Anyway, if you’ve tried and tried to get your finances sorted but keep sliding back down that slippery slope to nowhere, it’s time to take action. In rehab, addicts are given a variety of techniques to ‘loosen’ up their routines and get them into a mindset that makes then open to change and creating new (positive) habits. These techniques include everything from brushing their teeth with the other hand to putting their clothes on in a different order. Minor stuff, but it all adds up.

So, how can you apply this sort of technique to ensure you get – and most importantly stay – on the right path? Here are some ideas:

• Look for opportunities when you’re already having a bit of a new start – these can be things as big as starting a new job, moving in with a partner, moving house generally or having children, as well as smaller things like moving desks at work, getting  a new boss or changing your fitness regime. If you’re already in the mindset to be starting afresh, pairing financial responsibility alongside it can prove very powerful.
• Think of ways to shake up your life a little and get your body and subconcious thinking you’re doing something new. Stuff like going to work via a different route and moving your furniture around in your home are great examples, but ordering something new at your favourite restaurant and changing the ringtone on your mobile can be good triggers too.
• Tell your friends and family – like addicts have to tell those closest to them that they’re addicted and committed to change, you can do the same too. You don’t have to tell people that you’re in a lot of debt or whatever your burden, but you can be as vague as “I’m watching what I spend” or “I’m saving right now”. Support and a watchful eye from those around you can help keep you on the path to success.
• Be mindful of your language. There’s a world of difference between a former smoker saying “I’m trying to quit” and “I don’t smoke”. The former tells your subconcious that there’s an opportunity for failure, the latter reinforces your new way of life as a current status. So, “I’m trying to save” will tell your brain that you only need to put in a token effort. “I’m saving” will reinforce your goal. As Yoda put it, “do or do not, there is no try”.

Even if you’ve never tried to get financially healthy, employing techniques such as this will give you the best chance for success. If you just can’t seem to save, stick to your budget or get out of debt, getting your head into the right place to make it happen might just be the change you need.

Good luck!

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It seems to me that the same can be said for debt, savings and budgeting. Indeed, it’s pretty rare that just one decision puts you in substantial consumer debt. Equally, it’s not just one decision that sees you end the month with your budget in tatters. Certainly it’s not just one decision that results in retirement with no savings.

Unhappily, often we fool ourselves about the substantial cumulative impact of these little decisions. I can speak for many a dieter in my office who tells themselves that “oh, one piece of cake won’t matter”. When I look back on my debt-laden years, I absolutely failed to recognise the impact of such choices too, often convincing myself that another few hundred dollars on my credit card wouldn’t make much difference.

The fact is, lots of little decisions are what makes a habit. The good news is, you can change your habit for the better and to help you achieve what you want most in life just by making good little decisions. The even better news is that if you slip up along the way, that’s okay – if you recognise your little decisions for what they are.

So how can you use your little decisions to improve your financial situation? Here are some ideas:

• Grab a notebook or the ‘note’ function on your mobile (cell) phone and jot down every time you spend less than $10 on something for a week. At the end, take a look back and add up how much you spent. Multiply it by 52 and you have the grand total of a year’s worth of your frittering. Have another look at the list and see what you could have done without. Perhaps a bottle of water you could have waited ’til you got home for, or a magazine you could have surfed the web for similar information.
• Take a look at your bank or credit card statement from last month. Highlight all the transactions on it that were under $100. Were they all really necessary? Can you even remember every transaction occuring?
• Examine your passion – we all have one! Often we develop selective memory when it comes to our biggest source of delight. My big passion / vice involves my wardrobe. This year, I’ve started the habit of noting the source of every fashion-based expense in my budget. Why? Put simply I found that I was purchasing things I didn’t end up getting the use out of. I could absolutely have done without the two dresses, the shirt and the knit top I bought at that warehouse sale last year. No, I didn’t go into debt for it, but the money could have been used for something I truly loved at the very least.
• Get a piggy bank. I’m the exception to this rule, but many people don’t track cash. Start the habit of putting all your coins at the end of the day or week into the piggy bank. You probably won’t notice the difference, but taking a full piggy to the bank and making a payment on a debt or into a savings account will feel great.
• Create a micro-payment toward whatever it is you’re working towards. If you’re paying off a credit card, your mortgage, a car loan or creating a savings stash, set up an automated micropayment toward your goal. Even if it’s as small as a dollar a day, you won’t notice the difference today or tomorrow, but over time you will.

