Mapgirl’s Fiscal Challenge

This is a rant and there will be no pictures, so move along now if you have more prurient interests.

This is the bitter me on trying to find the right pieces of undergarments over the last three years and how much it’s been a trial. I was inspired by Mrs. Micah’s post on the Lingerie ROI.

I worked for Express in college and I’d get a coupon for Victoria’s Secret and Cacique because they were owned at that time by the same parent company. Cacique is long gone now. It never took off like VS did. But they used to make 100% cotton undies and sell them 4 or 5 for $20. I’d use my coupon and get them for $15. I ended up with about 50 pairs after graduation, over 10 years ago. Yes, I can admit to hoarding them but they are great. I used to have a little cache of them with the tags still on but even that final stash is its last legs and I have to find suitable replacements.

I liked these because they were bikini style with encased elastic, 100% cotton in plain colors and cute floral patterns. They were full coverage bottoms, with a leg cut that was neither too high, nor too modest. Heck, I even made a dress out of similarly patterned fabric to match one pair because I liked the blue/white scheme so much.

Unfortunately, it’s really hard to find comparable underpants. I’ve tried Victoria’s Secret signature underpants and they do not cut the mustard. Neither does Hanes (in several types). The primary problem is that no one makes encased elastic waistbands anymore. I admit, I haven’t checked online for any, but I don’t feel like I should have to buy something so mundane as my skivvies online. Why can’t you go and just buy them in a normal store anymore? WHY? WHY? WHY? WHY?

As for upper body undergarments, I curse Target for dropping my favorite lace demi cup design. They never stocked them in quantity so I couldn’t buy 10 of them at once. The last time I checked for them I was very sad. In my desperation though I found something suitable, also from Target. In fact, this new bra was $3 cheaper. It’s the Gilligan and O’Malley house line (same as the old one I liked) but this one is not a demi cup, but at least it fits ok and makes a nice line under your clothes. They are still understocked at the store, but this time, I’m going to buy them online. I have one reservation which is that the top of the cup tends to roll *outward* which is very bad under a t-shirt. I swear, I’d give my kingdom for Target to bring back the old demi cup I liked.

One of my friends asked me about finding a bra with no underwire. She told me it was driving her crazy because she couldn’t find one anywhere. I found one by Hanes (also at Target) and tried it, but it was unflattering and the tag placement is in the worst spot under your armpit. The new bra I like has the tag printed on which is much better, but it wears off quickly so I’ll have to write the size onto the fabric if I want to remember the specs later.

At any rate, the quest for a decent replacement for underpants is going nowhere. *harumph* I may end up going commando because all of my favorite Cacique pairs are dying rapidly. One of my dear hippie friends from California hasn’t worn them in 25 years, but I’m still skeptical. I’m a little too modest to be quite *THAT* frugal.

I’m super excited. Even though I have to spend a lot of money on gas for my new engagement, I am excited because this office is insanely casual. There’s some manual work going on there and some of the staff wears jeans and *ugh* flip-flops. I hate flip-flops with a passion, but that is neither here nor there. The point is that the other consultants on my team tolerate jeans, sneakers and polo shirts.

I have noticed that most of my management chain are South Asian and tend to wear more formal attire, without going to a full-on suit. That sends me a signal, while it’s nice to be casual, don’t go TOO far.

While I don’t plan on wearing sneakers and jeans daily through the summer. It’s nice to know that I can and no one will get mad. I still plan on wearing a dress shirt and khakis Monday through Thursday, and jeans on Friday with dressy shoes. I have never felt that it was ok to wear sneakers on-site.

I’m so happy about all this. I was so fretful earlier when I first got this consulting job. The first client site was so formal and I felt a lot of pressure to upgrade my wardrobe and buy some suits. But now I don’t need them until I return to a formal client site. I can dry clean my suits and put them into storage till October. If I’m lucky, this gig will last a while and I won’t have to spend too much money. (Though I’m getting fat enough to warrant some new khakis again. Sigh. Must diet to avoid spending money.)

