I did declare another Frugal Feb at the beginning of last month but I wasn't so involved this time around. After all, my main expense - stuffing my face at every opportunity - was already covered by work while I was in Melbourne, and I'm trying to cut down on shopping.
Having said that, here is some stuff I acquired during Frugal Feb:
Windsor Smith black patent wedges, $64 (was $129.95) - DFO
Witchery pink jeans, $40 (was $99.95) and Witchery Kids leopard print belt, $7 (was $19.95) - DFO
I have wanted a skinny leopard belt like this for ages but the adults' ones are too big for my waist. I was so happy to find this one, especially at that price! From now on I'm doing all my accessories shopping in the kids' department.
This bracelet was a Valentine's Day present from Jimmy so it was free! Thanks James, I love it!
Our Man In Havana is borrowed from Jim and thus also free. Watermelon came from the Salvo's store in Altona, I think it was $2.
Cotton On Body bras, $5 each - DFO.
The Cotton On shop at DFO South Wharf appears to sell things from their stores overseas as well, because unlike the regular Aussie stores, this one had heaps of size 8 bras. So if you're always searching for them like I am, you know where to go!
Target leopard print dress, $8 I think - Salvo's Altona
Howard Showers black dress, $40 (was $189 or something equally crazy) - DFO (Charlie Brown store)
I wore this dress three times while I was in Melbourne, i.e. once a week - cost per wear! The first time was with black peeptoes and silver & diamante jewellery, to dinner with James. The second was with the same shoes and the leopard print belt above, to Rockpool. The third was with gold & black enamel earrings and my leopard shoes, on our awesome last night out.
You can't see it in this picture, but I'm pretty sure I wore my bee ring as well. Buzz buzz.
Alcohol was another of my few expenses - I wasn't that restrained, but I did buy this on special!
Pilgrim navy camisole, $4, and Jacqui E raspberry knit, $6 - Salvo's Altona
Trying to pack light meant I bought most of my toiletries down there, then left them behind when I came home. All of these were on sale, especially the body scrub ($3 I think, from DFO), the OPI You're A Pisa Work polish ($10) and the Hair Academy products from The Reject Shop.
I really liked the smell of the Herbal Essences shampoo. The Taft hairspray is a new favourite, as is the Hair Academy pump action hairspray. The Nivea lotion was like applying sunscreen, but gosh it worked well!
The body scrub smelled like the air fresheners in a shopping centre bathroom. The John Freida hair stuff works pretty well but doesn't prevent static at all, and as the most expensive of the lot I really do not think it is worth a repurchase.
I bought these Kmart earrings for $6 (not on sale, that's just how much Kmart charges for earrings!) to wear with my black dress on our last night out because I was sick of all the jewellery I'd packed. The J necklace is from Gloss, my favourite cosmetics and accessories chain - I think it was about $2 on sale.
So that's the lot! I am pretty happy with my purchases. I think I was pretty restrained considering, and quite practical too as I've worn/used almost everything already. The total cost of all my clothes/accessories/cosmetics shopping plus two bottles of gin, three magazines and a few other sundries was about $330-$350 for the month. It wasn't exactly the Struggle Street scenario of last year's Frugal Feb, but I'd call that pretty thrifty!
I was less thrifty with club entries, taxis and drinks when I went out, but I still reckon I would've spent about $300-$400 at the most. It's a lot more than I'd spend normally but $100 a week for socialising isn't very much really, and for the amount of fun I had it's an absolute steal.
Last year I had lots of thrifty tips. This year my advice is get a job at my work! (Disclaimer: the partying to working ratio will end up being like 1:100 - still beats most jobs!)