Remember – the point of being aware of your little decisions is to tweak your habits to make them work in your favour. You shouldn’t feel overwhelmed or like you’re trying to discipline yourself, but rather that you’re just being nudged in the right direction.

After all, Rome wasn’t built in a day.

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Back in the days when I was sitting atop my mound of nearly $40,000 in consumer debt, I often thought being debt free, but for many years, didn’t take any lasting, committed action. My fundamental reasoning was that there was something around the corner that would give me the means to change my circumstances. A new job or promotion with a higher salary, a great bonus at the end of the year or an unexpected windfall of some kind.

The fact is, even when some of those things came (a little raise here or there, a small bonus), I didn’t use the money effectively.

Part of me turning my life around and climbing out of the debt hole I was in was about realising that to change my circumstances I needed to be the source of the change. Not tomorrow, not next month, not next year. Today. Now.

Worst of all, it seems I wasn’t alone in my former way of thinking. In The Age last month was an article about baby boomers facing retirement saddled with debt. The author of the article suggests this is due to “home upgrades, renovations, stay-at-home children and aging parents” – but all this sounds like to me is excuses. This is in fact the modern-day case of sacrificing your future for today in practice.

Few of us require home upgrades or renovations… or for that matter, a holiday house, a second car, international trips and so forth. Sure, some of these things are what makes life fun – but if they’re the difference between living your life and retiring laden with debt, are they really worth having?

Recently too, I’ve been posting a fair bit about following your dreams and doing what you love with your life. Sure, it’s a scary prospect and not without its risks… but who wants to get to the end of their life having never realised a fundamental dream?

We can all think of excuses and reasons not to do something. It’s an inherent part of being human. As the saying goes though, tomorrow never comes.

So, if not now, when?

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Last week, a colleague and friend of mine announced he was leaving the company to pursue his dream of being an air traffic controller. He’ll finish up work just a couple of weeks short of his ten year anniversary with the organisation. He works in graphic design.

I recently posted about sources of passive income in which I discussed both monetising existing activities (things you already do) and monetising areas of knowledge (your existing skill set). My colleague’s departure has inspired me however, to think about monetising your passion (aka ‘do what you love’). It’s an old saying “do what you love and you’ll never work a day in your life”. Whilst this may not be terribly true in practice, the principle is very valid.

So, why don’t more of us do what we love to pay the bills?

I’ve discussed this with a number of people recently, and here’s what it seems to boil down to.

1. Likelihood Of Success (AKA Risk Of Failure)
That’s right. Most people don’t do what they really want to with their lives because they might not be successful. The irony of course is that many of us know people who have buckets of natural talent or just sheer passion and would embody success, but they don’t act for fear of failure.

2. Money
A short time ago, my husband and I were car shopping. We met a car salesman with whom my husband started discussing cars – he was comparing two very different cars to one another using the TV show Top Gear as a point of reference. The salesman responded that actually, he didn’t really care for cars – hi fi equipment was his thing, but he couldn’t make the same sort of money selling home entertainment. Realistically though, this is the same excuse / rationale as the ‘risk of failure’ reasoning. I’m sure plenty of people told Larry Page that no one was going to make money with online search and Steve Jobs probably heard that there wasn’t any cash to be had in computers, either.

3. I Won’t Be Huge
Many folks seem to feel that it’s not worthwhile doing something unless they’re going to be the biggest, the best or the most famous. Realistically though, we don’t all need to be Larry Page, Steve Jobs, Bill Gates, Robert Kiyosaki, Rupert Murdoch or Richard Branson. There a number of people I know personally who read this blog, so I’m going to be slightly unspecific with my next sentence – apologies. The fact is that I can think of two people I know very well who are millionaires (one in his/her early 20s) who have achieved this financial feat by doing what they love (and are good at). You won’t see their names on the Forbes or BRW Rich Lists. You might not even be able to pick them in a crowd. Bottom line is that you don’t need to be a household name to be extremely successful.