A few weeks ago I wanted to get all spiffy to go clubbing. I work near a mall with a lot of cute clothing options, so I figured this shouldn’t be too hard. I could pick from Bebe, Agnes B, Forever 21, etc. I budgeted about $100 for new cute clothes. Try as I might, I couldn’t find anything I wanted except a $500 dress from BCBG, but it was in the wrong color so no dice.

Instead I left with a pair of new spangly earrings from Claire’s for 10 bucks and a lot of disappointment.

Why is it that lately I’ve turned into a really bad shopper? I’ve been reading about Single Ma’s fab shopping trip, JD’s need to revamp his wardrobe and Debt Hater’s wardrobe update. It makes me want to shop, but then I get to the stores and everything is a big fat yuck.

The last thing I added to my wardrobe was a Threadless T-shirt courtesy of my boyfriend. It was on sale. Maybe it’s ok for certain kinds of clubs, but I want to be kind of swanky, cute, and all kinds of hot. Short of cutting up the shirt and DIY altering it, it’s actually super boring.

UGH. I guess this is a good thing for the budget though. I haven’t bought anything else but the clothes I needed for work. *sigh*

Frumperella loves spring. She’d like some new, fun clothes, but alas, there is very little she likes at the moment. (There’s a reason why goth/industrial black makes a nice fall back style. It’s extremely consistent.)

I have a huge bummer. On Valentine’s Day, after work, I went back to Ann Taylor with my receipt for 2 suits. There is a sale on suits where the jacket is 50% off. Thinking I could get a price adjustment, I took a receipt into the store and found out that they will only do a price adjustment within 14 days of purchase.

Bummer. I thought it was a 30-day policy, not 14.

Just so you know. Flip that receipt over, read it as you walk out the door. Then you’ll know.

So I did one last trip. I had given myself a budget of $1000, but I ended up breaking it. I spent another ~$251 on two more suits. That is $1000 on four suits, $15 on a pair of shoes, $20 on tights, ~$80 on two dresses and ~$40 on a new pair of earrings. Add on ~$40 in tailoring and that’s $1195 total, all paid in cash, cash equivalents, or credit with rewards and paid in full.

My only saving grace is that I did buy some stuff on sale and I do not need a great many shirts to wear under my suits to round out the stuff I have.

The last two suits are a Kasper ASL suit in dark navy with electric blue pinstripes. It’s a 3 pc with a hideous electric blue blouse, but it looks ok on me as long as I don’t look down. It’ll burn out my retinas. The other suit is a a very demur black/olive tweedy fabric skirt suit. It’s got 3/4 sleeves and is double breasted. The skirt goes below the knee. I LOVE IT. It’s effing TAHARI! Guess the price! Remember, I only spent a combined $251 for these suits. Guess! GUESS! I dare ya!

Oh ok. I’ll tell you. It was marked $99.99 on clearance at Macy’s, but I was able to get it for $79! Yes! It was so freakin’ cheap! I love a good sale and Tahari at $80 is an EXTREMELY good price. (I am lucky I could drag my boyfriend on a quick side trip into Macy’s. It must have helped that Saturday was Auntie Anne’s 20th birthday and she was giving away free pretzels! We each got one and he was happy.)

It sucks that I was impatient and bought two suits at Ann Taylor full price, but I’ve been carrying around the sales slip waiting for the chance to get a price adjustment on it if it goes on sale. As it was, the embarrassment of my poor attire was too much. I’ve started going out to client meetings and to be literally ill-suited would have been a very bad idea and perhaps fatal when it comes to office politics. (Possible and probable when working on a multi-contractor gig. Whose company pays better than the next, etc. You wouldn’t believe what people sit around a discuss sometimes.)

The shoes are brown suede pumps from Payless which are mighty cute and now the tailoring bill to hem the pants is $40. Since I still have not refurbished my sewing machine, I took them to a tailor since my the cost of the tailor is about my hourly rate (ok, more, but not much) and she’s going to do a better job than I can, but it’s a LOT less than driving to my mom’s or my aunt’s to have it done for free or cheap.

