My name is Brianna, but you can call me Bri. I was never aware of the true value of a dollar. As a teenager, I constantly spent my mothers money as if we had a tree in our backyard producing more and more each day. I thought it would end once I got a job, however, my spending habits continued to increase. I would go through paycheck, after paycheck, without ever looking back.
All of this impulse spending soon came to a halt once I moved to New York for college. I was more than excited to get out of my small beachy town and move to a highly populated urban city! Thinking I was prepared for what the (city) college life would bring me, I quickly sent in my enrollment fee and was prepared to pack up and head out.
I worked almost the entire summer before college and all I had saved was $200. Only two hundred dollars to show for three months of hard work. I knew that small sum of money wouldn't last me very long, especially not long enough for me to settle in and find a new job. So, I did what I used to do best and asked my mom for money. Luckily, my mom didn't hesitate and put $500 in my bank account. This brought me up to $700. Which I blew through in two weeks. Seven hundred dollars can last a person up to two months and I spent in in two short weeks. I was humiliated. And, I wish I could say this was because I was in the "Big Apple" and it's expensive to live there but, I knew this time it was all my fault. I started to panic, wondering how I was going to survive off of $50 until I found a job. After all, you can't eat a Tory Burch cross body bag.
So, there I was, broke and jobless with barley any money in my account. I decided that I needed to go and look for a job. Luckily, within a few days of searching, my literature teacher offered me one where he worked! It was definitely a blessing that I felt like I didn't deserve, therefore, I jumped at the opportunity. I was making $9 an hour and working 30+ hours a week while going to school full time. Since work and school occupied so much of my time, I didn't have downtime to shop for things that would sit in my closet with tags for months. Before I knew it I had $1,000 saved up in my account and my mom was so surprised that I hadn't asked her for money in such a long time that she surprised me with $200 in my account one day. I felt so secure with money in my account and I felt so happy with myself that I knew this was a habit I wanted to maintain.
With $1,200 saved up, I then realized that I had enough money to buy something I actually wanted, not just something I settled for because I was short on cash. It made me look at the big picture rather than a piece of it. Ever since that day I promised myself that I would continue to save and find ways to spend my money consciously. I swore that I would no longer splurge or buy an item just because I have the money on me and nothing else better to do.
Here I am, seven months later, and I have moved home. I realized that New York just wasn't the place for me, but I continue to work and save! The lessons I learned by moving away, on my own, are ones that I couldn't have learned from anyone, not even a teacher in a classroom. I now work three jobs, have a great amount of money saved and still have fun during my free time (without spending a ton of money)! I'm starting school again in the fall back home in New Jersey and I am excited for all of the new opportunities I have waiting for me.
My main goal through this blog is to help you look great, think differently and have fun.. all while saving money! I will show you ways I save money along with which stores support my budget! I will also be there to remind you that it never hurts to splurge a little bit and buy that $200 hand bag or pair of shoes you've been dying for, as long as you don't "splurge" once a week! I will post many outfits that I will be wearing along with how much I spent on them on a daily basis. A few other things I will write about are inexpensive ways to have fun, current news and gossip, current trends, and great DIY's! I hope everyone is as excited to read my blog, as I am extremely excited to write daily for it.
As one of my favorite designers once said,
“Over the years I have learned that what is important in a dress is the woman who is wearing it.”
As long as you're happy with what you're wearing, you will never have to spend a million dollars in order to look like a million dollars.
