Considering Throwing in The Towel

Some days I don’t feel like posting. The biggest reason is because of the lack of traffic on my blog. Sometimes I feel it’s not worth it for me to put in the effort when my readership is low.

When I started this blog it was for myself for a variety of reasons:

To Keep Track of My Spending –

When I first graduated I kept track of every penny I spent. It was out of survival in order to ensure I was able to make my student loan payments. I was organized and I liked it. After the transition to combine financing I dropped the ball on tracking. I didn’t really feel like it and frankly there was enough money, I didn’t have to be petty about spending. I felt having a blog would keep me accountable to tracking my spending.

Learn to Write –

In high school I was the student who excelled in math and science but struggled in English and social. I have never been confident in my writing and it was directly affecting my career. At work I would often delay writing important e-mails because I was not confident in my writing. I lacked the ability to organize my thoughts properly. Since I started blogging my writing has vastly improved. Although I will never write as eloquently as some; I find I now confidently write important e-mails. I don’t have a problem organizing my thoughts into an e-mail and get my point across.

Communicate –

My husband is not an excel sort of guy. I would occasionally talk to him about our finances however, he wasn’t particularly interested. He doesn’t want to crunch numbers and project savings. By having a blog, my husband is able to go online whenever it’s convenient for him and read about our finances. It’s on his time which is ideal. I also wanted to communicate with the PF community. Most of my friends do not budget, plan for retirement, or save for a rainy day. I wanted tot be able to communicate with other money minded people which blogging has allowed.

Right now I have to consider a couple things. Do I want to continue blogging with low readers, try to increase the traffic to my blog, or stop blogging all together. I haven’t decided yet. If I am blogging only for myself; I could easily keep a dairy and an excel spread sheet for my monthly spending. If I want to increase traffic I basically need to sell myself. I need to put in the time and effort reading other PF blogs, commenting, linking to similar posts etc. Is it something I am interested in doing? I am not sure. I could stop blogging which would free up a certain amount of my time in order to focus on other things. I am sure I will be sewing in the future and continue to post projects and patterns at my original blog banclothing.blogspot.com.

I will be honest; I last year has been filled with large financial decisions going on which I felt were blog worthy. So far I have gone to Australia to work, but then only one of us worked, moved home, started a new job, purchased a home, renovated a home, paid for school, lost one income, etc. The last year has been the most financially dynamic year to date. The next few years are going to be interesting however, if I don’t have the readers now, how about when my life tames down?

It feels like one of those days. How do you know when it’s worth while to keep a blog alive?

Oh Baby, It's Christmas

I am totally jumping the gun by buying Christmas presents back in July. That’s right all you procrastinators, read it and weep! Okay I am not that mean, usually I am the very last minute shopper. This year I have been thinking about Christmas early because I know I am going to have to be thrifty this year with paying for school.

Last Christmas I was in Australia so we didn’t exchange gifts with anyone, buhumbug. It was a free pass for 2011. This year we wanted to do something for our parents. My mom is constantly talking about upgrading her house except my dad is super un handy when it comes to renos. My mom hates dealing with contractors therefore, she would rather let her house age gracefully.

My parents house is beautiful but getting dated fast. They want to sell in the next 1-2 years but some things need to be done first. One of the sore spots is their very small kitchen considering the overall size of their house. I figure if they don’t want to knock walls out and expand then, they need to put great materials to distract from the size.

Right now they have white 4x4’s and some decorative 4x4’s that have a traditional mens western shirt pattern. They are bad… and my mom knows it… .my dad is oblivious.

My mom talked about wanting to replace the backsplash but it is a lot of work. She is right; it IS a lot of work. The tiles will likely take down the drywall and everything will need to be replaced but it’s definitely still feasible.

We have looked at glass mosaic tile at Home Depot and it is about $15/sqft.

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It is pricy but a backsplash is a relatively small area. When we were at Costco looking for tile for my house, my mom instantly gravitated to some backsplash tile they had for $6/sqft.

