Lunch Time Poll: Do I keep this Calvin Klein Chelsea Drawstring Bag or return it to Winners? ;)

Calvin Klein Chelsea Drawstring Bag

This always happens to me.  I get hit by the bag mafia at Winners.

So I was at my local Winners at Cloverdale Mall looking for a cool designer bag for Fritz’s b-day.  Of course I’m looking for her and I find something for myself which I’m not entirely sure if I need.

What did I find?  Oh just Calvin Klein Chelsea Drawstring Bag in RED number.  Its sold out everywhere and it was in the Clearance section!  I was surprised that it hadn’t been scooped up already!   This happened to me in Chicago at Loehmann’s years ago when I found an apple green Cynthia Rowley bag in a clearance aisle for $75 reduced from $300.

The Calvin Klein Chelsea Drawstring Bag was reduced from $198 to $120

Retail Price: USD198
Price: RM830
Colour: Black, Red, White

Features
Calvin Klein quilts the posh drawstring purse
in luxe lamb leather for a chic go-anywhere effect.

• Calvin Klein bag
• Lamb leather; lining: cotton
• Shoulder strap with 8-1/2″ drop
• Drawstring closure
• Diamond quilting throughout; silvertone hardware includes grommets and logo
  plaque
• Interior features cotton twill lining, zip pocket and 2 open pockets
• 16″ W x 12″ H x 7″ D

Um..yeah.  See what I’m dealing with?  See what us girls go through?  Thank god I don’t have children.

My question is, do I keep this? Look I have a chest full of bags but yes indeed this bag is hot and reminds me of a more affordable red Chanel quilted bag.

Will I use it?  Sure.    I can rationalize anything.

Do I love it?  Sure. 

Is it useful? Sure. 

Is it a good deal?  Sure.  But just because its a good deal it doesn’t mean I have to keep it.

Is a  Calvin Klein Chelsea Drawstring Bag in lambskin worth $120?  Hmmmm……

As an aside, while I was trolling through the bag racks for close to an hour and a half at the Winners in Cloverdale I stalked  2 Hillary Radley bags, 1 Tommy Hilfiger, 1 Furla and 1 Nine West.  None of them matched up to the Sisley Bag that I ended up finding and buying for Fritz for her bday.  I’m seeing her tonight so pix will follow.  It’s a creme bag with snake skin trim on the opening of the bag.  It’s pretty but not too much I guarantee you.  You can use it as an arm bag or a cross body.  The cross bag handle in the bag is also snake skin.  It was quite the score as Sisley bags are pretty expensive and the coolest thing was that there was just one left!

The Winners in Cloverdale is a goldmine.  I bought Rayban’s from there in the early summer for a fraction of what they go far in the boutique stores.  I was never a huge fan of Winners before but these days especially the Cloverdale Mall location is really bringing their game. 

Is it worth $120?  What do you think?  I have to make a decision by next Wednesday.  For now the Calvin Klein Chelsea Drawstring Bag is sitting in my hallway.  Staring at me as I type this.

Do the poll below please!!

Yours in fashion,

Mel xo

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A present from me to say thank you for subscribing to my blog!

The holidays are coming up and for those faithful followers to my blog, I would like to post out a sweet gift as a thank you in December!

If your a fan of my blog and already subscribed…Thank you!  Expect a gift in the post! Just e-mail me your mailing address by making a comment on any of my posts.  Better yet e-mail me at thirtyfourflavours@gmail.com

For those yet to subscribe – please do! I’d love to have you on board!

Yours in fashion,

Mel xo

Ray-ban Wayfarer’s bought for $129.99 from Winners

Reese-Witherspoon-Rayban-Wayfarer-2140

Well, I just happened to go to my local Winners at Cloverdale Mall in Etobicoke over the weekend to look for a cool Duffle Bag for my trip to Chicago in August for Lollapalooza.  I’ve lucked out in the past with a North Face jacket there and was just really more on a mooching around trip.

