Be Financially Savvy.

Inspired by the second wave of Covid-19, I was inspired to write a bit more about being financially savvy. 

I work in the financial industry during the day, at night I browse the net for the next fashion trend 🙂

I created this blog with the objective of showing people you don’t have to spend a lot of money to have style or to be fashionable. I wanted to join two of my favourite subjects, style and financial tips. 

After years of browsing the web I concluded the majority of the blogs, instagram accounts are of “fashion influencers” posting amazing things, expensive bags, expensive make-up. It’s all about spend, spend, spend.

I have expressed my view about this “lifestyle”. For me it’s bullshit, I am not the brands I buy, but I know this is a personal journey each one of us has to go through. Another negative side of this lifestyle, is that people will go into debt to buy things they actually don’t need.

And this all connects to my “financial side”, women still earn less than men and are more likely to be affected by an economic crisis. Please be aware poverty is a sexist phenomenon, I cannot stress this enough https://www.one.org/international/blog/25-facts-poverty-sexist/.

We are now going through Covid-19 second wave and this will affect many more jobs, work opportunities. Many people will not have money to afford essential items such as food or rent.

Now ask yourself, is your Louis Vuitton bag going to help you buy groceries? Will your Chanel make-up help you pay your rent? I doubt your landlord will accept make-up as payment. 

Since most of the fashion blogs  belong to women it kind of makes me sad that we don’t educate ourselves more on being financial savvy and independent. Poverty affects women more, before buying anything always ask yourself:

  • How is my monthly budget?
  • Have I covered all the essential expenditure?
  • Have I added something to my savings, pension fund?
  • Was I able to pay off some debt?

I know I post a lot of “new stuff” I buy, but know that I never buy anything without checking my personal budget first and make sure I have a surplus to afford that purchase. My essential expenditure is ALWAYS covered. 

Don’t get fooled by instagram photos. Reality is what happens to your bank balance after you click “Add to Cart”.

My name is Franca and this is personal. 

Be safe, wear a mask.

Bralettes.

In recent years I have decided I would not buy anymore bras with wires. I had this epiphany one day, that I didn’t have to use bras with wires, and I surprised myself thinking  why on earth I hadn’t thought about this before :/

I have small breasts that I affectionately call them my peaches. Thankfully I don’t need a lot of support in this area and wires hurt me on my chest, on my ribs.

The underwear has been changing a lot for these past years. For years the industry was focused in helping humans with big boobies and that is great, for sure they need help and support. But this led to products that were heavily structured, with a lot of unnecessary features for humans like me with small boobies.

Recently the trend has been diversifying and now it is really easy to find pretty bralettes. All my recent bras are all bralettes and I love it.  They have enough support for my small breasts, it doesn’t compress my chest or ribs throughout the day. 

I have found very good deals online as well. Recently I bought  3 bralettes in 3 different colours, beige, black and dark green, for £3.06 each. I particularly like their back that is low cut and perfect for summer tops. 

My name is Franca and this is personal.

Thrift Stores.

I buy a lot of things second hand, but I buy them online. I don’t like thrift stores and the reason why I am not a fan is because the majority of the thrift stores are cluttered.

I have entered thrift stores with an idea in mind of something specific I wanted to buy, but the  racks are packed to the max, it makes browsing really hard.

Or I have entered stores wanting to be surprised with “let’s see what I can find in this place?” in my mind, but leaving empty handed because everything is cluttered.

I understand many of these stores are charities, they have volunteers with no retail experience in stores, they might struggle with storage, etc. I get it, but ultimately their objective should be to sell as much as possible, to help their cause.  If a customer goes in and feels overwhelmed by all the items in display and gets out, all their work is useless.I wish they could see this and improve their retail experience.

I mostly use Ebay to do my thrift shopping, where you can search for a specific brand, size, colour, etc. Overall my experience has been positive, there have been a few negative experiences, where the item hasn’t arrived, or the item was not accurate as described on the advert, but they have their Money Back Guarantee policy that helps a lot. So far, I recommend it.

Everytime I think of something I would like to buy, I always search Ebay first. If you know your size, if you know your measurements, if you know a specific brand and you know that size will fit you, search it on Ebay. 

Most of my tennis shoes are second hand. I refuse to pay £100 for a pair, when I can buy them for less than £20. My most recent purchase was a pair from Adidas by Stella McCartney. If they are sports shoes, you can easily wash them before using them, but I also use an antifungal shoe spray, which is a  shoe disinfectant for hygienic care of the inside of your shoes.

I have bought a couple of pairs of sports bras, also from Adidas by Stella McCartney and from DKNY.

Lately I decided to adventure and buy me some jeans and skirts. Some have arrived, some have not, I’ll keep you posted 🙂

Buying second hand is nothing to be ashamed of, we have to fight back the stigma. We should do everything we can to avoid more shoes and clothing ending up in landfills. Reuse, upcycle, do i! And obviously, I get a huge kick of having the item I wanted, for ¼ of retail price. $$$$$$$$ in bank account, yyesssss!!!!!

