Well…I think these are needs…but really…they aren’t.
Two pairs of lace Toms…one black, one natural. $39.99 each
One pair of Toms grey with rose gold polka dots…$19.99 for some odd reason!
Josef Seibel tan leather loafers…$52. Ok…these are $130 shoes, and very comfortable!!
I seldom go to Nordstrom Rack…but I did yesterday…i went specifically for the natural lace ones which i saw there over two weeks ago…NEVER expecting to find them! It was an omen they were there.
I’ve got 5 or 6 pairs of shoes sitting around in boxes, waiting for me to decide which I’m keeping and which I’m sending back. Unfortunately for me, the ones I like the best are Stewart Weitzman black flats. I don’t even want to say how much they were at half off. I wear black flats over half the time in the spring and summer, so I really do need a couple of pairs. I may keep both te really nice comfy ones, and the Born ones, which are fine but not great. I deem these a need.
I am going to be spending some money refreshing things in the next couple of months. BUT, for the last several months I’ve been trying to shop purposefully, instead of just buying things because they are re on sale. I may be paying more for individual items, but I’m saving money overall.
@1214mom: Expensive shoes last longer. They are generally a good deal in the long run.
Just keep telling yourself that.
@1214mom …same here. I have 5 boxes of Abeos and Vionics here. I know 2 are going back. I’d like to keep the other 3, but I know I shouldn’t. I’m going to keep 2, but which? I need to start looking at what they would match with clothes to see what I’d get the most use out of. If you wear black flats all the time, then keep them.
This thread just reminded me about a black lace dress I bought at NR and March 31 marks day 90 (last day to return). I don’t have a specific event to wear the dress to but it looks nice on me and was marked down to $40. I’ll try it on today and make a final decision. If I hadn’t read this thread, I would have forgotten about it and missed the opportunity to (possibly) return it so thank you!
Re: shoes. As I get older, comfort has become more important. If I find shoes I love that are comfortable, I feel better about spending more money. My lesson is to NOT buy the ones that aren’t all that comfortable because I then end up not choosing them and they just take up space in my closet and I’ve wasted that money.
Last year I bought 2! pair of Birkenstock sandals. Paid more than I usually do. Now when I look at casual sandals, I think if I could wear my Birkenstock instead of these and would they be as comfortable? The answer has been that the Birkenstock (my silver Gizah mostly) looks just as nice as the ones I’m looking at and they will probably be more comfortable.
By buying a more expensive sandal, I have passed on plenty of cheaper shoes.
I love those stinking Birkenstock Gizah’s.
At first read, I thought you said 21 pairs. I’m so glad you didn’t!
Watching the little expenses doesn’t save one from the bigger hits. So, my ipad2 has been freeZing all week. Now I went to family room and the TV there took minutes to turn on, but just the sound came. It’s 18 years old. I’ve got family visiting soon, and need that TV. As silly as it sounds, I’ll have to hire my handyman to move the old huge 36" out.
The good news is that if you get a replacement TV it will be much lighter. And will cost less than your old one did, and will do more. Getting rid of our last tube TV was a delight. A struggle, but a delight.
When I was drying my hair today my blow dryer failed dramatically, with sparks and smoke, at least no open flame. So that will need to be replaced.
Oh, finally getting that awful 200 lb wood-grain Zenith behemoth out the door was a need! My moving men got a chuckle out of taking it out.
My ex-H hairdryer from 1981? Con-air…still going strong, although I must say it’s dried far more newborn baby goats than hair.
I say comfortable shoes are a need. That’s hypothetical in my case, as I’ve never had any. Imagine size 5.5 feet shaped like an inverted triangle…I just realized my feet have the same shape as my body type 
I’m not a shoe maven…but I can tell you definitively…I’m NOT returning any of the shoes I bought yesterday!
Well, March is almost over. The month wasn’t nearly as good as February, but I don’t feel guilty. I feel my purchases were mindful of what I needed to supplement my wardrobe. I looked for sales, and turned away from things I would love to have but felt I could do without them.
8 tops (5 more unique and fun, 3 basic tees but I love them too. Total = $98 with tax!!
