An Ordinary Girl's World: Fashion, Love, Life

• High Priority Items: These are things that you need to have urgently either for a particular event or in order to accomplish a set goal . These vary widely with time and need to be bought first when shopping. They include: a dress for an elegant ball or dinner a couple of nights before the event, supplies for a major project, etc.
  



• Basic Items: These are items that you need for everyday life but that you may not need right away. In your wardrobe : they are closet essentials, outside of your wardrobe they include certain household appliances such as vacuum cleaners and fridges. Basics are usually upgraded to high priority items if they are not bought in a while.

• Fantasy Items: These are the least attainable items that you usually don't need but really really want anyway. They can be anything from that gorgeous Elie Saab wedding dress I aspire to, or a million dollar mansion complete with orchard, Olympic-sized swimming pool and horse stables stocked with several thoroughbred horses. These are things that you usually have to work towards to and save up for in order to attain them one day.
  



• Splurge Items: These are items that you also really want but they are slightly (or not so slightly) out of your price range. You may or may not need them and the level of desire at that moment and the cost-per-wear determine whether or not you will buy them. They include: Designer shoes on sale, overpriced but extremely gorgeous $40 hairpieces, a compact digital camera, etc.

Remember that what falls into one category for a certain person may fall into a completely opposite category for another, because people are different and therefore have different wants, needs and means. Update your list regularly and make sure it reflects you all the time, and it should help you shop better. I discovered this list in a book I believe was called The Pink Book when I was about 11 years old and wrote it down in my diary knowing that it would be useful to me and it was the inspiration for this whole series. This is the last post in the budget shopping series and I hope that its helped you in your journey to lead a more budget friendly life.

Love you all and Stay inspired,

P.S. So let me know what you think. Do you use a shopping list? If so, how often? What kind of stuff would be on your ultimate shopping list? Feel free to let me know in the comments below.

1. I was naturally physically exhausted because of the whole packing all night thing.



2. I had (conveniently) forgotten how tiring travelling is in itself.



3. I had also forgotten that I would be jetlagged by virtue of travelling through not 1, not 2 but 6 time zones!

Needless to say that when I got to the luggage carel and found out that one of my bags was missing I was not pleased. It was only when I that I found that I was close to tears because of my missing luggage that I realised how bad it was. That night, for the first time in years I went to sleep at 9pm! The perpetual night owl in me (i.e. the crazy girl that sleeps at 3-4 am regardless of circumstances) has been conquered. And not a moment too soon because what with all the art classes (My intro costume production class, figure drawing, costume design 1, acting) and my other equally lovely but more mentally challenging than physically challenging classes- like intermediate microeconomics and reading shakespeare- that I'm taking this semester I'm going to need all the rest I can get.

Lesson of the tale: Change is good but usually a lot of hard work. Routines are comfortable but people are dynamic and so is life. I didn't put off packing until the last minute because I did not want my holidays routine to change. But not preparing for change did not stop it from happening and now that it has happened it has improved the person I am. Remember that you can't stay stuck in the same place forever. Therefore, realise the importance of change, embrace it and accept that it tends to involve effort on your part in order to be fully realised. Be aware of that and keep the goal in sight so it can lead you to a better place.

Love you all and Stay inspired,

P.S. So let me know think. What experiences have you undergone recently that involved a change in routine? Where you excited about the change? Did it give you instant fufillment or is it more of a long term goal? Feel free to let me know in the comments below.

1. Set up a visible monthly budget: It can be on paper or on Excel, either way is fine as long as you actually have it written somewhere. The reason I love Excel is because you can update the figures easier, but having a little notebook where you record your income and expenses as well as your monthly plan is fine too. When creating your monthly plan, look at your total income (or the amount of money you have or will soon have for the month) and list all of the categories of expenses you will have to take care of over the course of the month e.g. rent, food, clothes (!) , school supplies, transportation, emergency, miscellaneous, etc. Allocate a certain amount of money to each category and try to stick to your budget as much as possible. As time progresses you'll be able to predict how much money you spend better.
   
