Tag Archives: shopping

Shop on Boxing Day the Smart Way

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After all the hustle and bustle and spending way too much money before Christmas, it seems illogical that so many people would be so interested in doing a whole lot of shopping after complaining so much about the Christmas rush. But being a girl who’s careful about she spends her pennies, here are the rules for all of those brave enough to venture out Boxing Day shopping.

  1. Thou shall makest a plan. Brave the surly crowds by planning the stores you want to visit ahead of time and prioritize your shopping needs to the basics you need for your wardrobe or your house. This is the best time of year to try and find classic pieces that go on sale in order to make room for new inventory.
  2. Thou shalt shop intelligently. Check the original price of an item to see if you’re getting a good deal. Phrases like “Save up to…” or “Blowout!” are designed to fool you into thinking you’re saving big when the difference is really only a couple of dollars. And only participate in buy one, get one deals if buying the extra item is actually worth it to you.
  3. Thou shalt consider online shopping. You can scope out sales at your favorite stores ahead of time, and sometimes the discounts online are even steeper. Plus, there may be more availability when it comes to size and color preference.
  4. Thou shalt not be foolish. It’s not worth it unless you really, really love it. When it comes to clothing, I have a rule: if I can’t wear it at least three different ways using what’s already in my wardrobe, I put it down and walk away.
  5. Thou shalt buy your Christmas stuff now! Everything will be at least 50 percent off or more, which means you’ll save money and be super prepared for the next holiday season.

And please, never, ever, EVER return an item or do an exchange on Boxing Day. Some stores won’t even allow it. Check your receipts to see when they start accepting exchanges. Even if it appears possible, don’t do it unless you absolutely have to. You might get beaten over the head with the shopping bags of angry customers if you’re holding up the line debating with a stressed-out, over-worked employee.

But most importantly, be kind and courteous to others when you are shopping (that includes store employees)! It’s not a competitive sport- it’s supposed to be fun, right? RIGHT?

KBwB-BFlower-50

My New Wardrobe Rule

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KBB_clutchesI used to play this sad little game with myself whenever I was having a bad day- I would go into my closet and I would pick out my most hated outfit and wear with an angry kind of pride, as if I wanted to project to all of the world that I was having a bad day. I was determined to make myself look as ugly on the outside as I felt on the inside.

The worst was whenever I received a compliment at the office or out on the street about the outfit that I had chosen. I couldn’t understand how clothing that I felt made me look frumpy and bloated could be admired by a stranger. Maybe they were just being nice in order to mock me, or worse, pity me. Then I’d get angry and think, “How dare you try to ruin my bad mood with your kind words!”

I am so twisted.

One day I was explaining this weird little habit to a friend of mine when he held up his hand to stop me. “Wait, hold on. Why do you keep clothes that you don’t like?”

So maybe he was a guy and he didn’t really understand. Or maybe I was the one not getting it. After all, I had half a closet’s worth of clothes that I didn’t wear half of the time because I had grown sick of them, or because they were old and had fallen out of fashion.

I think I said something crazy like I needed variety and we both thought it was weird so he dropped the subject, but ultimately in this scenario I really was the crazy person because I could not let go of things that made me feel badly about myself.

It took a lot of soul-searching but I eventually decided that I did not want to be that person that held on to things for the sake of having “things”. I wanted, I deserved, to fill my home with only the things that I loved. Why shouldn’t that ultimatum apply to clothing and accessories as well?

So I purged my closet of all of the things that no longer fit, were bad choices, or- let’s face it- were just plain unflattering. My wardrobe was decidedly slimmer, but I was satisfied- it was actually really easy to give up an abundance of choices in favor of a smaller wardrobe full of favorites that made me look and feel good.

It may seem silly to think of re-organizing or purging your closet as something that can improve your life emotionally, but paring down my wardrobe using my new rule has given me a boost in my self-esteem. I still have the occasional bad hair day (like, pretty much every other day) but I’m buoyed by the knowledge that even though I might feel like I’m dying on the inside, outwardly I can project an image of competence and self-confidence and show people the best of myself even when I’m feeling at my worst.

Plus, it makes getting out of the door in the morning way easier for this night owl. Trust me on this one.

KBwB-BFlower-50Have you undertaken a closet re-organization lately? I want to hear all of the grisly details. Indulge me below or drop me a line at keepingbusyb@gmail.com. And if you’re looking for even more inspiration on how to get your wardrobe just the way you want it, I’ve got some best practices for organizing your clothing and more here.