So I did what any good daughter would do. I convinced her it was way too much work to tackle the backsplash. I said it would take at least a week to do and then she would likely need to change the counter tops and the range hood. She started to nod in agreement, realizing she would have to live in a fairly major renovation. So we walked away…

And I went back later and bought the tile. Their Christmas present will be the tile + the instillation. Now that the hubs or I have practiced tiling on our house. The tile actually came to $225 which is more than I wanted to spend. It’s a thrifty Christmas remember!

So I did what made sense. I called my sister and asked if she wanted to go in halfers on the tile for Christmas. She totally agreed knowing how ugly the current tile is. That is $112.50 each, perfect.

So that is the story of how I saved myself from future Christmas anxiety, hooray!

I have to Cave and Buy a Dishwasher

The plan when we first moved in was to keep all the appliances.  Unfortunately the dishwasher was leaking when we moved in so it got thrown out.  I am sure we could have gotten someone to service the dishwasher however, it was old and likely not worth the expense. 

Originally we figured we would wash dishes by hand for a while and buy a dishwasher whenever we found a good deal.  It isn't a huge hardship for us considering we washed dishes by hand for a year in our last place.  We refused to buy a new dishwasher when we knew we were planning on selling in the future.  I still think it was worth it.  Although we were fine with dish washing we realized with the height of our hardwood floor it is going to be incredibly tricky to install a dishwasher if we wait.  We don't want to risk scratching the floor therefore, the only other option is to buy a dishwasher and install it first. 

All our appliances are white and granted we want to look yuppy and eventually transition to stainless.  The problem with stainless is that is is always around $200 more than the same dishwasher in white/black.  Too bad it looks so damn nice. 

So we went dishwasher shopping last weekend.  We only went into three stores but that was enough for both of us.  We don't like shopping; especially with pushy grease comb over salesmen. 

We only looked at sales models and narrowed it down to two.  The first is a samsung stainless steel with a stainless interior.  It is beautiful.  The door opens really nicely, seems to be enough room inside.  The handle was discrete which the hubs prefers.  This particular dishwasher was on sale for $600 at Sears; it was regular $899.  Seems like a good enough discount.   


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The next dishwasher I found was at Costco.  It is a Fridgidaire which doesn't get great reviews.  It also has a black panel on the front with the buttons.  The all stainless look is definitely nicer.  The inside is completely plastic, my mom seems to think a stainless tub is important.  The dishwasher comes in at $400 in store, online it's $430.  It's certainly the cheapest stainless dishwasher I have come across; mind you we only went to 3 places. 

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In the end we walked away from the Costco dishwasher.  It felt cheap and the Samsung was highly discounted.  Sounds like we made a legitimate decision however, after we got home I got to thinking.  The Samsung has to be ordered and although 'they' say they have a truck coming on Wednesday's and Friday's; I know how this goes.  It may take longer and I do not want the dishwasher keeping us from installing the flooring in the kitchen, and ultimately moving in. 

I also thought about the price difference.  Although the Samsung is a better deal do we need a high end dishwasher?  Our last dishwasher was the cheapest of the cheap.  It had a dial instead of buttons!!!  It washed dishes really well for the first 4.5 years of it's life.  Isn't that good enough for a cheap dishwasher?  The Costco option is WAY better than our old dishwasher and I am not sure how long we will live in this house. 

The icing on the top of the cake is Costco's return policy.  I am never nervous about my purchases because if the dishwasher doesn't work properly I can always bring it back.  Every other place has a 30 day return and realistically I don't even know if we will be in our house by then; let along running the dishwasher.  Just knowing I have the option of returning if the appliance doesn't work is reason enough to go for the Costco option.  I am at the point where I try to buy everything there.  Even if I have only returned 1 item in the last 3 years, I still like having the option. 

August 15-31 Spending

Renovations – This pay period we spent a lot. Of the total $600 was the new miter saw which was funded by the return of our old one and my tax return that finally showed up. We also spend $400 on a dishwasher however, my parents decided they would buy it for our housewarming. I guess they were planning on replacing our dryer but it works fine and we didn’t have a dishwasher. The last of the tile was purchased for the bathrooms; we still have the shower downstairs to do but we are putting that on hold for an indefinite amount of time. We have two fully functioning bathrooms, it’s enough.

Mortgage – This pay period included two mortgage payments. There are two months a year where we have 3 payments and only 2 paycheques. It’s inconvenient but it happens when you are paid every 15 days.

