Low Buy July: How Did We Do?

I posted back on July 3rd that our family was planning to do a “Low Buy July” due to the fact that we had a one-two punch of my husband’s work slowing down as a result of the Port of Baltimore tragedy and Jack breaking his arm and needing emergency surgery. With a stampede of bills around the bend, we decided to tighten the reins and cut back as much as possible.

While it wasn’t a full spending freeze, we did make a few adjustments for the month, including: avoiding our trigger stores where money just gets sucked out of our wallets, ignoring all those ‘sale’ emails unless we really truly needed something, eating at home more often (no lunches out at work, coffee stops or random ice cream treats), and trying to eat through our current supply in the fridge/freezer/pantry. In addition to this list, we also made sure not to re-order things until we are FULLY out of them (rather than stocking up on low beauty supplies, home needs, etc). I also paused a couple of our non-essential subscriptions, such as my Peloton app.

While it wasn’t the most fun month, we did a pretty darn good job! However, those hospital bills keep coming. We have received 6 bills so far for everything from emergency room fees, surgery, anesthesia, and more. Thankfully, most of them offer interest free payment plans, so I’ve divided the payments into three months to help with cash flow. We are also hoping my husband’s work picks back up soon, which would be really helpful.

One more big bill is around the bend – I see it in my Carefirst EOB list, but haven’t gotten the invoice yet – so that’s like a shark just stalking me until it shows up at my door. All in all, it looks like an extra $6,000 in medical bills that we were not expecting this summer.

Which means… we are doing Low Buy August too.

And yes, we have medical insurance (thankfully!), but with a high deductible plan… hence, the $6,000 in out of pocket payments.

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My Style: July 2024

We are enjoying full-on summer here in Maryland, which means ALL of the summery skirts and dresses are getting worn out of my closet.

Let’s take a look at my July looks:

Three easy work looks with the same formula — skirt + blouse + cardigan. It’s simple and it never steers me wrong. For outfit 1 (left), I paired my vintage Laura Ashley skirt with a black v-neck t-shirt, cardigan and some sassy wedges. For the middle look, I mixed mustard yellow and orange for a little fun and topped it with a classic white and navy combo. As for the last look, we had “Hawaiian Shirt Day” at work and this skirt totally fit the theme!

For these three casual looks, I’m very much a human rainbow! The left look was what I wore for Independence Day — we had plans to have family over for a potluck, followed by friends over for a bonfire, s’mores and fireworks. And we got completely rained out. Literally, my skirt was dripping wet.

The rainbow dress is one of my favorites, so I topped it with a chambray shirt, red vintage Coach crossbody bag and it was perfect for checking out all the antiques, thrift and consignment shops with my friend. The happy orange dress was a ‘new with tags’ find at one of those consignment shops for just $15, so of course I had to rip the tags off, steam it and wear it for my niece’s birthday the next day!

Finishing up with three more work looks. Both the blouse and the blue skirt from the outfit on the left were on the chopping block. However, I really liked this outfit so they’re staying for now. The middle tulle and embroidered skirt was a crazy Poshmark steal for just $30 and I’m kind of obsessed with it. I wore it to work with a pale yellow linen blouse and blue cardigan, which just happen to be the colors that my sister’s chose for our upcoming family photos. So, I may be re-wearing this exact outfit soon.

As for the last look, I bought this dress secondhand about 4 years ago and it’s just one of those easy, flowy wrap dresses that always look polished and don’t wrinkle. I typically make sure to pack it when I travel for work conferences, so for the office I just kept it easy-peasy with a cardigan and sandals.

New vs. Secondhand Tally

This month, I count 7 items that I purchased retail and 24 items I purchased secondhand!

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July Thrift Haul

This month was quite a light thrifting month for me. Part of the reason is that it was Low Buy July, so I’ve been keeping a close eye on everything we spend. The other part is that when I did get the opportunity to do a little thrifting on our way home from the beach… I found nothing.

Here are the few items I found earlier in the month:

Halara workout dress, $12.99

This new with tags workout dress seems like it’s right up my alley. I mean, it is a pretty shade of green and has a built-in bra AND built in bike shorts under the skirt. However, the size isn’t exactly right. It’s cute, but it is a bit clingy on my tummy, which makes me self-conscious.  Adding the fanny pack helps though.

Pampered Chef Bar Pan, $5.99

I love my Pampered Chef stoneware pans and own two that get used multiple times every week. This one is the ‘medium stone bar pan’ which costs $40 retail and it is in great condition. So happy to find this and I already used it last week.

Anthropologie tulle and embroidered skirt, $30

This was a secondhand purchase off Poshmark and it was new with the $168 retail tags still attached! I love, love, love this skirt and already wore it to work. It’s a fantastic addition to my skirt collection and at $30 I feel like it was a Poshmark steal. Especially because I used my Poshmark credit from selling… so if we want to talk ‘girl math’ it was really free.

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