The road to pursuing your passion is seldom easy though, and from a financial perspective those early days can be extremely draining.

So, what can you do to minimise the risks in doing what you love?

1. Prior Preparation Prevents Piss Poor Performance
Say your passion is photography and you decide you’re going to pursue a career as a photographer / photo journalist. It’s probably not the best idea to walk in to work tomorrow with no savings, buffer, connections, experience or equipment and quit your job without more than a point and shoot in your pocket. Preparation for every dream will be different, but to continue the photography theme, getting the right equipment, contacts, education (if necessary) and exposure will get you on the right path.

2. Do It Early
When you’re young, you have a lifetime ahead to make up for your mistakes. If everything goes horribly wrong, you’ve got plenty of time to pick yourself up, dust yourself off and get yourself back on the right path. The older you get, the more financial and emotional responsibilities you’ll accumulate until you get to the point where you won’t even consider pursuing your passion. (As an aside the same can be said for investments – your youth is the time to take more financial risks!).

3. Do Your Homework
Know what success in your chosen field looks like. Want to write? Talk to some writers. Design jewellery? Find someone who runs a jewellery label. You don’t need to follow the steps they took to success, but you should educate yourself on the challenges and market so you can get going that much faster.

4. Surround Yourself With Support
You only have to read Richard Branson’s autobiography or any of Robert Kiyosaki’s books to know that the road to success is paved with naysayers. You’ll have a lot of people telling you what you’re doing can’t be done. In many cases, they’ll continue even after you’re successful. Surrounding yourself with people who are supportive and constructive (you don’t want yes people in your midst) will equip you with the network for success.

If you need any further incentive, consider this: would you be prouder and more inspired if if the people closest to you spent their lives doing what they loved or doing something they despised? And is there any greater tragedy than someone with absolute talent and/or passion that refuses to make the most of it?

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From a financial perspective, this makes total sense. I’m putting my money to work. From a practical perspective however, it requires a lot of maintenance – I spend a portion of each week tweaking my budget to keep it at a zero base. Personally, I’m okay with this. I understand a lot of people wouldn’t be. Emotionally, it also has the drawback of making me feel like I’m permanently a bit short.

I am also very much an advocate of the “pay yourself first” concept. That is, every time you get paid (or at the beginning of each month, in my case) you put aside money for savings and investments. I’ll be the first to admit I have very aggressive savings/investment goals. So, when the need or desire arises to spend money on something I haven’t necessarily budgeted for in advance, I need to find money that I don’t really ”have”. 

Here’s how I do it without really noticing anything is missing:

1. Services - I’ve learnt over the years that many services we typically pay for are all about practice. Things like having your nails done or your hair coloured is just about putting the hours in. I can honestly say that I’ve never had anyone else do as good a job on a manicure as I can (and trust me when I say I’ve tried all price points). Getting the right tools and being prepared to put in the time to get it right can save you a small fortune.
2. It all adds up- I’ve said it before and I’ll say it again, small amounts of cash spent here and there can really add up at the end of the month. Don’t believe me? Have a look on your bank statement and see how many cash withdrawals you made last month. Going without whatever it is you’re frittering away your cash on can be tough though, so if it’s something you really need or want, find a substitute. For example, if you’re buying things in the vending machine at work – stock up at the supermarket on the weekend and keep a stash in your desk drawer.
3. Unused subscriptions- Often we convince ourselves that we need something we subscribe to – internet access, mobile phones and pay TV are all common ones. Whilst getting rid of it entirely is one option, just reassessing your usage is another. If you’re only watching one show on your premium level channels, why not consider downgrading your pay TV package and getting that show online or on video? Also look to see if the allocated bandwidth for your internet access is being used to the max and your mobile phone “included usage” is being fully exhausted. Downgrade accordingly. This doesn’t just apply to technology either – stuff like gym memberships can be cheaper if you only go on the weekends and newspaper deliveries are a fraction of the cost if you only read Thursday through Sunday too.
4. Utilities – Many utilities have an off-peak time. Have a look at your connection agreement and find out if yours does. (If not, consider switching). You can make interstate / international phone calls at cheaper times or set your laundry to run while you sleep.
5. Regular expenses – Reassess your regular costs to see if there might be a cheaper alternative. Say you drive to work. Ideally, you’d probably catch public transport, ride a bike or walk for the most cost-effective alternative. If these aren’t viable (or desirable) options, consider shopping around for different parking places. I drive to work one day a week. I recently found a different parking place only a little further from the office for $5 a day LESS than I was paying. Perfect! Other examples include gym memberships (is there another gym you could join for less, or will your current gym renegotiate?), a cheaper place to buy coffee in the mornings, or the option to subscribe to a magazine you usually buy at the newsagent.

