Budgeting Sustainability: Rachel Craven’s Agnes Dress

For the past couple of months, I’ve had Rachel Craven textiles on my mind. The dresses are minimal, beautiful, and made of sustainable European linen. After seeing Brandi Sellerz in the Agnes, I knew the dress would be a wonderful piece to have in my closet. Brandi radiates so much joy. I love how the dress flowed with her happiness.  I can imagine myself wearing the Agnes during a warm summer night with a large straw hat and sandals at the park or the beach or layered with a mockneck, duster, and clogs with socks in the fall. 

Resisting the Impulse Purchase

Impulse shopping is something that I’m really trying to control. I’ve followed Deb Shepherd’s model of saving for the past year, and she’s helped me get to a place where I’m happy with my finances and savings. The $310 price point on the dress is very high especially since I’ve come so far in my spending habits. 

Intentional Shopping

Now that I’ve spent a few years working on having a sustainable closet, I’ve learned a few things to help me be more intentional and thoughtful in my purchases. Here’s what I ask myself:

1. Do I Really Want it? I take a week or more to think about it. I’ve learned the urge to buy often goes away once I take more time to think about it. 
2. How Can I Wear it in Multiple Ways? What has really helped is all the clothing challenges I’ve been doing on Instagram. These challenges help me to wear what I already have in fun and creative ways. 
3. Do I Have Enough to Pay for it? After I pay all my bills, put money away for savings and groceries, I have to look if there’s enough of a comfortable cushion to pay for the item. What Deb has taught me is that if you can’t buy two, then you can’t afford it. 

How to Save:

When it comes to big ticket items like the Agnes, I’m very intentional on how I save for it and for how long. I put away a set amount every paycheck towards the item that I want. I’ve also stopped buying coffee daily and getting take out for lunches and dinner…especially lunches. Those $15 – $20 lunches (I live in the Bay Area) 2-3x a week seriously adds up. There’s been a lot less takeout dinners in this house, and not just because we’re sheltering in place. Now that we’re home more, we’ve found making dinners a whole lot more relaxing rather than rushed after a long day. 

Once the money is saved for the item, ask yourself again if you really want it. If you do, go for it! If you don’t, you have that money to put away and save. It’s a win-win situation. Do you have any savings tips for when you want to make a big purchase? Share in the comments!