Jan 2013 Budget

Gulp…this is my first time tracking my clothing expenditures for the month!  At first, I was a little apprehensive about “coming clean” on what I spend, but this really helps me to see where my money went and helps to fill in the holes in my closet.

Wondering what my budget is?  Well, at the end of every year, my husband and I do an in-depth analysis of our spending and revisit our budget.  I won’t bore you with details (we are Excel spreadsheet nerds), but this year, we got even more itemized in our spending than in years past because we were curious on exactly where everything was going.  After some calculations, I realized that I was spending an average of $400 a month on clothing…yikes!

That said, I made it a New Year’s resolution of mine to cut my personal clothing expenditure in half, or $200 every month.  I really want to try to stick to my budget this year because if I do, I will have saved a whopping $2,400!  And besides, all of you fabulous style bloggers out there have taught me so much about learning to rework items you already have so there is NO reason for me to continue to spend what I have been spending.

FYI- I did decide that any additional income I earn from selling old items on eBay or on consignment will earn me a “credit” to my budget, so you will see that below (I usually don’t sell this much stuff, I just had a particularly profitable month!)

So that said, here is my first month of spending for 2013!

1.  Leopard print heels- Target- $21  (worn here)
2.  Tommy Hiilfiger polka dot button up- thrifted- $6.25
3.  Gap toggle coat- thrifted- $12.50
4.  Striped sweater- Eddie Bauer Outlet- $25  (worn here)
5.  Skinny jeans- American Eagle Outlet- $33.75 (worn here and  here)
6.  Gray open front cardigan- J. Crew Outlet- $20
7.  Mint open front cardigan- J. Crew Outlet- $20 (worn here)
8.  Merino red sweater- J. Crew Outlet- $21 (worn here)
9.  Turquoise jersey scoopneck tee- J. Crew Outlet- $23
10. Cream jersey scoopneck tee- J. Crew Outlet- $23
11. Drape cardigan- Victoria’s Secret- $29.57 (lusted after here)
12. Fuscia belt- Target- $6.48
13.  Skirt- Target- $6.88 (worn here)
14. Striped dress- Old Navy- $21.57

*Note: I did order a swimsuit online from J.Crew  for $30, but it did not fit and I’m trying to sell it on eBay or the consignment store but I did include it in my monthly total.  Trying to keep it honest :-)  I also returned a dress to J.Crew that I bought the previous month for $28.79, and they took that money off of my total, but I did not reflect that in the prices above.

So here’s the breakdown:
$271.21 Total spent (includes the J.Crew return credit)
$192.15 Income earned (eBay, consignment items)
$79.06 JAN TOTAL
UNDER budget by $120.94!

Although it feels like I got a lot of grays, creams and greens, I feel like a lot of these pieces are ones that I can wear in multiple ways and were colors that were missing from my closet.  Several of these pieces (mainly the J.Crew items) can be layered and serve as wardrobe basics that should last me quite a while!  And since I’m under budget, I ideally want to save this money, but I’m sure there will be months where I go over, so it will be nice to have a little cushion!

Linking up with Franish and her Budgeting Bloggers this month and Random Wednesday with Because Shanna Said So!