By putting a few of these into practice, it’s often easy to find a bit of cash you didn’t really have without actually feeling like you’re cutting back. Nice.

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In a way, this is a core part of Robert Kiyosaki’s ‘Rich Dad, Poor Dad‘ philosophy. In fact, he consider ‘wealth’ to not be a measure of the amount of stuff you own, the house you live in or the money you have in the bank, but rather your ability to maintain your current lifestyle indefinitely without exertion on your part. In other words, having your money work for you.

In a different way, this is also the central theme of Tim Ferriss’ book ‘Four Hour Work Week‘. The basic premise is to work out what your dream lifestyle would cost on a monthly/weekly basis, and concoct a method of earning that much (plus a certain percentage for savings) with a minimal input from yourself (four hours a week, to be exact).

Both these books are bestsellers, having sold millions of copies worldwide – yet how many people can you recall having resigned from your workplace to go and explore the Arctic Circle or retire at 40? In reality, most people suffer from what Kiyosaki calls “Analysis Paralysis” – the inability to take action for fear of it being the wrong decision, so instead examining every available option ad nauseum. Moreover, most folks aren’t comfortable with the idea of chucking it all in to go live the dream. Many find security and comfort in a Monday-Friday job, and often society itself clings to the notion that doing any differently is just lazy.

Perhaps then, a passive income of this kind is ideally suited to supplementing an emergency fund. With even a conservative passive income, a modest emergency fund of a few months in expenses could be stretched that bit further. So, here’s my list of 10 potential sources of passive income:

