Hung up on you: the closet challenge

The weather in Montreal reached 12˚C during the weekend and I spent most of it on our condo's balcony sipping wine & enjoying fancy cheeses with my Eye Candy. We were wearing jackets and scarfs, but at least we were able to enjoy some sunshine and rock the sunglasses.

Perhaps it was a little optimistic, but I also took the opportunity to change over my closets. Yes, I am one of those girls who has too many clothes to fit in just one closet and with each season, I switch over my attire. (Please note that purging is a favourite activity of mine and in the 2.5 years that my Eye Candy & I have been together, I have reduced my required closet space from 3 to 1.5 double-doored closets which is miraculous. It also corresponds with my transition from single girl in her own apartment to coupledome in the condo so a portion of the purging can be explained by a space issue.) As I was taking down my winter-esque clothes, I did separate out the clothes that I did not wear over the last several months. A few items were tossed into the laundry room for minor repairs, a few sweaters are on their way to my Mum's closet (!), and another pile is set to be donated.

Once I had taken out my spring & summer clothes, washed them, ironed them, and got ready to hang them up, I decided that this is the year that I really monitor what I wear.

Introducing my closet challenge...

For each item of clothing that went up in my closet, I turned the hook around. As I wear each item, I will turn it's hanger back around. Over the next few months, I'll be able to see clearly what items I am not wearing and hopefully, be inspired to put together new options.

At the end of the summer, I plan to go through my closet with either my Eye Candy or a favourite fashionista who will referree the process: if I did not wear said item at all, it will be donated. Should I want to keep the unworn item, I'll be donating $5 for each piece to a favourite charity. I'm open to suggestions for causes so please give me ideas and I'm hoping some of my readers will also get 'hung up' on this idea & join me too!

*Rosie*

Weekly spending recap: April 3rd – April 9th

I can’t be good all the time! This week I spent my entire $80 of Fun Money so there is nothing that will be moved into my Vegas Baby spending envelope. But at least I had fun in the process!

Sunday, April 3rd
$6.71 at Van Hotte Café
$120 on groceries at Loblaws

I spent the day walking around Vieux Montreal with my Eye Candy and Miss Fergie. Doesn’t she just look so regal on the red carpet? She is one posh pooch! We stopped for café lattés at Van Houtte and I picked up a water bottle for Fergie as we didn’t have our usual H2O supply in the back of the car. Unfortunately, I regretted this purchase as the barista gave me nothing but attitude. My French is not perfect, but I’m certainly capable of ordering 2 coffees and a bottle of a water. What threw him was my request for an extra cup (Fergie tends to choke if she drinks directly from the bottle) and he tried to charge me $0.25 for it. I don’t think so! As my fashionable friends say, some people spend $7 on coffee and they spend $7 on accessories. In this case, I wish I had opted for a ring or something else.

Monday, April 4th
$2.50 at LaSalle Aquadome for swimming
$5.70 at Jean Coutu for Tylenol
$3.80 at a Depaneur on almonds

What can I say? I had an exhausting day leading up to a grueling round of management meetings at work and the aspirin was a necessity. The almonds were also necessary as I worked late and need something to tie me over until I could get home for dinner.

Tuesday, April 5th
No spend day! My day was entirely devoted to powerpointing, studying and product labeling as it was the eve before our “Royal Visit” at work. Unfortunately, I missed my last spinning class as work got in the way.

Wednesday, April 6th
D-day! My management meetings went off without a hitch. Afterwards, I was too tired to spend anything.

Thursday, April 7th
Swam with 3 Vitesses at College NotreDame (part of memembership)
Paid $52 for my monthly YMCA membership
Paid $6 for monthly subscription to The Gazette
Paid $180 for my quarterly hydro bill
$65 at Burgundy Lion

To toast the start of my long-weekend, my Eye Candy and I hit up NotreDame and ended up at Burgundy Lion for fish & chips and a couple rounds of drinks. The evening was my treat as he was exceptionally supportive leading up to my meetings and deserved a little treat too.

Friday, April 8th
No spend day! My envelope is empty and I was forced to resist temptation on my day off. This wasn’t easy as I was on the hunt for a new blazer and ended up leaving the store empty handed. Check out my last post Changing my mind like a girl changes clothes.

The good news is that my sister’s boyfriend is now joining us in Las Vegas! I spent a few hours online and on the phone hunting down the best deal for him as our getaway is only 3 weeks away now. I managed to get him a trip that is $150 more than what we purchased 9 weeks ago with only a couple of tweeks. He gets to fly into Sin City with us, but is flying back on a separate flight as it was much cheaper… but overall, not too shabby.

Saturday, April 9th
A frugally fun day! My Eye Candy and I walked around the Plateau with Miss Fergie and we were going to stop at a favourite tavern Bar Bily Kun (they have ostriche heads on the wall!) when I realized that I had no Fun Money left.

Instead, we headed over the Atwater Market and picked up some cheeses, deli meats, spicy garlic pickles, and a bottle of wine using our weekly grocery money. For $45, we were able to enjoy our gastronomic treats on our condo’s balcony and watched the sunset together. The best part is that we have enough left over to do it again tomorrow! (It’s +8˚C here in Montreal and that’s practically swimsuit weather after the winter we’ve had.)