Groceries – This was high this month because the hubs is home, I forgot how much that man eats. We have also been trying to pay for more of the food. We also purchased Norton anti virus and socks which got lumped into grocery. It was at costco and I didn’t keep my receipt so I don’t exactly know how much they were. They were actually both on sale which was a bonus.

Liquor – We got a case of twisted teas. I think we might be through them, they are just so damn good.

Auto Insurance – I got a revision in the mail and I was not thrilled. Turns out because my postal code changes I now have a higher premium. I guess living in a bigger city means higher risk for auto claims.

Fitness- I went swimming and to the driving range.  Soon I will no longer be able to go to the driving range. It will be a sad day. I only went for one round of golf this year, sad but economical. I have been paying per time to swim lately since I have commitment issures. It’s cheaper to get a punch card, I will have to consider it.

Eating Out – Definitely at an all time low now that the hubs is home. We still occasionally go out but a significant decrease compared to other pay periods.

Shopping- I had to include this.  I am really proud I didn't shop at all this pay period.  It really helps when I stay out of the malls. 

The renovation is certainly what is inflating our expenses. I am still not sure how much more we are going to spend. Every time I turn around we need something else. Every nail, screw, and tool adds up. Once this renovation is over I hope we don’t need to spend very much into our home!

Applying Cost per Use on Clothing - The How To

In order to reduce my cost per wear for every clothing item below $1/use I figured I needed a strategy. At least some guidelines to try to follow. When trying to reduce the cost per use on an item I have noticed a few things:

You need to buy quality pieces or they have to be cheap. With an $84 pair of lulu pants I need to be able to wear them at least 84 times before they wear out. The other day I purchased a dress on clearance for $5; the dress isn’t very good quality however, I know I will wear it more than 5 times before it wears out. Had the dress been $50 (regular price) I know I would not be able to get 50 wears out of it and would have passed.

You can’t have too many articles of clothing. If you have a high volume of clothing it will take a lot longer to get your cost per use below $1. With styles constantly changing some articles might not make it to below $1. If you can go two weeks without doing laundry you probably have too many clothes. I am so guilty right now.

Be critical about fit. I am a stickler about fit anyway however, if I am going to buy something and wear it numerous times it needs to fit well. If a shirt has a big neck and I will constantly be readjusting it, I won’t want to wear it 50 times. If a dress is slightly too tight in the bust I might only wear it for one occasion. Most items can be tailored and I find it is worth the cost.

Don’t buy Duplicates. I am horrible for this. It’s not like I go into a store, find a shirt I like and buy every color they have. I end up buying more of the same. I currently have 4 pairs of leggings. In most cases when I need to wear leggings any of the 4 pairs will do. They all serve the same purpose therefore, I really only need 1 pair. Now I have to struggle to get the cost per use down on 4 items rather than 1. It’s burdensome, don’t fall into the trap.

Buy multi-purpose Items. I have a jersey black wrap that is a great example. I wear it to work at least one day a week (my co-workers much love my variety), wear it on top of whatever shirt I am wearing to yoga, and I wear it open with a dress. It has a million purposes which makes it easy to get the cost per use down. Another thing I do is instead of buying low yoga tops, I opt for the tank top style. That way I can layer it with a sweater, wear it to yoga, or wear it with jeans.

Buy skinny jeans. This is coming from a person who only owns one pair. I don’t wear them all the time but all those skinny haters; hear me out. For myself I have a selection of jeans that can be worn only with flats and only with heels. There is no mixing the two and essentially I have double the pairs of jeans solely because of the length of the hem. With skinny jeans you can wear them with flats, boots of any height, or heels. I know I can’t convert to only buying skinny’s but one pair sure is versatile.

Applying the cost per use principal is not for everyone. Although my goal is to have every item below $1/use; the underlying strategy is to force myself to reduce the amount of clothing and avoid hoarding. For myself it’s about shopping smarter with better intentions. Does anyone else use the cost per use when shopping?

Applying Cost Per Use on Clothing

This post actually got out of hand so I split it into two. Part one is about the justification for using cost per use and the second is how I do it.

