Update on my money goals

I haven't been here to update about my goals for a while.  It seems like when things get busy in my life, blogging is the first thing to go.  That's ok though, because I have been keeping up with my goals!

One goal I gave myself, back in December, was to write down what I am spending my money on....I didn't.  So, when I realized that it's way past time for me to update on this goal, I started...and I took it a step forward.  I am doing a bit of a money experiment.

What I have done is given myself a weekly allowance, to limit the frivolous spending to an amount that won't really do a whole lot of damage.  Then I am writing down things that I buy in my calender on a scale from 0 to 5 (five being something I really needed and zero being Pop.)

I don't know if this is a healthy way to tackle your finances, so don't take this  as advice, but for me it has been a great way to see if I'm spending money out of necessity or impulse.  I have probably been pretty hard on myself, but average has been below 2.5 meaning it's mostly impulse buying, and mostly on food between work and school. Knowing this, I can compensate that by bringing along a snack and meals.

Great news, in my last  post about financial goals I talked about my Google Calender budget.  I said that I had been using it for a couple months, and it hadn't quite worked out exactly yet, so I hadn't been able to deposit into my savings account yet...remember?  Well I seem to have caught up, and straightened everything out, because my budget worked perfectly!

It's February and talk of new years resolutions has died down, but what was yours? Have you been keeping up?  Did you come up with great tricks to help you stay on track?

Tinkering

I'm tinkering with the idea of making some pretty big changes to Peerless Charm.  Nothing's official yet...but tinkering is happening.

How to Ethically Source: Phase 1

Last week I posted How to Ethically Source: Phase 1 over on the Peerless Charm Blog.  Since being an ethical consumer is a goal of mine, I decided it was worth sharing over here to...so here it is:

How to Ethically Source Phase 1: Stop buying fast fashion.

Gasp! I know! If you're at all how I was you've already closed this post, and moved on to never look back.  If you're still reading, I applaud you...hear me out.  Fast Fashion is the worst offender of sweat shop manufacturing and waste.  Think about it, they are selling you a tank top for $1.50, and making a profit from it. Considering all the expenses that go into running a giant chain, how much does that leave for the person that is actually making that tank top? Honestly, it's probably $0.01. Would you sew a shirt for a penny? Not unless you're just doing it for the fun of it, and I assure that's not why these people are sewing these shirts.
And, what about the waste?  These clothes are mad to last as long as the trends (so not very long at all.)  I bought a pair of these ADORABLE flats from a certain retailer for $17.50, last March. They were floral with sequence and SO cute.  I wore them nearly daily, and by May the had crumbled. Such a disappointment, right?  If you're a fast fashion shopper, I am sure you've experienced this kind of heart break.  You get that shirt that is so cute (cause let's face, these clothes are so cute,) you put it through its first wash, put it on, you're all like...what?  It shrunk, or one side is magically way shorter then the other.  When you buy clothes that is made by a ten year, it ends up looking like...it was made by a ten year old.
When you invest in quality clothes from quality companies, you will see the difference.  They will last you for years, and when you are literally over them (yes that was a Kardashian reference, so what?) you can bring them to a thrift store for some extra cash, or donate them.  Now these quality clothes get a new life, where someone else will love them for years and years to come.  It's pretty much win win...win win.  Winning all around!
So, rather then get the cheap thrill of buying trendy clothes that you will throw away next month, invest in quality clothes that leave a positive impact.  For me, this meant a shopping freeze.  Maybe this won't be the case for you, but next week I will be covering what to do during this shopping freeze.

Not on the mailing list yet?  Sign up to receive Phase 2 of How to Ethically Source, right to your inbox next Friday.

In other news, today is the last day of Peerless Charm's Valentine's Day sale.  Check it out to get 25% the pieces handpicked by Ivana of Macarons and Pearls, and handmade buy me!