So Many Shoes, So Little Money – Blog

Sex and the City

2009 the recession years….

Carrie, having been downsized from Vogue, is working as a freelance editor. The decline in the publishing industry seriously crimped the advance on her fourth book. As a result, it was not nearly what she was expecting. Thank god she and Big did not take the pre-war penthouse – house poor is not fun. Big is still employed but she’s had to learn to look fabulous on a budget (buying So Many Shoes, So Little Money helped).

Samantha, savvy woman that she is, invested the earnings from her public relations company in cash equivalents weathering the economic crash nicely. Although business is slow, and most corporate events cut way back, managing Smith proved a boon to her standing and she still reigns atop the New York party and social scene. However, since she has cut down on the VIP lounges – bottle service is still not cheap. Although she keeps up with her hair and botox (fifty really is the new thirty) she has stopped most of her other high expense maintenance – and is banking the savings.

Miranda’s billable hours were cut back. She, Steve and Brady are getting by…Brooklyn really is cheaper than New York which would have been tricky to muster. Plus, now that Miranda has moved back home, they are saving on fortune by not maintaining two households and cutting back on her passion for Chinese take-out. She couldn’t believe how much take-out really added up. Yes, the lawyer now cooks. Steve handles home repairs (helping to keep expenses low) and Brady is in public school (although she would have preferred private).

Charlotte, Harry, Lily and Rose have also weathered the market. Divorces are on the rise so Harry’s practice is actually growing. Charlotte has started a successful breeding operation and Elizabeth Taylor has turned out to be quite fertile. But they are still watching things – they know that right now nothing is certain and things could change. With two kids to care for, a penny here really is a penny there. Carrie loaned her a copy of So Many Shoes and she’s found that shopping for classics really suits her style.

The girls still meet regularly at the dinner but have cut back a bit on the cosmos – and the shoes.

Add comment April 8th, 2009

Barbie

Barbie thought she had it all. Ken had come to senses, left Midge, and wouldn’t stop calling. She had a lovely town home, a corvette, her pilot’s license, a fabulous body and a wardrobe which put the Bratz to shame.

Unfortunately, much of this had been purchased with debt. Her mortgage, car lease, student loans and credit card bills were killing her. Then the bottom fell out of the stock market. It was time to get things under control. Marrying Ken was not the answer – they had been on and off again for years and who knew if she could trust him. She was loaded with debt. Where to start?

First, she needed to get those credit cards under control by not using them anymore. No more shopping, gym memberships or expensive dinners out. (Besides, people had been complaining she looked too thin for years.)

Once she stopped spending more, it was time to pay down her credit cards. She called the credit card company to set up a payment plan and to reduce her interest rates. If they didn’t go for it, she decided she would call a reputable credit counselor for assistance.

Then she looked for ways to consolidate her loans. For example, she grouped her student loans into a student consolidation loan allowing her to combine her multiple loans and pay a fixed interest rate to just one company. She also combined her credit card balances onto one single card (with a lower rate than her current card).

She also reviewed her budget and determined ways to increase her income. She had many skills and talents: over the years she had taught, practiced medicine, served in the military, hell she had even been President of the United States.

Once she had her plan she felt better. She picked up the phone and called G.I. Joe and the girls. Rather than a night on the town, why didn’t they all come over for pot-luck and movie?

1 comment January 23rd, 2009

Smart Shopping

Today, Michelle Obama wore Isabelle Toledo and the girls wore J. Crew. This is a great example of mixing high and low (well, J. Crew is not exactly a low). It is your prerogative to be a slave to fashion, and especially expensive designer items, if, but only if, you can afford them. Coco Chanel once said, “Fashion is made to become unfashionable.” If you can’t afford them – and most of us can’t, let’s face it – there are always alternatives, notably second label lines, which are cheaper but still high-styled.

Smart shopping requires four things: Planning, focus, investing and finding bargains. Most of the following tips come from In Style Secrets of Style:

Plan:

• Figure out what you have and what you need – shop with a list.
• Determine how much money you can spend.
• Shop when you are feeling good about yourself, not when you are bored or upset.
• Shop when stores are the least crowded, so you can get the attention you deserve.
• Dressing well requires strategy so take your time.
• Know the store’s return policy – we all make mistakes and the fashionably and financially responsible thing to do is return the item when that happens.

Focus:

• Shop by yourself – unless you need someone to keep you in check and to tell you to “just back away from the shoes” – friends can distract you and encourage you to buy items you don’t need.
• Know what styles work for you and stick to them – just because something is trendy does not mean it is right for you.
• Buy for the body you have, not the one you want: Spending money on a size four when you are an eight is not smart – yes, I know you will be a four in no time, but the point is, you’re not a four this minute.
• Don’t deviate from your plan.

Invest:

• Buy complete outfits; otherwise you will have a closet full of nothing-to-wear. True classics are the exception – black, grey, navy or tan pants, white shirts, classic skirts.
• Buy the best quality you can afford for the classics and scrimp on the trendy stuff.
• Be wary of sale racks – Just because it is on sale does not mean it is a bargain or you need it. You only save money at a sale if it was something you were already looking for.

