Mining Gold: Day 4

 
Day 4/Step 4/Week 4 of the Miracle 7 Day Glamour Course tackles a major stumbling block: money.
How to pay for all this fabulousness? A budget.

Curiously, these pages are pristine. The former owner of the magazine didn't attempt to fill in the 2-page "private fashion formula" to track your purchases month-by-month. Nor did she attempt to create a "basic budget" reflecting her lifestyle, what she has and what she needs (see Day 3). The task is daunting.

How many of us shop with need and/or budget in mind? You may need a new winter coat. You may not always find one on your "shopping trip", but I'd be surprised if you didn't find something else you weren't looking for, that clearly wasn't on your mind.

Another place Chapter 4 goes wacky is considering "girdles, slips, bras, nightgowns and stockings" as items to be budgeted for. Those are not clothes, girl. At least today we can eliminate three of those things, four if you like to sleep in an old t-shirt.

By the way, the basic budget in their example assumes you have $10 a week to spend on clothes, $520 a year. Before you laugh yourself silly, adjusted for inflation $520 in 1952 money would be equal to $5,034.60 today. I don't think I spend anywhere near that amount. Of course, I don't keep track.

Back then a suit was $50 and a coat $100. Dresses ranged from $20 to $25. Skirts and blouses $5. Shoes $8 to $12.  Stockings were budgeted at $1.25 a pair, the equal of $12.10 today. No wonder my mother went giddy when Higbees had their annual hosiery sale at 99 cents. She also put them on while wearing gloves.

High fashion for $35

There is, however, a light bulb moment, one so simple I might even have thought of it myself:
You can put your $$$$$ into clothes...and stick to basic accessories or you can put your $$$$$ into accessories...and stick to basic clothes.

If you love the latest styles and color and prints and interesting details, stick to basic simple accessories (shoes, bag, jewelry, scarves) that will last and spend your budget on clothes themselves.

If you like to be "the firstest with the latest" and are a creative accessory maven go for simple clothing pieces and have fun with everything else—costume jewelry, belts, fun shoes, bags, etc.. Spend as much as you can on those basic clothing pieces so they will last.

Even at this point I haven't committed to which type I am, but it's worth thinking about.

To charge or not to charge? In our practically cash-less society, reaching for your credit card is second nature. Some stores won't even take checks anymore, and who carries that much cash?  In 1952 credit cards were barely in their infancy, but department stores did have a charging system. We are cautioned that there are advantages to having a charge account (convenience and notice of sales or special buys), but "if you have the idea that saying 'charge it' somehow magically gets you something for nothing" stay away from them with a ten-foot pole.

Day 5 is a biggie—how to shop. Get a good night's sleep.