1. Shares / Stocks – Many ‘blue chip’ shares and stocks reliably pay dividends (usually about twice a year). These can often be reinvested if you don’t need the income, and taken when you do.
2. Managed Funds – As with shares / stocks, managed funds often have a return expressed as a dividend.
3. Property – When rented, property obviously produces some level of return. Obviously in most cases, it’s cost-prohibitive to own property outright, so there will be some sort of loan attached. If your rental income is more than the cost (repayments) of the mortgage, then happy days – your property will be “positively geared”. If your rental income is less than the cost of the mortgage and you need to contribute the difference, then it is “negatively geared”. In Australia, this difference is a tax deduction and can have benefits in terms of minimising the income tax you pay. In terms of having a passive income however, this is obviously not suited. Be aware too, of fluctuating interest rates. A property that you purchase that is positively geared in low-interest times, can quite easily become negatively geared as interest rates go up.
4. P2P Lending – There is an increasing market of peer to peer lending transactions as more and more people try to avoid banks. Websites such as iGrin allow people who want money to connect with people who have money to lend. As a lender, you can get fantastic interest rates on your money (you are, after all, effectively ‘being the bank’), although it also comes with the risk of the people you lend money to failing to repay. Most sites do offer information with regard to credit rating and debt-to-income ratio, so be sure to do your homework and make educated assessments about what you can afford to loan.
5. Art – Like property, there is a strong rental market for art. Most of this demand lies in the corporate sector where companies want modern, striking pieces to hang on their walls, but don’t necessarily want the capital expense of potentially millions of dollars in decorating costs. Renting art is a tax deduction, and allows them to have the most popular artists represented on their walls. Unlike property, outright ownership is quite achievable with most galleries considering pieces as low as $5,000 to be eligible for rental. What you’ll get is a fixed return (as a percentage of value) over a defined timeframe. Management fees are often negotiable. Try Art Equity and Art Index in Australia.
6. Monetise Existing Activities – Whilst not technically passive income, if it’s something you already do, why not make it profitable? Into running? Offer your services exercising local pooches. Knitted so many sweaters your kids and family feel obligated to wear them in summer? Sell more on Etsy. Have a talent for photography? Sell your photos on stock sites. Remember, this isn’t about doing more stuff, it’s about making your existing adventures financially attractive. With this in mind, don’t analyse it from a  $/hour of your time perspective.
7. Monetize Your Areas Of Knowledge – Let’s say you’re an architect by trade. Noticed how owner-builders often want to be their own architects? Why not create an eBook on Architecture for DIYers? Using self publishing avenues available, a bit of paid advertising in search engines and a simple online checkout system, you can be selling your knowledge within days. Virtually everyone has knowledge that can be sold in some way to a suitably specific audience. Teacher? How about a Get Your Kids Ahead In Science series? Accountant? Do Your Tax Return Yourself In Less Than An Hour. The point is, that once you’ve set it up, you needn’t do much at all to keep it ticking along.
8. Rent Your Stuff – If you have things about your house that you don’t necessarily want to get rid of, but you just aren’t using, consider renting them. There’s a market for almost everything, from cars (try Drive My Car) to fitness equipment. If you’re going somewhere (or you have a holiday house that is unused when you’re not there) you can even rent your house out for short periods, fully furnished (try Stayz). Even if you’re not going anywhere, consider renting your house for use as a set in movies, TV shows and commercials.
9. Interest Bearing Accounts – It’s not the most exciting place to put money, but interest bearing accounts are one of the most secure places to store cash. More to the point, when we’re talking passive income, they’ll cough up a fairly reliable amount of money at the same time every period. Look for one with a high interest rate that calculates daily and pays monthly (or more frequently). It’s worth noting that you don’t want a term deposit because interest is only paid on maturity, and that’s unlikely to be a regular enough source of income to form part of an emergency fund.
10. Set And Forget Businesses – Unlike many small and micro businesses which are extremely high maintenance, there is a set of no to low maintenance endevours which simply tick over. They don’t make their owners fortunes, but they do provide a passive income. All these businesses are product-based, often online or mail order, and many use the services of a fulfillment agent that arranges shipping of orders and often manage some level of customer service. If you’re considering taking this route, however – be aware of setup costs and teething time.

So, rather than stewing over how many years it’s going to take you to sock away several months worth of expenses in case of emergency, why not consider working to create passive income streams to supplement your savings? A passive income is unlikely to ever complely replace a nest egg on which you can rely, but it will certainly help to extend its life if you were to cease receiving your primary income. Better yet, the more sources of passive income you develop, the greater the level of overall security you enjoy. Nice.

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Different financial folks will advise you keep different amounts in your fund. In the light of recent economic turmoil, many have advised a more conservative approach suggesting you keep as much as 12 months worth of expenses in an emergency fund. Personally, I keep 3 months worth.

[As an aside, the reason I only keep 3 months worth is because I have no consumer debt, no children, my husband is employed and the opportunity cost of keeping more than that is just too great.]

Recently however, I’ve had cause to think this over in more detail. Not to necessarily revise the amount that I keep per-se, but to really consider what my emergency fund is for. Traditionally, I always viewed this as money I’d use if I lost / resigned from my job. If this is the case however, what would I do if I had to leave my job for health reasons? Or if I just wanted to resign to say – pursue other opportunities – and I was was living on this “emergency” stash, what would I do in the case of an actual emergency, like those highlighted above?

In this article about the $0 Emergency Fund, Liz Pulliam Weston discusses this theme of having to deal with more than one crisis at a time, as well as my aforementioned concern about the opportunity cost of a substantial emergency fund. Whilst I don’t agree with her advice later in the article about the use of credit to cover emergencies, I like her thinking around not requiring the source of your emergency fund to be cash – but rather focusing on financial flexibility.

Late last year, Five Cent Nickel also discussed when to use an emergency fund. Here, he makes a good point that if your emergency fund is for multiple purposes – that is, for if you lose your job as well as for unforseeable car expenses or house repairs or health expenses – then you need to pay your fund back what you “owe” it.