Bargains:

• Study the deals and steals sections of most fashion magazines.
• Go to your favorite shopping website and check out the sale section (or sign up for their emails).
• www.bluefly.com: Up to 40 to 70 percent off retail; need I say more?
• Boutique stores: Get on their mailing lists to receive notices of sales.
• Department stores: Look for second lines like Marc by Marc Jacobs and wait until they have a sale.
• Outlet stores
• Sample sales
• Lower scale retailers: Have you been to Target lately?
• Newsletters: www.dailycandy.com can tell you about sales, not to mention fabulous boutiques in your area.
• Thrift shops, known euphemistically as vintage stores; but be forewarned, genuine vintage clothes can cost a bundle.

Last but not least, try, just try, to exercise some discipline.

Add comment January 20th, 2009

Spending

Spending is often what we do best. However, knowing how to spend, and when to spend, is critical. What must we have? What can we live without? And how do we know which is which? There are not a lot of role models out there for women to follow. What is out there is a ton of external pressure to spend, spend, and spend. Consumer products companies spend billions telling us which products we need and why. Retail stores devote a great deal of time, money and effort to make their store windows stop us in our tracks. Movies, television shows, fashion magazines and the media’s relentless coverage of who wore what all send a message about how much we need to spend, and what we need to spend it on in order to look and feel good. Even the federal government overspends and as an all too predictable result, sends us into an economic crisis.

Can we stop the madness? How do we know what to buy and where to spend? Confused priorities can wreck your budget. Three months’ rent or a Cartier Tank watch? How do you choose? Start by revisiting your budget. If you can afford the watch – go ahead and buy it. If your budget indicates that you can’t, don’t despair. You could make it a dream or a goal to save for, or you could pay your rent and shop a notch or two (or three) down, or not at all.

Priorities are different for everyone. How do you know what yours are? Let’s start with the basics of needs and wants. What’s the difference between the two? A need is something you simply can’t do without. It is something you have to have, to survive in a reasonably comfortable way. Needs are the basic building blocks of life. Wants are desires. A want is something that, no matter how much you may crave it, you can live just fine without. You want the Cartier tank watch; you need to know what time it is. You want the black stilettos beckoning from the window; you have to have your feet covered but you probably don’t need that particular pair of shoes.

By using your budget to review how and where you are spending your money, you will be able to spot and fix potentially problematic trends and fix them before they get out of hand. You might have to make some hard decisions about what it is you need and what you merely want. Only you can sort out which is which, along with what you are willing to give up. And you must stay committed to the rule that only if you have a surplus of funds at the end of every month can you can start to purchase things you want, in addition to the things you need.

Add comment December 22nd, 2008

Budget

Money can be like those mornings when you stand, staring into your closet, and can’t figure out what to wear. So you stand there and think, “I have nothing to wear” until eventually your eyes seize on those pants, the ones you always feel fantastic wearing and which make your rear look incredible. You grab them, realizing they will look perfect with a little t-shirt, those cute flats, and a shoulder bag. Lo and behold you’re dressed and looking fabulous! All it took was a place to start. Money is like those mornings. It can seem very daunting when all you need is a place to start. After all, how do you know how much you can spend if you don’t even know what you have? Where do you start? You make a budget.

Begin with your income. You receive an allowance or a paycheck from a job (we’ll talk about the taxes which are deducted out of your paycheck later). Write down what you receive each month, from wherever you get it. This amount should be what your checks and cash add up to after items like taxes are taken out. Next write down how much you spend and what you spend it on. Now, add up and total the money you bring in, and add up and total the money you spend. Subtract the money you spend from the money you bring in. Now, multiply by 12. Since you only used one month of income and expenses you’ll want to multiply by 12 so you have a budget for a whole year. That’s it. You just made your first budget and just figured out something really essential: Whether or not you have extra money, which is the number one indicator of whether or not you are over-spending.

2 comments December 9th, 2008

Living Within your Means

I haven’t yet discussed living within your means. Living within your means is much more important than the amount of money you have. Whoever you are, no matter how much money you make, more than likely, you’ll never have quite enough. Why? Because as your income goes up, so do your expenses. We all want more than we can afford. With more money, your tastes upgrade – it’s inevitable and normal. You’ll want Manolo Blahnik not Designer Shoe Warehouse, you’ll want Champaign not Two Buck Chuck, and you’ll want a bigger place to live rather than a smaller one.

How do you know what your means are? You make a budget. Budgets sound harder to make than they really are. First, add up and total the money you bring in, then add up and total the money you spend. Subtract the money you spend from the money you bring in:

• Money I bring in
• Less money I spend
• Equals money I have left over – or don’t have left over.

The beauty of budgeting is it tells you what your means are – and they’re different for everyone. It helps you plan what you can and, quite frankly, what you can’t do.

If you don’t know what you spend keep your receipts and bills – all of them for one month. Even your receipts for your morning coffee. Then add them all up. The total won’t be perfect reflection of what you spend every month but it’s a great start.

Add comment December 8th, 2008