10 Things to Do on a Rainy Afternoon

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  1. Winter is coming. Well, at the very least it comes once a year. Get your wardrobe ready by giving your sock drawer a mini-makeover. Make sure each sock has a mate and toss those that are on their last legs. Do the same for sockettes, footless tights, stockings, pantyhose, etc. Take inventory of the pieces you’ll need to get your through the colder months and save for your next shopping trip, or add to a future budget. (Feeling more ambitious and wanting to clean out your whole closet? I’ve got some tips on how to do that here.)
  2. Christmas is coming, too. Why not be super organized and spend a fun afternoon browsing the Internet and magazines to brainstorm some fun gifts for all of the people on your list? If you find birthday, anniversary or shower gifts to add to your list than you get a gold star.
  3. Craft your perfect playlist. An afternoon stuck inside is the perfect opportunity to start browsing through your digital library. Organize music based on mood, region, genre, beat, era or be even more prepared by crafting playlists for upcoming events or occasions. For example, I’ve got a playlist called “Broken Heart Mending”. Bet you can’t guess what that one’s for!
  4. Clean your oven. Because, come on- how often do you clean your oven? Probably more than I do. A friend of mine has a funny story he likes to tell about me at parties about the afternoon he walked into my apartment and found me on my hands and knees shouting obscenities at my baking rack. True story- it’s honestly my most hated task. But you have to do it sometime, right?
  5. Go through your pantry. Discard expired and damaged products, consolidate multiples and take inventories for your next shopping trip. See how much money you can save by stretching your staples and shopping your pantry to flush out meals before you need to go to the grocery store. Remember to donate anything your family won’t use or love to your local food bank!
  6. Organize your digital photos. Now is the perfect time, especially when a lot of your summer memories are current, to edit and refine your collections and store them in a way that makes them easy to revisit and share with others. Order prints of your favorites online to include with letters or holiday cards, or share by cultivating a collection on your favorite social media platform.
  7. Purge your files. Pick a filing cabinet, a box, a folder, or a magazine file and make a vow to yourself that nothing goes back inside that you don’t absolutely need to keep. Make sure to shred sensitive documents or set them aside and accumulate in order to hire a shredding service.
  8. Testing, testing, one, two, three. Once a year I like to do a quick inventory of all of my office supplies and test my pencils, pens, highlighters and markers on a scrap piece of paper so I may discard ones that have dried up, or have become difficult or uncomfortable to use. Hello, my name is B and I am anal-retentive. (In my defense, there’s nothing worse than grabbing a dead pen when you’re trying to jot something down quickly, right?)
  9. Back up your computer. If you don’t then all of that playlist organizing and digital photo sorting will be for naught. Don’t have a way of backing up your computer? Now’s the perfect time to research a method that will work for you.
  10. Pick a shelf, any shelf. That’s it. Clear it, clean it, organize it and make a vow to yourself that you will never, ever let it get disorganized again (or at the very least for another year, until you have another rainy afternoon on which to organize it again).

KBwB-Flower-50

I’ve shared with you some of the ways that I spend my rainy afternoons- now I’m interested in hearing how you spend yours! Drop me a line at keepingbusyb@gmail.com or contribute by commenting below. Are you looking for other productive boredom busters? I’ve got plenty of thoughts on organizing here. Looking for something a little more creative? When I’m not busying myself with some project or another I’m reading or whipping up something in the kitchen. Read all about it here and here.

My Office Essentials

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I have to tell you a funny story. It’s about one of my co-workers and how her obsession with office supplies actually got her into trouble.

In a busy, paper-based medical office, a lot of faxing and photocopying occurs. We use black pens when scheduling or writing memos simply because the pens with blue ink do not produce legible faxes or photocopies.

However, my co-worker just had to use the blue pens because they were part of her office essentials- the funny, little quirky preferences that we develop for certain stationary supplies or office gadgets that inexplicably make us feel more confident and more productive at our jobs.

Our office manager begged her until she was blue in the face (pun intended) to switch, but she just couldn’t. We eventually removed all of the blue pens from the office, but to this day my co-worker claims that writing with the blue pen just makes her feel better.

Don’t tell me you don’t have your favorite office supplies because I know that you do. And because I’m in the mood for sharing, and I love making lists, I’ve compiled a list of my office “essentials”- the supplies that I need on a daily basis that not only assist me in being productive and staying organized, but make my work honestly more enjoyable. I’d love for you to share yours as well by emailing me at keepingbusyb@gmail.com.

A paper-based agenda. Writing down my appointments and the time-sensitive actions in my calendar solidifies them in my memory, and I developed a system of storing my to-do lists in my agenda so I can access them on the fly. Bonus points if the agenda is pretty.

Colorful pens. I used to be so obsessed with color-coding that my classmates in first-year linguistics at university made up a verb to describe my unique brand style of transforming lecture notes into a crazy rainbow of reminders and possible study questions.

Pretty notebooks. Anyone notice a theme here? They’re essential for jotting down notes in a meeting or recording an idea you got while waiting for the street car. Much like my pens, I carry these babies around with me until they bite the dust. Or get filled up with ideas. Whichever comes first.

I’m constantly on the go so I am forced to manage most of my emails and phone calls through my Smartphone. It also has a copy of my calendar and a couple of apps I use to manage my time. And I also have the IKEA app which just sort of draws me into this universe of assembly-required furniture.

Highlighters. I make a ton of notes and use these often to color-coordinate tons of reminders, projects, etc. They also make my agenda look pretty. Bonus!

Blank notecards. Because. I. Believe. In. The. Power. Of. The. Handwritten. Note.

Post-Its. Flags, shapes, sizes, colors- I personally consider them to be one of the ultimate reminders- kind of like my nagging conscience, only prettier.

To others my essentials might seem frivolous or unnecessary, but to me, they’re what keeps me happy before, during and after the work day. After all, what’s a few dollars to spend on post-its if they make everything look pretty and organized?

KBwB-BFlower-50To check out more of my favorite office supplies? Some of the stuff I dig is featured on my Amazon store here, and I should tell you that I get a small (small!) kickback if you see something you like. Did I miss one of your favorites on my list? Comment below or drop me a line at keepingbusyb@gmail.com and set things straight!