Shopping rant, plus - don't forget to enter our contest!

Hello, Beautiful!

First, before I get to my shopping rant, I want to remind everyone to enter our daily contest for a chance to win $5 to spend at ValentineKisses.com!

Click here to read our contest blog post and to enter.


Now onto my shopping rant, although it's more of a shopping vowel I'm making to myself. Recently I tackled the mountains of laundry sitting in my laundry room, which I had been putting off for far too long. It started when my schedule was too crazy jammed packed with everything work related and I couldn't keep up with laundry. The pile slowly grew over time, and the larger the pile got, the less I told myself I had time to get it done. So I'd end up just washing a load of clothes whenever I needed them (or my family needed them. Now that my son is in school full time I have more time to get things done and I've finally caught up with the laundry mountains!

However, I realized I have one major issue: I have too many plain tank tops and t-shirts!

Not just one plain tank or tee in every color (which I can understand for building a wardrobe), but I have multiple plain tanks or tees in the same color! For example, I have eight plain pink tank tops (in various pink shades) - and those only count for the standard tank style and don't include the spaghetti strap styles or racer back styles. I love pink, but seriously, why do I need that many plain pink basic tank tops?!!?! I don't!!

It's a bad habit I've developed when shopping. Just about every store I shop at has basic tanks and tees on sale, some at really good bargains, and I always add at least one onto whatever I may be shopping for. Lately I've realized the majority of my purchases consist of plain tanks, plain v-neck tees, and lounge pants. Then later when I'm trying to wear something different I wonder why I only have plain boring items. Sure, I have plenty of non-plain tanks and tees, but not nearly enough. I don't want my closet to turn into a lounge store full of basics. So I'm making a shopping vowel to myself!

I vowel I will not buy any plain tanks or tees for the remainder of 2010 and from that point on I will only buy plain tanks or tees when they are on sale at 50% off or more, and no more than two per plain tanks OR plain tees per shopping trip.

Believe me, this is going to be tough. But it's something that needs to be done.

Let me just go on further to say that I don't go out on shopping trips just for fun. They're usually for a specific reason (needing an outfit for an event, as an example). I don't have a lot of money to spend on clothes, so I only shop sales. I think that's part of my problem - because I don't have a lot of money to spend I buy the items that are the cheapest and that's usually plain tanks and tees. Ah-ha! That's probably it!

I feel like I've gotten more for my money and therefore I can justify spending money on clothes. But I wasn't always that way. Before I had a child I would spend $40 to $60 on a nice top without thinking twice. Now if the top costs more than $15 (on sale or not) I can't stomach buying it.

So now maybe I won't get as many items when I shop, but at least I'll have cuter options in my closet!

xoxo with love & beauty,

Crystal Valentine B.
- The woman who runs ValentineKisses.com