Where to Splurge and Save

It's up for debate whether or not I am truly responsible with my money. On one hand, I always make rent and utilities for the month. On the other hand, I'm more apt to spend money on magazines and a new shirt than I am to make sure that I have an excess of groceries. Maybe I haven't totally gotten the hang of finances and spending yet, but I think I'm starting to realize where I should be investing my money and where I should be trying to save as much as possible. My mom would probably argue that I should be saving in every aspect of my life but to that I say...I KNOW STOP JUDGING ME, MOM.


I always have and always will say that when it comes to trends, it's best to save. Don't spend exorbitant amounts of cash on a neon chartreuse ruffled cropped blouse. I don't even know if one of those exist, but if they do, go for the H&M version, not the designer version. There's always two in the world of fast fashion versus high end fashion. The chance of you wearing that shirt past a couple month season is slim and that chartreuse ruffled concoction will just sit in your closet and haunt you as that one strange sartorial purchase that you spent way too much money on.

Now, bear with me here when I tell you to save on food. This doesn't mean don't buy food at all. This just means that you might not need that sixteen dollar four ounce bottle of kale juice with glitter infused. There are perfectly acceptable non-name brand food options that will save you in the long run. I like to do all of my grocery shopping at Trader Joe's and Aldi when I'm at school (sometimes Target, they have the best tortellini brand), but if I had access to a Wegman's, there would be no doubt in my mind that I would shop there over any other store ever. Also, there's no need to eat all of your meals out. You can save so much money if you resist the urge for tacos and margaritas or hitting up Chipotle three times a week. Uber Eats might be the most convenient app on the entire planet, but sometimes you just gotta make some pasta at home instead of dropping sixteen dollars on sushi weekly.

For my 21+ people out there, do you realize how much you spend on drinks? I didn't realize how much my roommates were dropping on adult beverages until I turned 21 and started to drop money left and right. Let me tell you right now: pre-game. Pre-freaking-game. Buy your own mixers and liquors or wine and never look back. Everyone else does it, and they do it for a reason! You don't spend more when you're out and you get to control what you're drinking so it's not 50% ice.

Now...where you should splurge. I could argue that my idea of splurging is not necessarily buying The Most Expensive pieces, but it's just putting a little more money and thought into what you're buying. For clothing, I'd say it's important to splurge on three things: jeans that fit you perfectly, staple basic items, and a good pair of black booties.

Now, bear with me, because I have an annoyingly tough body for jeans to fit. Everything is either too tight in the thighs but perfect in waist or way too big in the waist but fit nicely in the thighs. For normal mall brands, American Eagle are the only jeans that mostly fit my body type, but they're always a bit too long (the short length are too short). Then I was introduced to Paige, Hudson, and Rag & Bone and my entire life changed. Would I ever be able to get myself to pay that much for a pair of jeans from Nordstrom? Ugh, maybe someday. Luckily, Nordstrom Rack and consignment shops exist for a reason! You'll still spend a little bit more, but if the jeans fit and you feel good in them, it's okay to splurge a bit for the comfort and confidence booster!

When it comes to basics, I don't mean a white t-shirt. Don't spend two hundred dollars on a white t-shirt. It will get dirty and you will get pit stains. It's going to happen, no matter how many times you wash it. However, spending a little more on a quality black sweater (cashmere, maybe, because it's the softest thing in the entire world) that you will wear often and will go with everything might be a good idea. The idea of splurging really just comes down to buying one really nice piece to replace the three or four you might go through if you buy low quality pieces that come apart or pill.

My last clothing splurge suggestion is a pair of nice, sturdy, comfortably black booties. You can wear this all year round, with jeans, with trousers, with skirts and dresses. They're such a versatile piece and warrant spending a little more on them. I'd say to avoid major wear and smelly shoes (TMI, but it's true), going the leather route might be the way to go. The quality will be better and they'll mold nicely to your feet as they stretch.