1 dress, 2 pairs of shorts (one expensive from WHBM), 1 skirt Total = $158 with tax.
2 pairs Tao and Vionic sandals (this was a need, not want). Total = $215 with tax
1 bathing suit = $102
Total clothing purchase of approx $673. Throw in some alterations and a couple of cheap earrings so let’s round it to $700
Not what I thought I would spend this month at all, but I feel ok about the expense. I knew I needed these things going into summer and while they had my sizes and I had the time, why not?
I feel especially good about all the tops. I bought them st NR, TJ Max, Loft and the 3 at Target. My Best Buy was a clearance item at Loft. Deep Nautucal blue cotton, short sleeve cold shoulder and the sleeve part was drapey with ties. So cute. It was originally $24.50 and I got it for $3.44.
What I’m still happy about is I haven’t nickeled and dimed us with stuff… No new makeup, using the shampoo I have. I typically buy a styling holding gel at Ulta, but I’m using some other stuff I have until it’s gone instead of spending the $27. My hair looked just fine today without the expensive stuff. No magazines. Just no stuff. The only thing was I rented 3 Redbox movies!
The only thing left I’d like to get is a few fun necklaces to go with some of my new tops. I feel really good going into spring and summer and Need to just stop now. My goal is for April to be a Freeze.
So, how did everyone else do?
I returned over $1,000 of Nordstrom Rack stuff this afternoon. I found the Stewart Weitzman shoes for $60 cheaper at 6pm, so I may order from there. Now I have a similar run to do with Macy’s (not as much stuff though).
I do need some things for the spring/summer, so I will be spending some money in the next several weeks.
^^^Wow!
I don’t think I’ve done much “mindless” spending. I did some shopping at TJ/HomeGoods to redo my window seat (mostly pillows), bought a denim dress for $15 and I did splurge a bit on the kids Easter baskets - both my D’s and my DIL are getting a pair of Tevas, S something similar and they all are getting a couple gift cards (plus a LITTLE candy).
Truth be told, I wanted a new pair of Teva’s too! But I resisted - for now. 
And I threw CAUTION TO THE WIND and bought myself a delicious vanilla latte at my work cafe last Friday instead of my usual “once a week” $1.25 coffee refill!
I have to say, I am kind of craving a Nordstrom Rack trip after reading about @thumper1 TOMS and some other things on here!!
I traveled to visit S2 and his fiancee in March and I treated them to dinner out, of course. I also splurged on a b’day gift for her, and she was thrilled with it. But I don’t buy little trinkets for myself any more, at all.
Other than food for Passover (which is not mindless but is expensive given the number of people I am feeding!), I have bought nothing except 3 Justice Ginsburg-themed t-shirts for my D, DIL, and S2’s GF. I just couldn’t resist…(no pun intended!). It feels good to see lower cc bills, I must say.
You all have done so much better than me, that’s for Sure! I think part of it is I’m going on a family vacation in May, took stock of what I didn’t have and panicked. It’s amazing how fast $700 can rack up! I had no idea until I sat down and did a tally. DH, bless his heart, never says a thing. Ok, I forgive him for not helping out more when the kids were little, (topic from another thread.)
Oh, and I bought a hat to wear at the beach.
I did very well in terms of not buying “things”. I still ate out a couple of times, and had intended not to. But that’s OK, I’m under budget and ready for this vacation 
We ate out more than I wanted too, but it balanced out by Mr. having tons of travel on business with paid for food this month, some fancy and some not. I blew some money at the Rack and bought a Roku stick. Plus $300 worth of plants and trees for the yard. That was a bargain though as we could have spent 2X at Molbacks on fewer pots. But! The expensive TV is going back to Costco! Mr. got mad that we have to pay extra for built in wifi apps that do not work. The TV either requires a wire to the modem or a Roku stick which defeats the purpose of wireless TV with built in apps. Yay.
So are you getting a more basic Smart TV? - since you have the Roku?!!
Aww, plants are not mindless spending! Say it ain’t so! That’s important to your property and nature. If you were buying giant bouquets in large numbers for inside the house weekly - that might be mindless spending. But not outdoor permanent plants IMO! I SUPPORT IT!!!