All in all, I spent my $80 weekly allocation of Fun Money. While the week started out as chaotic, stressful and challenging, at least it ended in a fabulously fun fashion.

*Rosie*

Changing my mind like a girl changes clothes

After a few stressful weeks leading up to a grueling round of management meetings, I was thrilled when this Friday finally rolled around and I was able to treat myself to the day off. I also decided to treat myself to a light blue & white pin-stripe blazer as I’d like to recreate the look of Cameron Diaz for the upcoming spring & summer season. I thought the blazer is a smart but casual chic look to complement neutral shorts, skinny jeans and even white pants should I be so daring. (If anyone knows how I can get those legs, please advise immediately.)

Unfortunately, when I browsed through H&M, I could not find the blazer that I was looking for and left the store disappointed. This led me into a series of stores like Zara, Winners, Mango and Jacob where I browsed aimlessly in the hopes of finding a anything to cheer myself up. At Forever 21, I stumbled upon a cute beige crocodile side-strap mini-purse for only $11. I decided to treat myself to it.

But before I did so, I followed the rules of my great Auntie Shirley when it comes to purchasing accessories… always walk around the store for at least 5 minutes wearing said accessory. She shared this lesson with me 5 years ago when I almost bought a 60₤ embroidered floral wristlet clutch. Instead of encouraging me to make the purchase, she suggested I wear it around the boutique to make sure it was the ideal purse for me. After only 2 minutes of carrying it around Lady Green’s store, my wrist was bright red with deep impression marks and I knew that the purse was pretty and exceptionally painful. I walked away from it.

The purse at F21 was definitely not painful, but I knew deep down that it was an impulse purchase to make up for my MIA CameronD blazer. After 40 days of no shopping, I started to ask myself a series of questions as I walked around the store wearing the purse to justify the purchase.

Q: Where would I wear said new purse?

A: During my upcoming trips to Kelowna, BC and Las Vegas, Nevada of course!

Q: And during what activities would I wear said new purse that my existing goldie-beige Coach purse (à la tax refund 2007) and cream wristlet would not suffice?

A: In the desert of course! I determined that perhaps my Eye Candy and I would take a hiking trip to the Grand Canyon and in which case, I would certainly need a mini-purse that I could wear over my shoulders as my existing Coach purse and wristlet have to be carried over the inside of my wrist as there are no shoulder straps. Clearly my existing purse collection is not practical for rock climbing.

Having successfuly convinced myself of the genuine need for the mini-purse, I waited in line to make my purchase. And upon further reflection, I then realized that the Grand Canyon is a 7 hour drive from Las Vegas and we will likely not go on a spur of the moment hiking trip. And if we did, I would certainly need a backpack to carry bottles of water, food, and supplies… not a mini-purse that barely fits an iPhone, $5 bill, and lipgloss. While the mini-purse is pain-free, it was not worth the $11 hit to my wallet when my other purses would do.

With that realization, I put the mini-purse back on the rack and walked out of the store. Blazer-less and purse-less, but at least my wallet remained $11 heavier.

*Rosie*

Sacrificing space to save money... is this just silly?

When I first moved to Montreal, I found a 3.5 apartment with 800 square feet for $918 a month in the neighbourhood known as the Golden Mile. I was a 10 minute walk from work and in the heart of downtown Montreal. I was also within walking distance to every shop you could imagine and the metro. As I had moved from Toronto, I thought that this was a score! Friends of mine were easily paying $1000 a month for less space and had the pleasure of living with a roommate just to be in the core of downtown TO.

However, I quickly discovered that I was paying a fortune by Montreal standards for my place. I then moved a couple more times into different neighbourhoods and with each move, my rent got a little bit lower. While I did sacrifice some space on my quest for a better rent deal, I never got as low as 90 square feet. Check out this woman who lives in NYC's smallest apartment for the "deal" of $700 USD a month. I don't think I could do it! I'm all up for saving money, but this would leave me feeling squished. My sanity is worth paying to protect and I think is small space is so extreme that it seems silly.

http://www.theglobeandmail.com/life/home-and-garden/decor/living-spaces/what-its-like-to-live-in-90-square-feet/article1972170/

For someone who claims to be a professional organizer, I don't feel like Felice Cohen's apartment is all that streamlined or minimalistic... but maybe that's just me. I would have the apartment looking for like a chic dollhouse and with less piles everywhere.

What are the biggest (or smallest!) sacrifices you have made to save money?

*Rosie*

Gift giving on a budget: You get a whale

A few weeks ago, I gave one of my favourite friends a humpback whale for his birthday. Seriously.

This idea stemmed from an encounter we had a work the month before when I came in one morning to find him jumping up & down exceptionally excited as if Oprah had just given him one of her favourite things. His reaction was just like Dane Cook describes when Oprah not only has Harrison Ford in her studio, but they are giving everyone humpback whales! (If you’ve not seen the clip and you are a fan of the O, I recommend taking 5 minutes to enjoy the spoof: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zX7dwVD3DPo&feature=related)

It turns out that our international team had just released his new advertising creatives, and while they were beautiful, I would have preferred a humpback whale. It became our running joke in the office that none of our products are successful until Oprah names them as one of her favourite things.

