My Shopping Revolution

I use to stare at people in envy. Tall people, short people, thin people (still do), big people, whatever kind of people but for the same reason- they looked so darn good. Their clothes were always fashionable with great color combinations and cute acessories. And I would sit there. Frumpy in jeans that didn't fit properly (always frayed at the ends), a t-shirt and my hair up in a pony tail (still working on it).

But remember this post? In that post I stated that I was determined to make a change in my life (more motivation, less excuses, more action) and I am doing that. One slow day at a time and you know what? It feels great.

I'm eating better, becoming more active, and trying to change myself from the inside out. So today I decided to work on the outside.

Goodbye! frumpy mommy with those dreaded mom jeans, messy pony tail and stained clothing. Hello! hot sexy mom who'd rather spend more money towards clothes and home decor than fast food.

But I've never really been great at putting clothes together (despite having a mom who is very fashionable..but don't tell her I told you that). My mom always use to say, "M...all your taste is in your mouth." Perhaps she was right. No one could tell me I wasn't doin' somethin' with my ratty t-shirts and Chuck Taylors with holes in the sides. But now I can see the forest through the trees and I am not ashamed to say that I may have been a late bloomer.

So what am I doing now? Well, Pinterest helps me a lot. People are constantly pinning outfit ideas and color combinations that they like and I've been pinning them to my own boards, keeping them for inspiration. But that wasn't enough and then I stumbled on this blog. More specifically this series. The skies opened up and it all came together.

Purge
I went through my dresser and closet trying on everything and evaluating it in the mirror just like the article told me to do. That took me about 45 minutes but it was a great eye opener because the clothes I thought I liked, I didn't or some things I thought fit, didn't. So after I was done doing that I put what clothes I liked in one pile and the rest went into my donation pile (maybe someone else would like them).

Evaluate
I then looked at my clothes and evaluated what I had. I essentially separated the pile into clothes that would work for my casual life and my professional life. Some clothes fit both categories and others were strictly work or casual. Once I determined that, I wrote down everything I owned in a notebook. Something small so I could take it with me.

Inspiration
Once I had a list of things I already had, I was surprised that I had a few hidden outfits in the mix. But in general I found that I had some huge deficits in my wardobe. I'm talkin', no black cardigan, no black pencil skirt, no all purpose white collar shirt...you know, the staples. I didn't even have a pair of jeans! No wonder I always looked frumpy, half put the together, and very frustrated in the morning- my closet is only a fraction of what it should be.

But I didn't want to fall into an old trend of mine. One where I just went out to the store and bought whatever I thought I needed only to find out when I was trying to get dressed that I actually don't have any clothes. So to help me, I continued to look at this blog for inspirations. I even tried to look at her link section for other blogs like hers but felt extremely overwhelmed. My tip would be, find one or two daily fashion bloggers that you like and stick to them for inspiration. I found that she really spoke to my own style so I looked over her blog for hours, looking for inspiration.

The List
So I already had a list of things I had and when I was done looking through fashion blogs and websites like the Gap, J. Crew, and Lane Bryant I made a list of things I need to add to my wardrobe in order to make it somewhat complete. I really thought about what pieces I needed to buy to add to what I already have. Pieces I could remix. I didn't want to go out shopping without having a direction, a grocery list for clothes you can say.

Shopping
Armed with my list this morning I set out to a few stores that carry my sizes (plus size with a long inseam) and managed to find some great bargains. I didn't run around the mall with my head cut off or making stupid purchases (almost, but I challenged myself to look at the list and I put the items back) and it was actually really easy.

The Result
When I got home I sat my new buys out and began to put together the outfits I had found on the internet and even outfits I thought about on my own. With my new purchases I saw how with only a few things I could have multiple outfits and what was even better? TP was extremely happy.

I urge anyone who is looking to spruce up their wardrobe or looking to build one (like me) to really take a look at this blog series because it will do wonders for you.

-M

grocery budget: May 15-22

This is my third week of grocery shopping on a $100.00 a week budget and is it strange to say that I love it? It's like a game to me. I spend the majority of my time after work creating a meal plan that my family will love. My goal is to create meals that offer some kind of variety and I'm still trying to add meals that don't have a lot of chicken or beef. So this week I focused on fish:

Here's our weekly menu:

(April May 15- May 22)

Sunday

-Spaghetti with homemade sauce

-Toast with garlic butter

-Salad

Monday

-Fish tacos with chipotle mayo- M&M

-Spaghetti- Bean

Tuesday

-Club sandwiches & Chips- M&M

-PB&J- Bean

Wednesday

-Pasta with Alfredo sauce

-Broccoli

-Garlic Knots

Thursday

-Left overs

Friday

-Breakfast

Saturday

-Jamin Salmon Burgers with dill mayo

-Chips

Sunday

-Cheese quesadillas

-Black beans and rice

Here's what we bought at Wegmans

Wheat bread

Organic Milk

Cream cheese (2)

Organic yogurt

Tortillas

Yeast

Heavy Cream

American Cheese

Sherbert ice-cream

Ice cream sandwiches

Frozen peach slices

Frozen blue berries

Frozen strawberries (coupon)

Ice

Chips (2)

Dish soap (2) (coupon)

Strawberry jam

Spaghetti (2)

Linguini

Chipotle chillies in adobo

Pink salmon (2)

Chocolate chips

Diced tomatoes

Black beans

Soda

Mahi-Mahi filets

Broccoli

Dill leaves

Parsley

Red pepper

Red cabbage

Corn (2 ears)

Lemon

Lime

Tomatoes on the vine (3lbs)

Bananas

Sliced turkey (1lb) (coupon)

Total cost for the week: $102.18

Coupon savings: $6.79

Total cost with coupons: $95.39

That means we have a week savings of $4.61!

Recap

Fish is really expensive! But so worth it. I'm looking forward to having fish tacos and salmon burgers (a family favorite but I'm using a new recipe).

We ran out of smoothie supplies (usually what we both eat in the morning) so replenishing that was expensive. Luckily that supplies will last us a little over two weeks. Buying staples is always expensive (like the American cheese I bought that I use for Bean's grilled cheese sandwiches) or things like ice cream. But the cost is justifiable because they aren't weekly purchases for us and last us for a while.

I was happy I found that deal last week on cereal because we still have a lot left. Usually I thought cereal deals and coupons for cereal weren't enough to off set the cost of the purchase but now I see that buying it in bulk actually makes us eat it less! Isn't that crazy? It was like before when I would only buy cereal far and few between we'd eat it within days. Now that I have four boxes sitting in the cabinets, it's barely touched. Things are so funny.

I was holding my breath the whole time I was being checked out. I was so nervous I was going to go way over. But when the total came up, I felt relief. I still had coupons in my hand and when the final total came up with the coupons included, I smiled. I actually felt like I won something!

The savings that we had left over from this shopping trip are going into next weeks food budget!

-M

indulgence

I'm doing a 365 photo and blog challenge.

This will be an extreme challenge for me because it is my ultimate goal to have something posted on this blog with a photo, every single day of the year. Yikes!

I think (especially when a woman is pregnant) it's important to indulge sometimes and buy things that may seem useless or senseless.

While shopping the other day I went into the bath isle and looked at all the wonderful products. I must have been drooling because TP came up beside me and told me to get something. So I did but it had no price. We walked up to the register and when the price came up to $9.99 and I almost put it back.

But when your usually cheapo husband says "Get it baby."

Well, that's like the sky opening up and the hand of Jesus coming to pat you on the shoulder to let you know that everything is right in the world.

-M