Coffee with the Sale Sleuth

Hello to my favorite people!

Today I wanted to take a minute to talk about budget consideration when it comes to shopping! EW, WHAT DID I JUST SAY?! I promise it is not as bad as it sounds! I’ll explain it in an example: The Nordstrom Sale—if you follow a bunch of other bloggers like I do, it is all we hear about while it is happening and are constantly blasted with the “deals” that we can find during the sale. Which is great! However, if you want to be more budget conscious, you may want to take a few things into consideration before you run that credit card: 

• Can I find this item elsewhere for less money? 
• • Places to look: Nordstrom Rack, Marshalls, Poshmark, Amazon, Dick’s Sporting Goods 

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• Do I really need/truly want this or am I just getting it because everyone else is? 
• • I fall into this trap constantly! I see someone else wearing a piece that I love, and then I “need” it. But, take a pause to ask yourself if you actually need it, or just want it because your favorite blogger wore it (honestly though this is fine too, but since this post is about budget I am trying to help y’all out ;)) 

• Can I find a dupe?
• • Places to look: Target (one of my absolutely favorite stores, but also the best place to find dupes for way less money), Walmart, Amazon 

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• Can you make a similar outfit out of something that you already have?
• • Someone posts a try on, and of course you wanted the pieces that were in the outfit automatically! However, take a pause, think about what you already have in your closet, and you could actually make a pretty close remake of the outfit using different pieces! 

• Specific for the Nordstrom Sale: Will this item be moved to the Nordstrom Rack (and become less expensive)? 
• • Brands that I often see moved to The Rack: BP, Steve Madden, Michael Kors, Treasure & Bond, Something Navy
• • I am also hesitant to buy sweaters from the main store, and some shoes because I have purchased these from the main store, and then found them a few weeks later at The Rack. 
• • The follow up question to this is: Can I wait for this to move to The Rack/take that risk? 
• • • If you are not TOTALLY IN LOVE & MUST HAVE RIGHT NOW – and your item falls in any of the above categories, I would recommend waiting!

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A couple other notes:

I know others have recommended against buying “trendy” clothes, but I am totally into it! I love trends and staying up to date with them, so sales can help you get some trendy pieces for cheaper (because let’s be real, when companies realize that certain items are trendy, they jack the price up). 

I DO plan on shopping the Nordstrom Sale, Amazon Prime Day, and all other sales for the rest of time! This post is not no way discouraging shopping these highly publicized sales—I actually ENCOURAGE it! There are some amazing deals that can be found right now and am excited to see what everyone finds. BUT I will be using these questions as a part of my game plan to protect my budget!

I hope you can use these questions to be nicer to your budget AND enjoy some new items! 

~McKenna (aka “Sale Sleuth)