That’s it on the clothing front. I am now looking at some pretty water washable dresses for the spring and summer. My dry cleaning bill is going up dramatically and I dislike the notion of having to buy an iron and ironing board.

I will tell you what I bought for new clothes last week.

First the suits: I got two suits from Ann Taylor. They were two different cuts of jacket, but the pants are essentially the same. I wear a 6P in one jacket and a 4 Regular in another. One suit is blue with tiny light blue dots and the other is a plain brown color. Both suits require hemming and heels. Strangely, the pants are an 8P and I’m *still* too short for them in THREE INCH heels. Because I am going to have to walk most days to the bus, the petite length still needs chopping down to a 28 or 29″ inseam. Please, before you go to a tailor, have your inseam number in mind. They will ask you to bring your shoes, but given the wide variety of shoes I keep and the new walking shoes I still need to get, it really doesn’t matter if I bring my shoes or not. I’m going to get the break done at my preferred inseam length no matter what.

Total suiting cost was $747.60 on my credit card, but I just sent a cash payment to pay off the card. I only used it to trigger off a 10% discount coupon I can use later from the rewards on that credit card. I was desperate to fill out my wardrobe because there really wasn’t enough hanging in my closet for a full 5 days of work in the winter. I am scraping by with 2 weeks’ worth of clothes and hanging on till spring. However, I mentally budgeted $1000.00 so I still have money left over for shoes, which I need desperately. I am sheepish now because my favorite Joan and David are beyond rescue, but I still wear them anyway. You can’t wear duct taped loafers to work. But I would if I could.

Second some dresses: I bought a brown and purple knit dress at The Gap. It’s shapeless but ever so slightly clingy that my body gives it some shape. It matches the brown suit jacket I just acquired, and the modest length is work appropriate. I still need shoes to match though. It cost about $55, but I was able to finishing using up an old gift card from Christmas 3+ years ago and got it for half price.

I also got a dress for half price ($25 down form $50) and a crunchy boutique in DC. It’s a jumper style dress, not quite a sheath cut, so I can wear a turtleneck and some tights under it for cold weather wear.

Third the tights: 2 for $20 at The Gap. One pair in textured black and the other in a dark brown, to go with the new dresses and my old skirts, because going without tights in this weather will be the death of me.

Finally, because it’s been so damned cold, I’ve actually been driving to work instead of taking the bus. I know. It’s not frugal, but I don’t care. It gets me out of the office early because I can’t drive at night post-surgery and I don’t have to deal with the cold. It’s kind of expensive, but worth it in terms of quality of life.

If Punxsutawney Phil sees his shadow though, I will kill him. My wallet cannot take driving every day till April, nor do I want another 6 weeks of winter.

LOL. You guys are a pip!

#1 - The trick to growing out my nails is that they still look professional even after I bite them. I do not bite my nails down to the quick unless I have broken the nail already. After biting, I run a file over them and they still look like fakes. My nails, when well-groomed, look like the stuff people pay good money for, but are much more sanitary. (Trust me. You never want a nurse that wears fake tips. NEVER. Ask for a new nurse unless you want a staph infection. Acrylic tips harbor germs. EEW.) Hence the desire for a simple polish. I like to get things started right with a real manicure that shapes them nicely and keep it going from there. Home manicures are fabulous stuff. I recommend doing a base and top coat, even at home. It makes a huge difference in how long it lasts. Also, never do dishes without gloves.

#2 - Let me start of by saying that I have a wardrobe of very practical separates. I do. Thanks for all the advice advocating that. That’s great advice for *most* situations. But not this time for what I am going to do. Now that I’ve set foot on site and have encountered a good number of people at my new firm, I can see that they are more sharply dressed than I and it’s time to step it up. My firm claims to be ‘business casual’ but they also tell you to take your direction from the client and the client here is very formal.

