one in, one out: march 2014

it's the end of march and time for another "one in, one out" post.  for each clothing, shoe, and accessory purchase i make this year, i am donating/selling/recycling a comparable item in an effort to better manage my closet!  see how i did in january or february by checking out my "one in, one out" tag.  here's how i did this month:

{ what came in }

item purchased	$ paid	original $
old navy green/white striped boatneck tee	5.98	19.94
gap sateen fit & flare dress	44.97	74.95
sonoma coral cable knit sweater	4.53	30
sonoma mint cable knit sweater	4.53	30
merona yellow cable panel sweater (thredup, $1.93)	ppal	?
gap cobalt blue sweater (thredup, $6.43)	ppal	?
blowfish mesa wedge pump	0	34.94
mossimo ona flat - gold ($10.19)	gcard	16.99
mossimo ona flat - blue ($12.74)	gcard	16.99
wifeysinger navy/caramel hoop earrings ($14.10)	ppal	14.50
target set of 6 stone earrings	5.33	9.99
	$65.34

total = 16 {7 pairs of earrings, 3 pairs of shoes, 6 clothing items}

thoughts: i can't remember the last time in the past several years i didn't make one thrifted purchase!  but that's okay considering i succumbed to a sale at the gap and spent more money on one item there than i have on anything else i own since i started tracking my clothing purchases in 2011.  the most expensive item i bought prior to this striped dress was these old navy boots for $32.  this got me thinking about how i tend to shop for quantity vs quality.  i primarily thrift or use coupon codes and sales (often together) to get more "bang for my buck."  i prefer statement/costume jewelry to real metals or gemstones and i don't buy expensive shoes because i've never figured out how to prevent scuffs or heel ends from wearing down over time--this truly baffles me!  these shopping habits certainly enable me to amass a lot of clothes, but i also need to give myself permission to tip the balance toward buying items that i really like, even if they are more expensive than my average price point.  i consider myself a smart, frugal shopper, so it's hard to let go of the thrill of getting an amazing deal that isn't always possible with bigger ticket purchases.  however, i did get the dress for 40% off--which was probably the best i could have done, so i'm satisfied with that.

i think i made decent choices with the other items i bought this month, too.  i had a prepaid reward credit card whose balance was reduced by $2 every month i didn't use it, so i used that to buy a pair of shoes from dsw.com before losing any more money from it.  i had a 20% off coupon and $10 coupon i could stack at kohl's and got two clearance sweaters for $4 each!  i took advantage of a BOGO 50% shoes deal at target and used an extra 15% off target coupon and gift card.  finally, i received a credit at thredup so i made a purchase on a monday to take advantage of that credit and a promo code they offer every monday.  i don't add my paypal purchases to my total spending each month as long as i have money in my paypal account i've earned from ebay sales or referral links, but i'm pretty proud that my thredup total went from about $20 down to $9!  i think these purchases definitely exemplify the way i try to be a smart shopper.  do you have a particular shopping mentality?

{ what went out }

thoughts:  i didn't consider at the time of purchase that the set of 6 earrings i bought from target would mean i needed to find 6 pairs of earrings to give up, but this forced me to go through my earring collection... a task that was long overdue!  i'd been eying the dress on the far right for some time and was so excited to find it on thredup, but when it arrived and was so short i listed it on ebay.  it sold this month and is the dress being replaced with the striped dress up above.  i'm also donating a couple pairs of shoes and sweaters that i just don't care much for anymore, so i feel good about everything that is going "out"!

looking ahead:  i ordered a clean out bag from thredup* this month with the intention to send them a handful of shoes that no longer feel appropriate to wear to my new work environment.  i find shoes difficult to sell on ebay due to higher costs of shipping and needing to find a box/envelope that's big enough, so i figured it was worth a try to send some shoes to thredup instead of donating them.  when i started this "one in, one out" mission in january, i also wanted to find ways to challenge myself throughout the year (giving up 2 items for every 1 item i buy, getting rid of only out of season items one month, etc) so sending thredup a bag of shoes seemed like a good opportunity to make an extra effort to keep my closet in check for this first quarter of 2014.  i'll share how it went and what i sent them soon.

as always, thanks so much for visiting!  how did you do with your budget/spending habits this month?  linking up with fran's budgeting bloggers!

*when you sign up for thredup through my referral link, you get $10 to spend and i get $10 after you make a purchase!