Minimalist March Day 15

Even though I'm thrifty, I love shopping sprees. On Thursday I met Meg for a girls' shopping afternoon and I spent less than $25!


First stop was the food court for some sushi. I got three delicious rice paper rolls for $5 (extravagant for me).





Then we went to La Senza because we both had Living Social vouchers - $24 for a $55 voucher, bargain! I got a bra and a pair of knickers and it only cost me an extra $5 (the voucher was accounted for in last month's budget).





While we were there we joined the loyalty club. It's free, and when you sign up you get a $20 voucher! Though I'm still waiting for mine...

Next we went to our favourite cheap chain store Temt, because I had a $10 credit I had to use. We both bought the same $15 sweater dress, so again I only spent $5 out of my wallet. I chose blue.





Naturally when we past Collette Accessories we had to run straight over to the sale rack - everything was reduced to ONE DOLLAR. That's not a typo! We each chose four things, including the same sparkly silver studs and long gold necklaces. Twins!





Afterwards it was time for some snacks. First we went to T2, where as you know I like to get free iced tea samples. The flavour du jour was strawberry; I liked it! They're also doing a range of olive oils now, and had three flavours available to taste with bread. We tried them all. They were pretty good so I'll definitely be back to sample, I mean buy, some more.








We popped in to Darrell Lea to sample a few Easter eggs, and finally to New Zealand Natural for ice creams. I had a BOGOF voucher so we got two icecreams for $4! We both chose the same flavour, Cookies and Cream, and Meg remembered that we could get free fudge as well.





I spent: $5 on lunch, $5 at La Senza, $5 at Temt, $4 at Collette, $2 on ice cream and $1.70 on the bus = $22.70.


There you have it, a lovely shopping afternoon on a budget. Frugal can be Fun!

Shop Til You Drop April

As you know, my STYD arrived the other day. I think this is the best magazine because it features things normal people can afford, sometimes even I don't think they're overpriced.





I really liked the houndstooth stuff they had. In the spirit of thrift and minimalism I won't be buying any, but I once had a houndstooth office-type skirt that might still be around somewhere.





Neon's still hip. I'm not a huge fan but I do have a neon pink polish that I might use. It came in a Priceline gift bag last year, did anyone else get that? It was good value, I can't wait for the next one.





The Gem Crush ad that inspired my glittery mani-pedi was strategically placed next to a feature on glitter makeup. As a marketing guru, I approve! I love a bit of glitter eyeliner too so I'm on board with this trend.








Those colourful jeans are still in, do you guys think I should get some for AW2012? I already have normal jeans, but my cold weather wardrobe could do with something nice and bright (hello Bridget Jones's Mother if you're reading) and Grande Double-Vay has them for under twenty bucks. Thoughts?

The silliest part of the mag was the article on investment dressing; these always make me laugh.





For instance, a $2000 bag is apparently a great buy because if you use it for 2 years, the CPW is only $2.50. I have bags that cost less than that when I bought them! And apparently leather pants are a classic wardrobe staple now? Ugh. (Becky are you reading this? Please pass my criticisms on to Mr Packer; thanks.)


But apart from that it was a pretty good issue. 8/10.

Minimalist March Day 14

I absolutely love op shops, but my favourite chain store is Temt. Yesterday for uni I decided to wear a whole outfit from there: jeans, tank top and cardi, the total cost of which was $30. I've worn them all about a million times too.





Afterwards James and I had sushi for lunch. My favourite is the spicy prawn Tiger roll but I really enjoyed the soft shell crab one and the prawn dumplings too.

Then we went to the Camelia Gardens.
















For dinner we went to Hannibal Lebanese restaurant in Surry Hills. We bought a voucher for $40, and for that we got a mix of delicious foods, desserts, coffee and corkage.





There was more food than we could eat, and all of it was delicious. Even without the voucher, they had heaps of affordable options, I can't wait to go back and try some more!

And we drank this wine from my place - thanks Mum & Dad!





I wore a polka dot dress from the op shop. James wore a black shirt with tiny white polka dots on it too. I love matching!







We had a little night cap at The Crest too, and James won a promotional iPod amplifier gadget with his beer!






What a brilliant day, and I only spent thirteen dollars! In the first week of MM I spent $140, which was terrible, but in week two I only spent $40, that's right, $40!

Minimalist March Day 13

On Tuesday to work I wore:

Dress from Salvatore's of Sutherland, $3
Shoes from Targét, $2.86
Handbag from Salvatore's in Forster, $1
Hair clip from The Reject Shop or possibly Hot Dollar, $3

In case you're no good at maths, that's less than ten dollars for the lot.


After work I changed into an even thriftier outfit - hand me down dress and thongs I got for Christmas - to go to the Physio. What fun.





I did outlay $2 for a DVD I had to watch for uni though. It was Unforgiven - a western, but rather a good one.


For dinner we had this thrifty chicken casserole made by Mum.





And later I dug out an old necklace that used to belong to my Nana and fixed it up with my jewellery polishing cloth, it's like a new necklace for free! If you don't have one of those cloths you should definitely buy one, it's the best thing I own.