To all of you who wear separates, you will eventually observe that this does not cut the mustard in certain lines of work. When I was younger and on a budget, I had a few good suits and a lot of mix and match separates. I could get away with that. But now that I’m over 30, I have noticed very subtley, that women in higher ranks wear very spiffy suits. They really do look a lot sharper than I do. I suppose I’ve got a specific person in mind when I say this, i.e. the female VP at my last job. She wore separates, but the quality on them was extremely high and a lot of times, she had on a suit.

Perhaps this comes from a childhood spent handling other people’s clothes at my mom’s dry cleaning shop, but I can see a difference in quality just by looking. If I can see it, my clients can see it. But if I’m lucky, I’ll be working with hard core geeks again and they won’t really care what I’m wearing. FWIW, I bought two more suits and now it’s time to work off my winter fat and fit back into the old stuff. No need to go crazy just as everyone suggests. I’m not hitting the Chanel boutique inside Nordstrom’s. Nor the Anne Klein purple label stuff. Also, black suiting is not an option as my boyfriend has a white dog that blows her coat three times a year. Plus why do I want to look like goth girl at my new job? I save that stuff to go clubbing. As SingleMa puts it, I need to *POP* with color.

#3 - Pantyhose. *sigh* It literally gives me hives. Many years ago I sat in an epsom salt bath one night after my first day of work. I had welts all over my legs where my skin was under nylon. Not good. This is the main reason why I wear pants instead of skirts to work, not just because I used to crawl on the ground plugging computers back together. I wear pants out of a fear of hose. Honestly, great hose is fab stuff. I love Givenchy. Those were the best pair I ever had. They were $7 and bought them for the prom. Sadly, Givenchy stockings are no longer sold and I hate paying more than $9 a pair. Trouser socks are reasonable since I can wear them under my ice skates too, but I think they also eventually end up with runs. BOYCOTT PANTYHOSE! It’s a stupid waste of money. I go bare legged and am quite happy thank you. (And no, I am genetically lucky enough not to need shaving my legs. There. I’ve said it to stem off the shaving complaints. Moisturize more if you have a razor burn. That’s all I can tell you.)

Truthfully, if you can get away with thicker dernier tights or very opaque hose, they will last longer. It’s the stupidly sexy sheers that always get caught on my bitten and unfiled nails… Mostly, I like thicker tights because let me tell you, it’s a b*tch to wait outside for the bus at 8am.

This new gig is going to require a wardrobe adjustment. I got a memo telling me my first engagement is business casual, but that many of the other offices in the building are formally dressed. Well, well. I can take a hint. I’d better buy some pantyhose and full suit outfits.

Luckily for me, when SingleMa and I went outlet shopping, I found a place that has pantyhose in multipacks for cheap and a shop that sells er, women’s suits. I hesitate because these are the kind of outfits that make me think of my mom, church ladies, and women politicos, i.e. dull cuts with shiny buttons. ICK.

This is also a reminder to step up the personal grooming. No more chopping the hair off. I am going to have to get a full on real haircut and invest in a curling iron. The trainer with the blonde hair looked simply fab. Her hair was extremely long like mine, but she finished the ends off with some slight layering and a twirl of an iron. This means less time for sleeping, but worth it for the first month to set a good impression.

Last thing is that I’m going to invest in a manicure. I have this problem during long training sessions. I bite my nails in boredom. Never down to the quick, but I gnaw on them like so many pieces of beef jerky. They’re looking terrible and I don’t want to show them yet at a client site. Also, for some reason, a little flash of polish, even the clear stuff, goes a long way to a professional impression. In the world of consulting, first impressions and appearances count. So off I go to plunk down a serious chunk of change to do this.

I have no fixed budget, but I have a set amount I am going to spend. What’s the difference? The former is something specifically planned that you KNOW you can afford. The latter is something you FEEL you can afford without knowing if you really can. At this point, my budgeting is simple. I only spend what I have in cash. More about that later.

Some are new. Some are old. Mostly stuff I read this week and thought was good.

Bluebird at Hedonic Adjustment writes about the genius of Ben Stein, asking the same question I’ve always wondered as well. But I do agree with Mr. Stein that Taco Bell’s Taco Supremes are very good. Every once in a while I crave a crunchy taco and nothing but a Taco Supreme will do.