Essentially, it seems the clarity of an emergency fund is extremely important - both in terms of the intent of the emergency fund, as well as how it’s broken up. For example, I may do better to rename my current emergency fund as my “Stick It To The Man” or “Follow My Dreams” fund, and then have another, actual, emergency fund of a few thousand dollars to cover more traditional “emergencies”.

Increasing passive income sources too, seems an attractive option. That is - income that is received if not in traditional full-time employment. Investments such as shares (which pay dividends) art (which is rented) and property (also rented) are options for providing an income stream that is not tied to a primary source of income.

Ultimately though, what an emergency fund means to any given person will depend very much upon how financially sophisticated they are. If you’re up to your eyeballs in debt and are just beginning to work your way out, it’s pretty reasonable to assume that your emergency fund is going to be small and many things are going to throw you off your plan. As long as you’re honest with yourself about what constitutes an emergency (your TV breaking, or a birthday you forgot about is not), and you’re comfortable that life can throw you a few knocks without you needing to declare bankruptcy, then that’s what matters.

Emergency funds are not, it seems, a one-size-fits-all concept.

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As we’re coming to the end of the year (and I have this habit of budgeting to a calendar year, not a financial year) I’ve been going over the year that was and planning the year to come. This has lead me to discover some astonishing things. Most noteworthy of these is the rather alarming fact that in my attempt to be frugal and find things at a more “reasonable” price point, I actually end up buying stuff I don’t use. Sure, I like it – but it wasn’t that thing I really wanted.

Sadly, it seems I’m not alone. According to a 2007 study by eBay, the average Australian woman has about $725 worth of unworn clothes in her closet (men, you’re not immune, averaging $375). Even more shockingly, these figures were based on average selling prices on eBay – not even retail prices! The study went further, outlining that:

“Among the most unloved wardrobe items is the humble t-shirt. The average female owns five t-shirts she does not wear, while men have three. Despite this, 47% of Aussie women still plan to purchase another t-shirt in the next month.”

Seriously?!

Perhaps then in looking to be frugal we need to focus on purchasing fewer things, not individually cheaper items. It’s long been said that whilst an item of exceptional quality may cost more upfront, it will pay for itself in the longer term by lasting longer. With the information above to consider too, however – perhaps items of superior quality pay for themselves in another way. Theoretically, if you have the one thing you truly want – why would you need five cheaper versions? Heck, think of the impact we’d have on landfill, consumerism and the environment too – if only we could all embrace this mantra.

So, come 2010, I’m going to be embracing quality over quantity. Higher prices and less stuff. Out with the sale season and in with the new season. At least for the most part… surely the occasional bargain is good for the soul. And your wallet… or something like that.

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Think it’s all in my head? Carrie Bradshaw in Sex And The City once famously announced that she’d spent $40,000 on shoes and as a result had no money for a home deposit. Recently, an Australian publication, Shop ‘Til You Drop promoted a new diffusion line from a local Australian designer for a chain store and tacked on the end of this information “sorry, bank manager”. My fiancee’s assessment when I mentioned this amounted to the idea that ‘Shop ‘Til You Drop’ is not a financially sensible title. What did you expect?’.

It seems to me that there is an ongoing belief that if women are passionate about something; cars, fashion, sport, whatever then they can’t enjoy it in a fiscally sound way. Perhaps this is a throw-back to days gone by where women were largely considered to be incapable of managing financial affairs. Today though, we cling to this notion as though it’s not okay, as a woman, to say you’re financially secure and damnit, you can afford the designer shoes on your feet and the car that you drive.

When coupled with the instant gratification mindset that has gripped society in the last 20 years, this ongoing innuendo that encourages financial irresponsibility has the power to not only prevent women from achieving financial independence, but also has the added affect of making us financially dependent if we don’t recognise it for what it is. That is, the vocalisation of society’s belief that women can’t handle money. Moreover, that it’s not only OK – it’s almost expected that you can’t mange your cash sensibly. But then, perhaps it’s the truth.

Did Destiny’s Child teach us nothing?