Well it was quite to my surprise that I found two pairs of Ray-ban Wayfarer’s.  One in black and the other in Tortoise shell on a sunglass stand.  You know when you aren’t looking for something but have it in your mental checklist of things to buy but don’t want to spend full ticket price?  Yep that’s what was happening in that moment for me.

Original ticket price was $185 per pair, now marked down to a Winners price of $129.  Score?  Indeed.

I’ve needed a good pair of sunglasses for a while and was done with my cheap and cheerful pair.  They were looking a lil too ‘Matrix-like’ for my liking.  Sure, I can’t really pop RX lenses in them as the Ray-ban’s existing lenses itself are worth $50…but they are lovely and hopefully they will last me for a few years.

Well at least I have my sunglasses sorted for Lollapalooza. 

Yours in fashion,

Mel xo

A simple tip…

Living on a Youth Worker’s salary in the big city…is tough.  In my previous life as a Marketing and PR girl; I became accustomed to nice things like cool clothes, travel, first class flights, 4 – 5 star hotels, hand bags, catching concerts and having a life.  I wanted to live an affordable life but not beyond my means as a Youth Worker.  So I learned to adapt to a healthier lifestyle of spending to allow myself luxuries within reason.

Sign up to websites like smartcanucks.ca, gocoupons.ca and save.ca to get a head’s up on what’s on sale and where you can cut corners on purchasing groceries and clothing on a weekly basis.  Coupons are free money!

If you plan your grocery list in advance along with the coupons you may have clipped from magazines, flyers or printed off the internet you can look to save 50% off your total grocery bill in these economic times.

It’s easy to buy tons of stuff that is on sale…but remember to ask yourself do I really need 12 boxes of cereal?  Sometimes you can hold off using those coupons for the next go around of sales in a month or two. 

Try and swap coupons you have with other friends and family.  There’s no need to hoard them.  Share the wealth!

How to think ‘no!’ so you can say ‘yes!’ to money in the bank

Yep, its one of those age old things.  You want to save money but somehow money seems to fly out of your pockets.  We all suffer with the case of ‘broke – itis’ at some point.

We all want stuff we don’t need.  It’s easy to eye that Boston Crème donut at Time Horton’s after we placed our order at Tim Horton’s or flip through the Best Buy flyer and salivate over the Blue Ray DVD sale this upcoming weekend.  And so it begins.  Our eyes have become too big for our pocketbook.

Men and women – we are all victims.  It’s a cash hit and run.  How do we get a handle on it?

Well it comes down to visualization.  What are our goals?  Well maybe we want to alleviate debt, pay down our mortgages or we just want to have money in the bank for that rainy day.  We need to picture it, dream it, eat it and breathe it.  Visualize saving money is key.

What could work for some really well is writing down the goal on a piece of paper or sticky note and put it in your purse or wallet.  So whenever you open up that lil pocketbook you are instantly focused on your goal. 

Make it a simple goal at first.  Baby steps people!  For example:  ‘I’m saving for that trip to Chicago this summer’.  Or ‘Hey, what you doing there Willis?  Keep the cash in the wallet!’.  Or ‘Remember saving up for that new  Ipad’.

Let’s be honest, sometimes these quick lil notes of encouragement will work.  Sometimes not so much.  You have to be patient with yourself.

You can also make an appointment with your local money manager at your bank to help you manage your money on a weekly basis based on what your earn, what you need for groceries, expenses, utilities, kids and other basics.  Look you don’t need to live a miserable life.  It’s just about tightening up in some areas with the help of an impartial person who won’t judge you.

Speak to your friends and family about how they save money.  They may hold some ‘doable’ tips.

Once you have a bottom line then you know what you can play with on a daily basis.  So that means if you need that Time Horton’s fix every day you know that you can afford it so you won’t be in the red every week.  It adds up as we know within the course of a month.

Look, it’s going to take time.  So be patient.  Check in with the money manager once a month until you find some footing.  Keep your weekly receipts and bills for purchased items to go over with the money manager.  Remember this doesn’t have to be a pain in the neck.  Make it work for you and reap your rewards at the end of the day.