Wine tips for your Turkey feast! Kojo is a great radio host. I could listen to his voice every day.

Holiday Stress relief! This is a pretty good list. What works for you? For me, I break out the spinning wheel, turn on old archives of The Diane Rehm Show or the Kojo Nnamdi Show.

A horrifying article about health care policyholders being dropped in the name of bonuses. A sensationalized one-sentence summary, but it’s not that far off. The original post is called “Greedy Enough to Make You Sick”. Thanks Financial Armageddon!

SingleMa shares her awesome news. I am so proud of her. She’s an inspiration!

Madame X, ah, reveals TMI.

If you can stomach another article after that (I’m still shuddering), try reading about The Ethicist and the adviced doled out to a child who thinks they should get a bigger share of their parents’ assets because their sibling gets more now. Is your family as complicated as this? Is a perception of equity a big deal to you? It is to me, but at the same time, I don’t think there will be anything left to divide. What matters more? Being loved equally by your parents or economically subsidized? Are they the same thing to you?

As a lapsed Catholic, I’m all about true confessions. CleverDude encourages you to stop hiding your secret! Two weeks ago I went to the PostSecret book signing in Bethesda and I had an opportunity to meet the artist and facilitator. (Thanks ~Dawn! I found the event through your repost.) He mentioned several times that debt is a big crippling secret people keep.

Alrighty. That’s enough for now. I’ve been working hard on a programming project and I have to thank Commenter Dean a lot for the tip he offered yesterday. I flat out told him I was stumped and he served up something on the fly.

Things to keep in mind while outlet shopping:
1) Stores will have a mix of sale items and outlet clearance items. Look carefully at the price tag for stuff that is actually clearance.
2) Be disciplined! If you don’t like the price, don’t buy it. There will be a better deal waiting for you in another store.
3) You can stock up on your basics, like socks, t-shirts and underpants so skip Wal-Mart and head to the outlets.
4) You can find high-end things at a really good price, but examine the item closely for seconds tags, flaws and poor construction. It might be in the outlet store for a reason!
5) Start early so you can hit all the stores you want.
6) Park close to the shops so you can go back to the car.
7) Wear clothes you can take on and off quickly. You will lose interest in shopping if you find going into the dressing room a hassle. I was a dork and wore lace-up boots instead of slip-ons.

Saturday was a brilliant day. I met Single Ma for a day outing to Leesburg Corner Premium Outlets. I hadn’t been out there yet, but my fabulous Joan and David shoes I’ve been trying to rescue for years were from the Petaluma Premium Outlets. I figured we were going to get a good deal.

Sure enough, we bought boots on sale at Nine West. There was a small flaw on the toe of mine, so we were going to ask for a 10% discount, but instead, when we pointed it out, the saleswoman whisked the boot away to clean it and when she couldn’t get it off, she gave us a 10% discount with Final Sale terms. This was going to be great because the boots were $80 on sale from about $120 original price. It gets better though. Turns out their Boot Sale was even deeper discount on the written sale price, so I was getting 10% off of about $55! Yippee!

I only purchased one other item which was a pair of green wide wale corduroys. They weren’t as cheap as I would have liked them. Original price was $50, sale was $40, but I would have liked to have paid $30. At any rate, Single Ma approved the cut and fit. Getting plump this past year has been a bummer for me, and my ego is only soothed my pants which are cut in a manner that makes for a more comfy fit for sitting 8-10 hours a day. Nothing like having a waistband cut into your gut all day.

We looked at some wonderful dress clothes for work at Kasper ASL. I wanted to go into Under Armour but we didn’t have time. Single Ma indulged me and we looked at luggage for my mom for Christmas. She has reiterated that she wants a really large bag, but I am uncertain she is going to be able to lift a full bag into the car. But either way, now I know where to find Samsonite luggage at a good price when I’m ready to buy.

All in all, it was a fantastic day outing.