Originally Posted by gem

... i hv learnt to invest my savings ... . those gains from equity investments allow me to aim for the next H item. ... just sharing one small experience, a USD 5 k stock investment in 1993 became USD 33k in the year 2003 ... does that sound like one of those H bag too?!!

wow. that is huge! it's like one of those things you have to put the money somewhere and let it grow...

Originally Posted by Haute Couturess

i wish i knew how profl drycleaning really works. then i might be tempted to use dryel! i do have a dryer. does it REALLY work baggs?

Yuppers!!! It's part of my everyday life. Works like a miracle. You will need to get the hang of it though. Read the directions

After I got my first birkin I put all the designer bags I had on ebay to pay for it...from YSL, Prada, Fendi, Balenciaga, Chloe,etc.

I don't cut much corners but i do make my coffee and breakfast at home now.

I used to go EVERYDAY and get a drink and a food time. so that was like $6. probably more.

I got a REALLY nice coffee maker for my wedding present and I buy whole beans and grind them and it tastes just as good.

$6 a day in Starbucks times 6 days a week times 30 days a month times 12 months. lets just say like 1800 a year in just breakfasts.

Lunches added up to....spending $6-7 at lunch time...times 5 days a week. that is $1,500 or so a year.

and I just work really hard now and try to make the money money.

ALSO, I am trying to order wine when my meal comes...instead of when I sit down....that way I order 1 less wine/drink when I go out to eat.

and just because we go out to dinner alot....we have been trying not to get an appetizer and maybe split a salad and both get an entree.

cutting 1-2 things from a meal at a nice place really adds up!

Well I'm not sure what I am getting yet... but when I see the bag, I will know that she is to be mine!!

^^ Woo Hoo!!! I can't wait!!! Let me know if I need to bring anything to revive you or some downers for Vlad!

Originally Posted by Haute Couturess

wow. that is huge! it's like one of those things you have to put the money somewhere and let it grow...

Yeah! I was with the big american bank and the company stock price was real low in the early nineties, (saudi prince saved the company from going under). When i left that place, i sold it.
Yes, we should invest & keep them(good companies) in our books/drawers & don't look, wait 3 to 5 years...
...now now, hope my wait for the next birkin will be shortened ...

To justify my bag purchases, I hardly every purchase jewelry since I wear the same basic pieces everyday, only buy clothing/accessories/shoes if it's something I need or I feel will have longevity in my closet, and I try to refrain from impulse purchases by sticking to what's on my list.

This a great thread!

-I go to the local Farmer's Market for almost all of my groceries--fresher, healthier and less expensive
-Got a Reverse Osmosis Filter so I no longer have to buy bottled water
-Save all my receipts for tax write offs
-Charge everything on my Amex, so I pay everything off at the end of the month
-Unless I really love something, I'll purchase my clothing and accessories from a mix of designer outlets (Neimans, Off Fifth, etc.), local fashion shows/sample sales from up and coming designers, or wait until the end of season for those fabulous sales!
-Won't spend a lot on something that is considered trendy

Great thread, HC!

1. Only shop my local farmers market for produce, breads, etc. Everything is fresh and AT LEAST 50% less expensive than the big supermarkets.

2. Check my closet and if I haven't worn it in a year, get rid of it via Ebay or Goodwill.

3. When I want to buy something extravagant, I always bounce the idea off of a friend to see what they think. This gives me a chance to take some time to really think about it and get another perspective.

4. Eat in most of the time - this has saved us HUGE amounts of $$$

Great thread!

Generally i'm not saving for anything in particular. I love shopping at sales seasons. The problem is probably that i still spend alot on sales items as well (not really a saving, rite? ) I am easy to be tempted to buy designers items at discount price specially if they are really cheap bargain I never really buy anything full price except if the brand never have discount. I eat anything and anywhere I like either cheap foodcourt food or fine dining. As in case of buying my first kelly or birkin, i did try hard to resist buying any other handbag starting this year (except the special price on my Garden Party tote ). Nevertheless, I still flying business class though DH insist on that either on our family trips or on our company's supplier VIP holiday trip usually held twice a year and mostly going to Europe *what a saving *

Ooh love this thread!

Here´s mine;

*Fashion magazines-try not to buy them, they cost big bucks when you buy 4-5 a month and you get some nasty ideas from those magazines, they make you want stuff more.
*I never buy coffee from chains, wayyy overpriced
*I don´t have a car so I save a lot there
*When you do your grocery shopping, only buy what´s on your need list, don´t buy stuff to fill out your closets if you don´t inted to eat them in a couple of days
*Always pay more than the minimum on cc´s so you don´t rack up a huge interest rate
*Take the time to go through your closets, there are loads of things you don´t need
*I´ve sold a lot of LV which I don´t use. No use holding on to something you don´t love
*Save coins, use them for running errands, never through these away no matter how small
*I don´t use drycleaners etc.
*I do my own manicures
*Going to a hairdresser once a month is useless imo, I can´t tell the difference between going once a month and going once every 3 months
*I´ve stopped buying shoes for now (lay them out next to each other, you´ll know what I mean)
*Never buy a bag you haven´t thought of buying at full price, on sale

^Omg Nola, that totally reminds me--never grocery shop when you're hungry lol. Has anyone ever done that? Holy smokes, I end up buying everything in the store! Oh, and I try not to carry cash--for some reason, I just find something to buy!

Ebay helped me a great deal! Really to see people paying for what i thought was junk was very rewarding - especially as its the ultimate form of recycling. I raised about $2k pretty easily just from stuff we had around the house.

I have rediscovered high st shopping, chain stores in the UK are selling wonderful stuff at the moment and I feel a lot better if the baby throws up on a cheap t shirt!

I cut down a huge amount of impulse and "cheer me up" purchases, which were happening a lot. I prefer the ultimate high of getting a new h bag.

It is so much better to save and buy rather than go into debt (which I have in the last half of this year) debt seems to take mcuh longer topay off than saving would have done in the first place!

Well I have lots of little things:

1. pack lunch every day;

2. never buy coffee;

3. eat in;

4. instead of going out to bars, my friends and I rotate holding gatherings at each other's houses every Friday - it works out to being at your place about once every two months, and is a huge saving on wine and eating out;

5. buy one great thing, not five trendy things;

6. do my own manicures;

7. haircuts twice a year;

8. I buy fashion magazines instead of shopping. I feel like I can just look at the pages and it's like going shopping. Some people might disagree though. And I cut down on how many I was getting: now stricly British Vogue, Australian Vogue and American Bazaar.

Only now I'm not saving for an H bag - saving for medical school instead!!!

I do lots of the small things, too....no starbucks, shop at costco, try to turn out lights (I hate that, but electricity is SO EXPENSIVE HERE!!), combine errands, make shopping lists and NEVER grocery shop hungry....etc

But my latest thing is trying to fix things myself. TWICE I have taken apart my washer and fixed something. The second time I swear to you all that I was about to go and buy a new washer, then I had to calm down and think about how many scarves that might be.....

Once I fixed the dryer myself, too, which was really hard and involved the biggest rubber band on earth and a teeny bit of yelling and maybe some crying, too.

So I certainly saved $$ on service calls and in the case of the washer, a lot more, as it's not on warranty. Yesterday I convinced DH we could fix the dishwasher ourselves, too, even though DH declared it was "an electronic problem." HA, it needed to be reset!! You can find out how to fix anything by going online.....

I wouldnt try to fix a car though....too dirty.

DH is on to me now, after the diswasher he said, "this doesnt mean you can call ***** and buy a new scarf."