Budgeting II: It's hard being a fashionista

I love my shoes, and fancy dresses, sparkly earrings, and lingerie.

I'm not crazy in love with these things. I've never gone into debt for clothing. I don't have any designer label anything but I search and search and search for fun shiny things online all the time. It takes up time. But you know what unemployed people have? Lots of time!!

I start my morning with the obligatory cup of coffee, job search, my blog roll and then slowly and steadily browsing the internet for sales. Mind you, I almost never actually buy anything from these sales but I browse anyway. I like to know what's out there and new and available so the moment I have that awesomely paying new job of wonder, I can get myself, my fiance, or our home something sparkly.

For me, making a purchase is a process. I want it to be beautiful but not too expensive. I want to know that the piece I'm getting is a quality one that I will have for years to come. Most of the pieces on this rack are at least 4 years old and I love them, wear them, still get compliments on them.

The way I budget fashion, home decorating pieces, and art is really just by being me.

If it's a "need", for example, walking shoes for the honeymoon, or a suit for interviews, I do my research, and buy it. If it's a want, it goes into the really large pile of wants. But you've got to prioritize. For example, my biggest want is eliminating my student debt. That trumps everything else. I don't consider myself a miser - If I need a winter coat, I get one.

But right now, a shopping spree at ModCloth is not in the cards.

A lot of my tight fistedness with the current "wants" budget also has to do with the fact that Mike and I are about to get married and that ain't cheap. The wedding is probably one of the biggest financial "wants" either of us will ever have. When you think about it that way, it makes it easier not to make random online purchases, no matter how much you want to.

We all browse online for fun - where do you browse? and how do you keep yourself from making purchases when they aren't "needs"?