Looking Good Without Spending a Fortune-Guest Post

I hope you enjoy this guest post from Debt Management Talk:

Before I retired I was an attorney and I had to dress the part. Having grown up in a VERY conservative household, I like to live inexpensively but I also like to look good, and there are plenty of ways to do both.

Nothing brightens my day more than getting complimented on my wedding ring, especially when the person who notices the sparkle happens to have a reputation for exquisite and expensive taste. Beyond enjoying the compliment, I get an extra grin because only my husband and I know that my three ring wedding set cost us a grand total of $26.00.

Before you assume my husband is overly frugal, let me explain. I went for years without a ring. It just didn’t matter that much to either of us. Then we started planning a second honeymoon, and he decided he’d really like to give me a ring. The trip involved riding motorcycles from Seattle back to our home in Alaska. I didn’t want to risk losing a real diamond on the road so we went to a department store’s costume jewelry department. After a few minutes of looking I found a “silver and diamond” ring that had all the sparkle I like for $12.00. My husband said he didn’t want anyone to accuse him of being cheap, so he handed me a ring guard set of “diamonds in silver,” that cost $14.00. When we left the store I cut the rings off the plastic cards they came on and laughingly put on my new wedding ring set.

The laughter stopped when we saw the set on my finger. It looks amazing! Since that time I have worn my wedding ring everywhere and get compliments almost every time I go out. The point of all this being that a person can be frugal without having to look like they are careful with money.

Jewelry is a great place to start, places like Claire’s that adults mostly walk by, have gorgeous crystal jewelry. Dressy earrings cost about $3.99. Earring and necklace sets cost only about $7.99. This is for attractive jewelry that works well with a business suit. Other places to find amazing and amazingly inexpensive jewelry are garage or estate sales, and flea markets. I have a broach that always draws admiring glances that I picked up at an antique store for $5.00. No one would believe it if I told them, but why would I want to tell anyone anyway?

Speaking of business suits; an expensive looking outfit doesn’t have to cost a lot of money. Any suit can look expensive if it fits well. A second hand suit can be relined for a fraction of the cost of a new suit but my favorite alternative to buying an expensive suit is getting the simplest suit I can find at an off-price box store. I make a few modest alterations, adding a tuck at the waist or hemming the skirt to the perfect length. This takes more time than money. Then I choose the classiest buttons I can find at my fabric store. For buttons they may be expensive, but by replacing the buttons on a $30.00 suit and doing some very simple tailoring I can make it look like a designer suit that would easily cost five or even ten times what I paid.

Shiny silk blouses look fantastic with dress clothes. They also cost a fortune. A lot of workout shirts have the same sheen as silk. They have the added benefit of being machine washable. I found a shiny black turtleneck made for runners at a sporting good warehouse store for only $15.00. The same shirt made of silk at a regular store would have been much more expensive. It also would have the added expense of dry cleaning, not to mention the wasted time taking it to the cleaners. For people who travel, double duty clothing like this also saves packing space, and since workout clothes rarely wrinkle, you don’t need to spend time ironing.

What woman doesn’t love shoes? And who wants to spend hundreds of dollars a year on trendy shoes that wear out quickly, or get ruined by the weather? Living in Alaska, winter is hard on shoes. Ice melt stains leather, and ice grips don’t help much either. Wearing a pair of sturdy winter boots doesn’t look too nice with dress clothes, but it isn’t that much of an inconvenience to change when you get inside. If you are going to a place where you need to walk outdoors before you can get someplace clean, carry a cloth tote bag. You can carry nice shoes in the tote, and exchange them for your boots when you get inside. If you line the tote with a recycled plastic grocery bag the inside of the tote will stay clean. Most places that have coat checks have no objection to checking a bag along with your coat. You save wear and tear on your shoes, but can still look like a million dollars when you are inside.

I don’t practice law anymore, and jeans have replaced most of my business suits. It’s nice to know that even though my everyday look is a lot more relaxed these days, I still clean up pretty well, and I can do it without breaking the piggy bank.

This was a guest post written by Karen Weimer-Boyd who is a member of Debt Management Talk, a revenue sharing personal finance forum. Learn more about the revenue sharing and the goals of the forum at Debt Management Talk-About Page.