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1. Never buy clothes for when you’ll lose weight… Lose the weight, save the money and buy when you’re at the weight you want to be. It’ll act as motivation to actually lose the weight, and it’ll prevent you from ending up with a stack of ’skinny clothes’, still with their tags on at the back of the wardrobe if you don’t actually lose it.
2. Do sale recon – if you want to shop the sales, fine, but visit all the stores you’re likely to buy from and try everything on when the stock first arrives. You can try it all on in peace and quiet and you’ll be less influenced by reduced prices. Work out what you want, then when the sales hit you can pick up the things you really want and you know fit you and look great, not the things you think you want when you’ve got sale goggles on. And you won’t have to tackle fitting rooms with about a thousand other people. Bonus.
3. Want that high-end designer item? Fine, but if you want it that badly, it’s worth saving and waiting for – so make sure you’re paying for it in cash and not at the expense of your future or present (bills, savings, investments, etc.)
4. If it’s something frivolous, don’t fork out a substantial amount over it. If you’re going to get a lot of wear out of said item on the other hand, it’s worthwhile choosing the very best you can afford. Yes, it will cost you more upfront, but it will cost you less in the long run.
5. Read the care label, and if in doubt go for the most gentle method of cleaning and ironing you can. It’s all about getting the most life out of what you buy.
6. Don’t go cheap on your cleaning and ironing solutions. If you’ve saved up and buy a Burberry trenchcoat to last you ’til you’re 80, it’s not the item to take to the discount drycleaner.
7. If you’re tired of something that’s already in your wardrobe, consider revamping it – adding new season buttons, shortening it, dying it, relining it and even turning it into a completely new item (a dress into a skirt and top, for example) can all be much cheaper than buying something new.
8. If you really can’t revamp it, store it. If you genuinely loved it when you first bought it and you haven’t outgrown it, chances are it will come back in style or you’ll fall in love with it all over again.
9. If it can’t be revamped or stored, but it’s a fabulous piece, seek out a swap party near you – trade your unwanted items for something you’ll love. It’s practically free shopping!
10. If you can’t revamp it, store it or swap it, consider selling it on eBay – it’s genuinely amazing what people will purchase (one person’s trash is anothers treasure and all that) and it’s money you can put toward something else.
11. Learn the art of vintage shopping. If you’re one of those people who screw up their noses at the thought of vintage because it’s secondhand, think again – and learn what deadstock means. There are bargains with serious style cred to be found if you know what you’re looking for. (And for the record, I’m the happy owner of a genuine vintage silk Hermes scarf that I bought for $3 about 12 months ago).
12. If you see a look you love in a magazine but the things you’re admiring are too pricey, break down the look and search for substitutes in high street stores or via online boutiques and auction sites such as eBay. You’ll be surprised how often you can replicate a look for a fraction of the price. Just don’t purchase knock-offs. They support a plethora of illegal activities and promote the use of labour in appalling conditions. And no amount of prettiness is worth that.
13. Consider shopping for the next season in your alternate hemisphere online. A lot of my wardrobe lovelies come from the US and the UK during their sales seasons. This has the added bonus of seriously minimising the likelihood that you’ll end up seeing everyone in the same thing as you.
14. Ponder the following: if your grandmother would admire it or could have worn it at some point, it’s stylish. If not, it’s fashionable.
15. Learn what suits you aesthetically and what you enjoy wearing in terms of physical and psychological comfort. Purchase accordingly.
16. Considering number 15, purchase classic basics before getting into the latest look. You’ll thank yourself in approximately six months when silk jumpsuits are so six months ago.
17. Keep a list of wardrobe items you need (eg. hoisery). If you feel the need to go shopping, purchase from the list. At the very least, you’ll come home with things you actually needed rather than that tie-dyed tunic the sales assistant talked you into.
18. If you purchase an item and end up wearing it constantly, consider going back for more in different colours. Particularly during a sale period or with some sort of promotional discount.
19. Should you find yourself continuously purchasing items from one store or brand, sign up to their newsletter and find out if they have a loyalty programme. You’ll be kept informed when sales start and in many cases be sent exclusive discount vouchers or coupons (which helps with item 18 on this list too).
20. Take a professional styling course to clue yourself up in the style stakes – you’ll always be able to put together something to wear from your wardrobe and you’ll never waste money again on things that get unworn and don’t go with anything else in your closet.

If you have any further suggestions, I’d love to hear them! Hit the contact link at the top of the page and drop me a line.

Stay stylish!

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