2. Monitor your income and expenses: Whenever you spend money, reflect that in the expense column of your budget according to its category. Do the same whenever you receive money. You don't even have to say what exactly you spent the money on, that's why we're using categories. By doing this you get a better idea of where all your money goes to every month and can therefore know where you need to cut back, if necessary. Evaluating and monitoring your budget also lets you know what options you have on how to use your money i.e. more shoes or more trips to the movies.


3. Cost-per-wear: As I've mentioned before one of the major keys to budget shopping is calculating the cost-per-wear. All you really have to do is guesstimate how many times you will wear an item (e.g. 1 a week for a year= 52 times) and divide it by its price. The problem with this is that people sometimes overestimate the durabilitiy/quality of an item, which causes them to get a wrong cost-per-wear. A couple tips to help you better determine high quality items are:

-Check the seams of the clothes: If threads pull apart relatively easily or if buttons are hanging loose, it probably wasn't well sewn.

-Check the quality of the fabric: some fabrics just look cheap, others really are. Being able to tell the difference between the two is something you can only learn with experience.

- Weigh the trend factor: Will you even want to be seen wearing the item in a couple of months? If not, will it be good enough to resell or use for something else?

If you want more help on setting up a budget or organising your finances, check out Suze Orman, particularly her advice on Oprah.

(Photo from: toolmantim )

Love you all and Stay inspired,

P.S. So let me know what you think. Do you have a budget plan? Does it work for you? How do you determine quality of an item? Feel free to let me know in the comments below.

1. Gather all your major pieces of inspiration, select the most attention-grabbing and aesthetically pleasing pieces and pin them to your board.



2. Type up key words that inspire you and that describe some of the pieces on your board and add them to the board, too.



3. Put the more detailed and word intensive pieces in your inspiration portfolio; key pages from your retreat notebook could be removed from the notebook could be added too.



4. Put digital photos, online links and other digital inspiration in a digital portfolio.



5. Begin to document any art that you do and create a finished products portfolio.
   
   

My Interpretation:

This post by Luinae of More Magic Always, I feel really explains how to make an inspiration board. I already have an inspiration portfolio (that I'm currently updating), but I've never had a board before and I'm really excited about making one. When I'm done, I'll put the pictures in a separate post. Finally, I want you to feel free to record your work in whatever format suits you best i.e. if you dance, you can video your routines, if you sing, record your songs, etc, as long as it accurately records your achievements and lets you see how much you improve each day, it's fine.

Love you all and Stay inspired,

P.S. So let me know what you think. Was this retreat helpful? What did you like? What would you like to see next time? What quotes, pictures, links, etc are on your board/in your portfolio? If you have any links to pictures of your boards or portfolios you'd like me to see feel free to put them in comments, along with your answers, below.

• Museums: art museums, science museums, local history museums, any kind of museum works. Think outside the box!



• Galleries: art galleries, but I personal love photo galleries.



• Theatres: community theatres, major production theatres, etc.



• Fairs: I don't know about you but there is the really pretty winter fair going on in Geneva right now, and I've gotta check it out before I leave.



• Circus: I dream of Cirque De Soleil. Have any of you ever been?



• Gardens/Parks: Some parks are so pretty that even winter barreness can't destroy their beauty.

Assignment summary:

1. Go to the place and record what you love most about it, either by using a recorder, your notepad, sketchpad, anything that can help you freeze that moment in time.



2. Let loose and have fun!



3. When you get back write in your retreat notebook, go over your notes on the things that you loved the most and write how each thing made you feel.



4. Brainstorm possible ways you could translate these things into your own art, and write them down.

My interpretation:

I'm so checking out the fair I mentioned earlier. I've past it at night before and it looks even more beautiful then. I'll let you know how it goes when I get back.

Love you all and Stay inspired,

P.S. So let me know what you think. What place(s) are you/will you be going? Why? Have you been there before? And what do you love about them? Feel free to let me know in the comments below.

“Poetry is the spontaneous overflow of powerful feelings: it takes its origin from emotion recollected in tranquility”.