July Shopfessions

Kickstarter
The Secret Loves of Geek Girls - $49
Elysian Springs - $20

Clothes
Skull sweater - $35
Two Dresses and Leggings - $107

Books
BookOutlet - $26
Amazon - $43
The Reading Room - $23

Music
Jillian Aversa - $10
zircon - $6

Makeup
Bite Duo Lipstick - $12
Makeup Forever Lipstick Shade 51 - $20
Sephora Eyeliner Shade 12 - $13

MISC
Shipping - $9.95
Hot Topic - $54.81

Returns/Extra Earned
eshakti - $39.45
PoshMark - $32
Sold books - $25

I found out about the Kickstarter from BuzzFeed. I've been trying to avoid Kickstarter but they seem to find me.

I wanted some more work dresses so I used a discount code for Torrid and shipped it for free to my local store. The sweater? See Poshmark below. Can't sell without seeing what's for sale.

Book outlet had given me a $5 off coupon so I got several books I'd been wanting to get my hands on. The Reading Room offered me a 40% off + free shipping code the same day the author of one of my favorite books drops a new title. I'm actually reading it now along with someone else as part of the PopSugar Challenge.

I tried 4 different bookstores to find Living Well, Spending Less by Ruth Soukup before I gave up and got it on Amazon. I added some other things to get the free shipping. I really hope Ms. Soukup can help me in not spending any more.

As for makeup, I figured out how to work everything that wasn't mascara after the age of 25. In a few short years I've escalated to the point where I can't be left unsupervised in Sephora. I stopped by to pick up a few basic pieces to build my nonexistent face collection and this resulted in a few impulse purchases. From Amazon I ordered 3 lipsticks, 2 of which were for costumes.

I don't have a good excuse for Hot Topic. I wanted a smaller backpack for the weekend and the necklace was perfect for a cosplay Boyfriend and I do.

My grand total of unnecessary stuff for July? $359.76 Ouch. Another month confirms what rubbish I am at not spending money. For almost all of these I can hear a voice in my head saying "Excuses, not reasons." With a regular rent check to go along with my cell phone, COBRA, and car insurance bills, it has become very clear to me that I need to do a lot better than I've been doing.

At least I've gotten better at counteracting my spending habit. PoshMark was a recent discovery via a Hello Giggles article. One woman managed to pay off her student loans with the site so I decided to sell clothes that didn't fit or I didn't need. I bought a sweater but I've culled my closet once again and have several pieces that will hopefully earn more than the $0 I was getting with them sitting in my closet unused.

Earnings for July? $96.45. That counteracts the spending total to $263.31. With the new budget I'll have to be on, that's still too much but I'm hoping a budget app will help me really see where my money needs to go, not just where it doesn't need to have been.

June Shopfessions

Kickstarter
The Doubleclicks - $10
Oh Joy Sex Toy - $20
We're Alive: Lockdown - $20

Clothes
Amy Pond Jacket - $58
Spider Gwen cardigan - $50.17
New Normal Apparel shirt - 57.92
Balloon Dress - $40
Surplice top - $32
LOC Pride and Prejudice tee - $28

MISC
eshakti shipping - $13
Kristyn Hippe EP - $8
In App expansion for Bonza - $3

Sold
Selling books - $38.44

With the offset, that brings my total spending to $301.65 for the month of June. Since I'll be sharing a closet with someone, I have no need to acquire more clothes. I will need to figure out how to share space and I don't know what the dress code will be for the next job/temp gig I have so there's no point in dropping money I don't have on clothing I'm not sure I'll use.

The Kickstarters I funded this go around were all ones I'd planned to invest in once I knew they were going to happen. I wanted to be a part of Oh Joy and have a personal investment in the other two.

I saw the Amy Pond jacket when I went to look at something I saw in the store window. I talked myself out of a lovely but impractical polka dot dress but I could use the jacket as a lazy Amy Pond cosplay since I already have a navy and white striped tank. As for the cardigan, I've seen 2 different designs on We Love Fine and watched them sell out. Not this time.

