How to Not Blow Your Entire Tax Return in 24 Hours

The holidays have come and gone, New Years’ resolutions have long since been broken and one of my low key favorite times of the year is upon us: Tax Return Season. I’m in that sweet spot of the population, that cusp where you still don’t make enough money throughout the year to dread April 20th, because you never owe anything on your taxes. What Q1 means to me, is getting my tax return and immediately paying off my credit card bills from the holidays and stocking up on my spring attire.

As soon as I get that credit card balance back to zero - it’s gametime y’all.

As you might have assumed at this point, I’ve clearly lost all hope of this whole no-shopping thing. I had a friend ask me the other day about my anti-shopping adventure to which I kindly responded, “Get your head out of your ass Jaclyn, I’m wearing brand new gold snakeskin Sam Edelman heeled booties I got at Nordstrom for a 70% off and a matching Blank NYC Gold Leather Jacket I won in a Poshmark bidding war for $50.” The dream is dead but I’m at the top of my game.
 
What this experience has taught me is that cold-turkey doesn’t work for me. What will work for me is making a series of small changes to help simultaneously improve my closet, bank account and self control.
 
If you’re struggling to balance your need to dress like a Revolve model and keep contributing to your 401K - girl, I get you. Here are some ways I’ve justified my splurge purchases and kept myself from going into a full blown tailspin a la Babe Walker when she spent $246,893.50 in one afternoon at Barneys.
 
  
1.Unfollow the Rich Kids of Instagram
  
I’m not saying you need to unfollow every fashion blogger whose closet you lust after - you have to get inspiration from somewhere, right? However, there’s no reason I need to follow a girl who has a different Louis Vuitton or Chloe bag with every outfit and only wears For Love & Lemons and DVF dresses. That closet will never be my closet and I need to accept that.
 
  
2. Build a Pinterest Board to Repurpose Pieces
  

Ever get jazzed about an upcoming wedding or bachelorette weekend and get completely consumed by an undying urge that only a new outfit will satisfy? You start to get that feeling, that itch. You must have a new outfit and absolutely nothing in your closet will do. Well, a wise friend once told me, “Sara, you’re not a fucking Kardashian. You can re-wear that dress.” Well, ain’t that the truth. A good old fashioned Pinterest sesh can help you repurpose the pieces in your closet that you already have invested in - you just haven’t even thought about pairing them with something else.

 

3. Set splurge goals and stick to them

You’re not an alcoholic, you can have a taste of the goods without going down a full blown shopaholic black hole…. maybe. if you set savings goals for the pieces you really want and get them - you’ll end up way happier in the long run. I’ve found that if there’s something I really want, I’ll end up trying to fill that need with a bunch of other random, less expensive things to scratch that itch. In the end, I end up spending way more on random crap and then ultimately end up splurging on the thing I really wanted in the first place. SO if I just said, I want to buy this YSL purse in 6 months and I set aside the funds for that, then I won’t go to Target on a mission for Tampons and Pinot Noir and leave with a random faux pleather crossbody. Damn you Target, you get me every time.

 

 

If all else fails, find a friend who lives in another city and just straight up swap closets. Stay tuned, this is my million dollar business plan.

 

Meet our Guest Blogger, Sara McFarland of @ShoppingProbz!

Hi, my name is Sara and I have a problem. No, I'm not talking about the fact that I can drink 4 glasses of Pinot Noir without getting a buzz, that I legitimately care what the stars of Vanderpump Rules do on the weekend or that I consider Chick-fil-a nuggets a primary food group. My problem is that I have a real live shopping addiction. Join me as I struggle through my futile attempt at shopping sobriety. Can I survive? The wine will help me through.

Read more from Sara!  www.shoppingprobz.com

@ShoppingProbz_ 


Share this post


Leave a comment

Note, comments must be approved before they are published