I do need to replace my old, beat up Chaco Flips sandals before our trip to California next month, but I have a $50 gift card from Zappo's that I got with my credit card rewards points, so that won't eat up too much of the budget.

Today's post also made me start thinking about clothes that I don't love.  I have a lot that fits into this category, and it's starting to feel really cluttered.  We're planning to move the first weekend in June, so between now and then, I'm doing some serious evaluating of everything that's in my closets and in storage, and I'm going to start getting rid of things that don't get used.  I'll list all of this on eBay eventually, but first I thought I'd open it up to you.  Thus far I've just posted some clothes, but I'll be adding accessories and probably shoes at some point in time too.  Rebecca of MinnChic posted a link to a swapping blog today.  I think it's a really cool idea, and encourage you all to check it out, but swapping isn't for me right now since I don't want anything in return.


Click here or on "Anne's Closet" underneath our banner to see what I'm giving away.