I am a recovering clothing hoarder. It happened over time right before my very own eyes. I just never got rid of clothing. It didn’t matter how old it was, if I didn’t like it, if I didn’t wear it, or if it no longer fit me. I held onto everything. Why? I felt it was a waste to get rid of anything I spent money on that wasn’t completely worn out. At the peak of my hoarding I had half the walk in closet, a dresser, a wardrobe, and 5 under the bed bins full of clothing. How can one person possibly wear everything? I couldn’t and I didn’t.

I finally realized I had a problem when I started reading about minimalists. I never knew the burden of having too much stuff; it’s stressful. I didn’t have any room for anything. By holding onto items that I don’t use I was cluttering my life and my mind. I also realized the beauty of breathing room. Having half empty drawers and room to add extra hangers is a beautiful thing.

I went through a huge purge a couple months before we moved. I went through my closet on my own and made some hard fast decisions. It was not nearly as hard as I anticipated. I got rid of 2 full garbage bags. When our house actually sold and we were packing I decided to do an additional purge. I got rid of more clothing and between my husband and I we had another 5 garbage bags.

While we were in Oz I really missed my clothes. I only had a small selection of items and I didn’t bring my favorites; I bought practical pieces. After the first two months I was okay with my lack of choices, it wasn’t a bad thing. When I came back I seem to have a new outlook on clothing. From the items I have been able to extract from storage I have been pretty ruthless. Things I could not part with before I left are now easy to dismiss. I guess time away has allowed me to detach feelings and memories I had associated with them. It’s just stuff.

When I finally get access to all my clothes I want to take inventory and do another purge. The problem with hoarding is, I know it would be easy to get back to what I was doing. Granted now I can’t justify shopping as easily, I realize old habits die hard. I implemented a new tactic:

Cost Per Use

I have heard this term a few times in the PF world however, never implemented it myself. The idea is divide the amount you paid for an item by the number of times you wear it to calculate the cost per use. What seems to be acceptable is less than $1/use. When I purchase items I really consider if I can get the cost per use below the $1 mark. My goal is to have all my clothing items less than $1/use. Granted some will be in the decline phase for a while but as long as they are on their way I am okay with it.

Although $1/use doesn’t seem crazy; think about it for a second. Right now I am wearing a pair of jeans, t-shirt, cardigan, scarf, shoes, and there is a purse next to me. If all items are at the goal of $1/use I am still paying $6 to wear this outfit (not counting underwear). This is what I wear on a typical day, consider how that adds up over the year. In total I would be spending $2,190. Sounds like a big number but if I added up all my clothing purchases each year I can guarantee it’s over $2,190 because I know my cost per use for every item is not $1.

Yup, I bought Another pair of Shoes

I posted earlier this month about the decision of if I need another pair of shoes. The answer should be; no, you have enough already. Granted I justified I needed a pair because the shoes I am wearing at work are not dressy enough.

My work place is sort of casual. There is a mix of jeans, dockers, and dress pants. Most people wear dress shirts but more of the casual type rather than crisp under the suit type. Then there is me… I am still dressing myself out of my Australia suitcase. I have been dressing up lululemon tanks with wrap sweaters borrowed from my moms closet, and scarves even though it’s sweltering out.

Although I am the definition of ‘making do’ in the clothing department. The biggest difference I notice is that everyone wears loafers or dress shoes; I am wearing lace up casual runners. They are pretty boarder line and they are white which is only appropriate for summer.

In the end I figured I would be getting the rest of my clothing out of storage sooner than later (fingers crossed) but I knew I did not have appropriate footwear.

So I pulled the trigger on the moccasins. I know they are not technically loafers but they are stiff leather and look like them with jeans. I can wear my super thick socks and no one will know. I also like the fringe detail; I can totally rock fringe.





I ended up paying regular price which was $100. I am not normally a regular price kind of girl. I am normally all about the sale racks however, I usually end up with footwear that is uncomfortable and I barely wear. I have switched my focus to looking for quality items I know I will wear a lot.

My plan is to wear my uggs to work and switch into my loafers/mocs when I get there. That way they don’t get trashed in the snow and will hopefully last longer. I presume I will be wearing them 5 days a week from October thru to May. In one season I will get approximately 140 wears which brings the cost per wear down to $0.71. #justified