So when his birthday rolled around, I logged onto the World Wildlife Foundation site and made a $25 donation towards the symbolic adoption of a humpback whale. I’ve been a fan of the WWF since I completed a business analysis case for them in my not-for-profit management class in university and I love that $0.82 of every dollar donated goes towards conservation efforts.

In exchange for my donation, I received in the mail an animal fact sheet, picture of the whale, and adoption certificate which I framed as a present. My friend told me it’s the biggest gift he’s ever received. For me, it was the chance to bounce around exclaiming “You get a whale! You get a whale!”

*Rosie*

Weekly spending recap: March 27th – April 2nd

Success! My 40 days of no clothing/shoes/accessories came to an end and I did it! I went over a month without adding anything to my closet. However, my fun birthday gifts definitely alleviated some of the stress, but the truth is, I haven’t worn any of my new dresses yet as it’s just too cold here in Montreal.

Sunday, March 27th

- $95 at Loblaws on groceries which I paid from our Household/Grocery fund.

My Eye Candy was away until Wednesday night so this actually covered all my solo eating and got us through all our meals until today. With the cost of food continuing to increase, I’m feeling the pinch on my wallet so I’m getting more creative with pantry dinners and shopping the fridge for lunch ideas.

- $10 of Fun Money to buy tickets for my cousin’s cousins’ graduating design show. While I can’t be there in person to see his portfolio live, I still want to support his work. Plus, it’s an investment as I’ll finally have an interior decorating on my speed dial!

Monday, March 28th

- $47 on cat food for Fernando paid from our Household/Grocery fund. I opted for a bulk size so this should last my furry friend for at least 3 months.

Tuesday, March 29th

No spend day!

Wednesday, March 30th

No spend day!

Thursday, March 31st

- $10 on miscellaneous gift basket items from WINNERS & Loblaws. A colleague at work is going on maternity leave so a friend & I decided to put together a little care package for her. Some of the items I already had at home. I’ll do a post later to share some more “Gift giving on a budget” tips.

Friday, April 1st

My shopping ban is finished! Over the last 40 days, I’ve really learned to maximize my existing closet and I’ve slowly started to mix new outfits together. I also took the time to put together a little book of new outfits I’d like to wear for the spring. Most of the pieces can already be found in my closet (surprise!), but I do want some fun additions for spring. I also went through my closet and pulled out anything with a price tag on it that hadn’t been worn.

I spent my Friday night shopping with a friend at the Dix-30 and our first stop was H&M where I returned a shirt that I had never worn. With my $44 store credit, I picked up 2 new purchases that are slightly out of my comfort zone:

i) Olive-khaki rolled-up painters pants

ii) White short-shorts

The total cost was $5.80 of Fun Money after using my store credit. I’ve modeled them at home and played dress-up so I know have 6 outfits that can go with these 2 purchases. When I finally strut my stuff in them, I’m dedicating my outfits to FHTS for the ongoing inspiration and encouragement throughout the past 40 days.

My friend and I also recovered from our shopping spree at Cabana and for $13, enjoyed a glass of wine and checked out the bar scene of the South Shore.

Saturday, April 2nd

- $6.20 at Marché Atwater My Eye Candy and I enjoyed an afternoon strolling around the Canal with Miss Fergie and it was the perfect opportunity to indulge in a pain au chocolat + café au lait while watching the world go by.

I spent $47 of my Fun Money this week so I'm putting the remaining $33 into my Vegas Baby fund. The trip is now 27 days away (so is the Royal Wedding!) and I'm glad that I've made the effort to cut back my day-to-day spending so this vacation won't be such a hit to my wallet.

*Rosie*

Wired on savings

A few months ago, I wrote a post Wired! But now saving on my wireless. After spending close to an hour on the phone with my Rogers representatives, I managed to get my wireless plan slashed to $65 which is 57% of what I was spending on average over the previous 6 months.

I also sacrified very little as I was able to keep unlimited evenings & weekends (starting at 8 pm), unlimited text messaging, voicemailing, call display, my dataplan and even got a bonus of long-distance Canadian minutes. The secret to my negotiations was knowing exactly what I using for each line of my bill and continuing to insist that I wanted a package less than $70. Plus, I was couch surfing to recover from the flu so I had all the patience in the world to speak to customer service reps (after all, there are only so many episodes of What Not To Wear that a girl can realistically watch in just one day).

I did worry that this deal almost seemed too good to be true. But I'm pleased to report that Rogers held up their end of the bargain and my April wireless bill is $69. (Note: those $2 charges on Long Distance excess are definitely being billed back to work - afterall, $2 is a tea at Tim Horton's and 3 timbits). This is a financially fabulous success and I'm excited that my next 4 week rolling budget will have about $40 for me to move into investing or one of my savings accounts.

*Rosie*