If you want to get a handle on your clothing and beauty needs and maximize your budget, this article is for you. Beauty on a budget does not mean looking cheap and cutting corners on your living expenses. It means understanding your wardrobe and style needs and what is most important to you.
As women, confidence and wellness are intimately tied to how we look and feel. Here are some tips to prioritize your style and beauty needs without feeling strapped for cash. Now let’s get that fashionista finance in order! After all, you deserve it!
Table of Contents
1. Fashionista Lifestyle: Assessing Needs
The first and most important step to take in the process of ensuring your style and beauty needs will be met is to know what your needs are. Take an honest look at your lifestyle, what is non-negotiable, and the frequency in which you need these things. For example:
Lifestyle:
What is your day-to-day lifestyle? What products and services do you need daily, weekly, and monthly that are aligned with your current lifestyle? Are you in T-shirts most of the week? Do you wear business suits every day to go to the office? Are you a stay-at-home mom?
2. Fashionista Finance: Clothing Budget Allocation
Ok, here is where we take our heads out of the sand and take a look at what we need to wear. Then we need to examine when we need these clothing items, and how much it costs. Fashionista finance is all about knowing what you need and how it works for your lifestyle. Here is a list to get you started:
The Fashionista Wardrobe Budget:
Take a good look at your credit card or bank account to see how much you spend on clothes and accessories monthly. After this step, I recommend doing a closet edit, where you assess your entire wardrobe. Ask yourself. What do you really wear each day?
You’ll be surprised what you find. After deciding what clothes to keep based on your personal style, you’ll need to make a list of items you need. This list should enhance your current wardrobe. As a stylist, I help women create capsule wardrobes to maximize their wardrobe items, reduce clutter and decision fatigue.
Then, make a budget based on the items you need. But hold on, don’t go running out to spend your money all at once! Do your research on which retailers have the best price. Compare discount department store prices and try to leverage sales events for luxury shopping.
Upscale consignment items may be found at your local consignment stores. You can find unbelievable prices for luxury items in discount department stores and consignment shops. Make sure you understand the concept of Cost Per Wear before buying any more clothes, to make sure it’s worth your money! This is a major key to get your fashionista finance in order.
3. Hot Girl’s Beauty Need
I would be remiss if I forgot to include beauty essentials as part of your style. As women, we love to take good care of ourselves and we should! Planning and budgeting for your beauty and wellness needs can help you stay on track with your beauty regime. Here are some tips:
Assess Your Beauty Regimen:
What are the items and services that you absolutely can’t live without? I’m talking about those things that relate to self-care, hygiene, and confidence-building. Here are a few typical non-negotiables:
Skincare Routine
This category includes all daily skin creams, cleansers, scrubs, and treatments you do at home. It also includes services you pay for every few months such as facials and waxing. How much do these items and services cost?
How often do you need to replenish your daily skincare items? How much do your spa facials and waxing costs per year? Once you know these numbers you can get your essential beauty on budget. Create a savings plan and earmark funds in your account for these items.
Beauty Enhancements
This is the category that can get very expensive. So it’s important to understand your needs and non-negotiables in this category. Here are some typical items:
Make-Up
What items can you never live without? The make-up category runs the gamut from lipstick to foundation and everything in between such as primers, contours, eye shadow, eyebrow powders, and mascara.
Make a list of all your must-haves that you use daily or often enough. How much do these items cost? How often do they need to be replenished? Again, budget money aside for these items each quarter.
Professional Enhancements
These are also higher-priced items that you’ll need to make sure you have extra cash for each month. These are things like eyelash extensions, botox, fillers and microblading your eyebrows.
This category also includes mani and pedi’s as well as hair care. Hair care includes blow dry, extensions, highlights and any professional hair treatments.
Look at your spending accounts for the past year and determine how much you’ve spent on these items. Then ensure you have a plan in your budget to support these services yearly.
You may need to take a good look at your income and figure the percentage of your income you spend on these services.
How to Save Money: Hot Girls Budget Strategy
Leveraging buying services in packages is one of the best ways to save money on professional beauty services. Many spas will offer discounted prices for buying a package of a bundle of treatments. The individual prices of each treatment are always higher if you purchase them separately.
It’s a no-brainer to pre-pay for a bundled package if you know for sure you will need to get these services done. The additional bonus of buying beauty bundles is that you can book these services in advance. This way, you know they will get done instead of always trying to book last-minute appointments.
Rewards and Flash Sales
Most beauty stores such as Sephora and Ulta offer rewards and flash sales. Take advantage of these perks to stock up on your favorite skincare and beauty items. Also, don’t overlook buying these items directly from the brand’s website.
Often, brand specific websites will offer a 20% discount for signing up for email alerts. They will also keep you looped in on sale events. These are tactics that will surely keep your beauty on a budget.
Finessing Your Fashionista Finance
Creating a lifestyle budget that includes your style and beauty needs is important for your well-being. Depriving yourself of these needs will impact your self-confidence.
Take charge of your needs by being honest about your “non-negotiables” and budgeting them into your spending. Look for opportunities to save and make sure you plan ahead and put them on your calendar. This way, you won’t feel unprepared.
Make sure you know the Cost Per Wear and decide if it makes sense based on how many times you plan on wearing that one item. Now you know how to get control of your fashionista finance! Get out there and and be confident in your purchases.
FAQ’s
What Is A Good Budget For A Wardrobe?
Your budget depends on your needs, finances and personal tastes. Budgets can range from $800-$2,000 dollars yearly.
How Do I Build a Budget Wardrobe?
Creating a Capsule Wardrobe maximizes your budget and wardrobe. Shopping at outlet and department stores that cater to your personal style will also help you create an effective capsule wardrobe.
