fbpx
:::: MENU ::::

Homecoming – Dresses and Khakis

by

We are experiencing lots of firsts this fall with our continued public school adventure. And over the next two weeks, both Princess and Gymnast will attend their first Homecoming dances. You probably noticed the ?? in my anticipated spending for this week.

Both of them must purchase their own tickets and if Princess does go to the game, she will purchase her own ticket to that as well. But I committed to purchasing their clothes. For Princess that means a “party” dress and for Gymnast it’s just a pair of khaki shorts or pants.

Shopping Fun

This is a first for us. And Princess and I made a night of the shopping excursion. We, along with a friend who stays with us a lot, took the night and headed over to Kohl’s where she had seen a dress online for right at $40 that she liked. Little did we know that they do not carry these types of dresses in store. Ad frankly, I was hesitant to purchase anything online especially not being sure of sizes.

It was disheartening at first, especially when the salesperson insisted that even department stores do not have “party” dress sections anymore. But we decided to tough it out and headed to the mall. Dillard’s for the save!

The girls spent 2 hours trying on dresses. They tried on everything from long, glittery formal gowns to hobo type flower girl dresses. For my tomboy daughter and me who always chooses comfort over style, it was a new experience. And it was a lot of fun! (And hey, I got over 3,000 steps in just exchanging sizes for them.)

Princess trie on dresses

Princess & friend trying on dresses at Dillards. This is not the dress the got.

It was free, it was fun and I took a ton of pictures. And we laughed ALOT. And did I mention that Princess had insisted that she only wanted a dress as she had every intention of wearing her all white Jordan’s (a gift from her dad this summer) as her shoes. Thankfully, we were able to change her mind on that.)

White and Silver Metallic Jordans

The shoes she planned to wear with her dress. Thankfully we talked her out of it.

She ended up getting a dress she LOVES! And a pair of cream colored Converse shoes with big bow shoes laces to go with it. And what’s even better is that everything was on sale!!! The shoes were 50% off and the dress was 45% off. All in all, we spent right at $100.

Re-wear Dresses?

To be honest, I don’t know if she will re-wear the dress. I remember when I was in high school, we did not re-wear our dresses, but we did swap with friends the next year. But if she does happen to go to any Christmas parties, the style and coloring will work.

But she can definitely re-wear the shoes – over and over. And since her feet are done growing, they will be a good addition to her long term footwear.

Boys are Easier

When I asked Gymnast about his plans, he said “I just want to go to Wal-mart and get a pair of khaki shorts or maybe pants. I really want pants.”

My response, “Done! We will go tomorrow.” I don’t anticipate his pants will cost me more than $20 especially since he can still wear boy sizes.

All in all, I am pleased with their choices and plans. And SO GRATEFUL that I had the resources to be able to have these shopping experiences. I/We do not take them for granted for even one second. They both know that every dance will not be like this, but I’m glad their first school dance will be special.

I know Princess must attend at least one more dance this, the Winter Formal and will require a formal gown for it. It is a requirement of her Anchor Society membership.

Parents of daughters, how did you handle the dress needs of your girls as they were going through high school? And what did you do with the dress(es) afterwards? In VA, there were tons of consignment shops…here, not so much.

 

Busted Budget???

by

With the chaos of the move and settling in to the new place, I kind of let my budget get away from me this month.

I’ve found that, in the past, I do BEST when I have a concrete budget on paper before the month begins. Then I can reference it and know, “Oh, I’ve still got $X left for groceries” (or clothes, or household, or whatever else).

But when all my office stuff was in boxes and I was busy trying to unpack and get situated…..I just kind of “bought.” It wasn’t like I was out buying with reckless abandon or anything. I was still trying to be frugal and mindful to only buy basic necessities and not a lot of extras.

Even so, I finally got around to balancing the budget and….it’s not so pretty.

In my “household” category (which was only budgeted for $100), I’ve already spent $370. YIKES! I swear, I didn’t even realize the number was that high! Again, it’s not like I was out buying anything crazy. I needed a couple new waste baskets (I get the cheap $1 ones for the bedrooms, but I got a $30 for the kitchen), shelf liner for the kitchen cupboards,  a small $20 tool kit, some supplies to connect the washer and dryer to the water and gas lines (my Dad generously gifted the washer and dryer themselves, but I still needed some tubing and hoses, etc.) You get the idea – just your basic run of the mill we-just-moved type of stuff.

The problem is the budget was already stretched thin. I’ve tried to reallocate some funds – reducing the funds that had been set aside for exercise (races, yoga) and clothing and moving those funds to the housing line item of the budget. But even with all my tinkering, I’m still coming up $81 over budget. It could be worse, but I’m still pretty disappointed. I was determined to make the budget BALANCED, so I’m not too happy that my very first month living alone it looks like may be a failure in that regard.

I’m going to try to see if I can make up the money. I do still have $106 left in my grocery budget. It would be tough to make that stretch, seeing as its only the 11th so we’ve still got 2 and a half weeks left of the month. But maybe if I can squeeze $50 from there (leaving me with $56 for the rest of the month), then I’ll only have a deficit of $31. And then I can try to squeeze that from somewhere else. I mean, I’m really grappling with pennies over here, but I’m pretty determined to somehow make this work.

I’ve already pre-made my entire October budget so the budget is completely balanced AND includes some savings for an EF, semi-annual fees, and care/repair maintenance. So it’s not impossible to have a balanced budget (and even put some aside in savings), but it definitely will take some intentionality and a close eye on every outgoing penny. I’m going to give myself a little grace given that I literally moved on September 1st (it would’ve been tough to keep the household budget to $100 given the circumstances), but I’m bound and determined to try everything within my power to get it at least to even for this month, and to have some savings stocked away for next month.

What do you do if you need to make a quick $80 (and/or save it from another category of spending)? Would you sell some plasma? Sell goods on Facebook Marketplace? Or find ways to cut back from other budget categories?