The New Normal Apparel I have no excuse other than it allowed me to wear leggings as pants. I just found out I had a new temp assignment that would pay the best money I've ever made and it should go on for a couple of months. Imagine my disappointment when it stopped after 3 days.

To celebrate unexpectedly getting another gig, I acquired a customized dress on sale from eshakti. With the customizing fee, it was about $40. Because I got more than one item, the top was 30% off and is enormously practical. After that gig ended abruptly, I went to the Library of Congress. It is one of the most beautiful buildings I've ever seen including the Vanderbilt mansions. They had a Pride and Prejudice tee exclusive to them that I couldn't resist picking up. I managed not to buy any books but that doesn't feel like quite the badge of honor I want it to be after looking at these numbers.

My big lesson from this month is that no matter how long they say a temp gig is for, it could end tomorrow. I can no longer trust what I'm told for the duration of any future assignments. No more celebrating. I'll celebrate by saving money since I'm moving in August.

On the upside, most of the major birthday I've got for the rest of the year are taken care of and I've got a head start on Christmas. I also got an influx of cash from selling books back. I've discovered 2 new apps that I'm hoping will allow me to sell books and clothes for cash. I'll keep you posted on how that goes. I'm hoping I won't be idle for too long but there's no guarantee that I won't be out of work for the next month.

May Shopfessions

Kickstarter
Little Free Library Kickstarter - $44
Rain of the Ghosts Audioplay - $25
Amber Skye EP - $10
MAE Graphic Novel - $50
Broken Frontier - $40

Books
BN - $13.70
BN -$31
Politics and Prose - $45

Clothes
Ruth Badass Ginsburg - $26.59

MISC
Nightwish album - $11.99
Inside Amy Schumer MakeUp song - $1.29
Portal 2: The (Unauthorized) Musical - $5.04

Refunds/Returns
Hot Topic + $42.59
Sold Books + $25.88

I have learned I'm just as dangerous on Kickstarter as I am on other retail sites. Kickstarter has the added bonus of helping a cause or some cool media that might not otherwise exist. I wasn't sure if all of them would get funded but everything came through at the end.

The RBG was an oatmeal unisex tank that was on sale and the last tank top I'll need for summer. After RBG's glorious showdown about gay marriage, I wanted to represent. I'm waiting until I have income again before I get a Notorious RBG shirt.

One of my 2 BN runs were with a gift card and a coupon but it still wasn't great. I felt bad enough that I wound up returning one of the books. Progress? Politics and Prose was from a night with Neil Gaiman. I paid full price for Trigger Warning and Ocean at the End of the Lane but they were autographed. I regret nothing.

My friend got me tickets for the Nightwish concert and they're touring this album. I tried to hold out to get it with Viggle points but they hadn't stocked it in the store after a month so I caved and bought it. The worst part of it was that I got food poisoning and couldn't go to the concert. BF filmed over 30 minutes of footage so I didn't totally miss out.

As for getting money back, I got a Hot Topic return processed (finally) and got a check from selling some of my books. However, there was a con at the end of this month. Inevitably, I did some damage.

Awesome Con Haul
Zorphbert & Fred - $30
Never Have I Ever card game - $25
How to Train Your Dragqueen - $22
Don't Blink Tank - $20
Curls comic - $15
The Shadow of the Gauntlet by Casey Caracciolo - $15
Live Long and Suck It tee - $15
Pirate Eye - $10
Partholon by D. Krauss - $10

Baron Syndicate - $5

Total: $167

I had a cash budget of $120-130. I didn't keep exact track but my plan as to stop shopping when I ran out of cash. This worked reasonably well until I saw Never Have I Ever the card game. I wound up combining my gift budget with my personal fun budget and gave myself some wiggle room on my credit card.

I didn't need any of the shirts but they made me smile. When vendors remember you, it definitely motivates you to spend money. I am astonished by how many vendors remember me. D. Krauss saw me when I was getting worn out and let me chill at his booth for a while. I gave him some banana chips and we talked about dogs.

This brings my grand total of unnecessary spending to $402.14. Ouch. And I just got the wireless bill and my COBRA bills. This is less than ideal timing. I really need money. I've got to hit up that vendor who wanted a pair of my earrings.