I am Franca and this is personal!

Bonus

Mid year I got paid a bonus, at work. This bonus came at the same time as a job promotion.

I had worked really hard the past year and along with the job promotion, I felt I could use part of the money to buy something nice for me, a gift to myself. Something I liked, something iconic, something I didn’t have to think too much about the price tag (obviously within reason).

Yet, I am a natural overthinker and I did spent some time thinking about what item(s) I wanted to buy, the brand I wanted to get, etc, etc. If I was going to spend “serious” money, I wanted to be sure, I didn’t want regrets or returns.

I finally decided by Vivienne Westwood, because … ICONIC. And I decided to split my money into 3 items, one bag and a pair of earrings.

My bonus was around £3K and I this is how I distributed the funds:

  • Paid one credit card in full, around £400.
  • In total I spent £315 with  Vivienne Westwood. The earrings cost £130, the bag was £185 
  • Second hand Kurt Geiger Rainbow Kensington Bag. It was £160 on Ebay, currently retailing at the price of £229.
  • I put £700 on one saving pot I have for a trip I want to do when I turn 40.
  • Remainder I placed on another saving pot.

I want to say that never in my life have I ever bought accessories or even clothing pieces, so expensive. The most expensive thing I had bought many years ago was a pair of tube leather boots that I think I paid around €200. They lasted at least 10 years and I sold them a couple of years ago, on Ebay. 

Never have I ever had congratulated me with something expensive, to symbolize my hard work, my achievements. So yes, for once in my life, I did it.

When the parcel arrived I was so excited, it was like Xmas. I was happy to get new things of course, but I was excited I was able to afford Vivienne Westwood, a woman I admire and idolize. I was able to buy itemsI believe are timeless (for me). 

I opened the box and SURPRISE, I loved everything. I love the earrings and I love the bag. 

I feel I will never get rid of these 2 items, because they represent many things, but above all it represents like my mother fur coats, I have made it. I am successful in the goals I have set to myself, I am proud of myself, of my hard work, I am deserving.

The Rainbow Kensington Bag was also a bag that had always mesmerized me and I had been thinking about getting one, for over 1 year. I checked online and I found an awesome 2nd hand bag, in excellent condition, saving me £70. 

When will I make a similar shopping spree? I don’t know, but not soon for sure. I have other financial goals I am focused on. Like I said, I want to do a big trip when I turn 40, I also want to invest in property soon.

Here are some photos of the bags and the earrings.

My name is Franca and this is personal.

Quarantine shopping habits.

Shopping habits have been changing in recent years mostly due to social media,  this is not new. You can find several studies/articles about it:

This is how the pandemic has changed our shopping habits

Young people have grown up seeing their favourite singers, actors on TV, on instagram and quickly searching online if they can get a similar shirt to the one their idol is wearing. See it, buy it. 

This “new shopping habit” has led to services like Klarna to flourish among younger consumers.

I consciously had tried to keep away from this new trend, because I understood how dangerous it can be purchasing things over one click. I love marketing, I studied it a lot in Uni, I know how easy it is for brands to manipulate us, so I always avoided online shopping.

But then Covid-19 hit us, really hard, and all our habits changed and  unfortunately I joined the ranks of online shoppers. 

My timeline this year was mostly this:

First 2 to 3 months I barely bought shoes, clothing. Uncertainty levels were high (work uncertainty, unexpected expenses could possibly happen). Clothes are not priorities, let’s save money. I didn’t buy anything. 

After the 3 months mark, some shops started to open and I missed the retail experience. Very occasionally I started visiting certain stores, wearing a mask and avoiding peak hours. Many stores were also re-opening with a lot of summer sales on and I ended up buying a few things.

When my uncertainty and anxiety levels  started to decrease and I wanted to take advantage of brands summer sales, but not wanting to go to physical stores frequently,  I started going to their websites, downloading their apps, etc. 

Got a bonus at work, purchasing levels increased a bit.

Five to 6 months into quarantine/lock-down, I started to decrease my shopping levels and it has been declining ever since.

Negative sides of online shopping:

  • It Is Just So Easy to get carried away.
  • Brands lure you into payment plans (which is a big No – No for me. Don’t use credit to purchase clothing/shoes/accessories).
  • High chances of impulsive shopping.
  • Constant push notifications from brands about new stuff available.

Positive sides:

  • If you know the brand, your size, their models, you know the item will fit you, it’s much easier to purchase an item you want. Convinient, buy it, get it at home. 
  • When you download the app or register w/ their newsletter brands usually offer around 10% discount, with your first online purchase. 
  • Allows social distancing 😀 dhuuu obviously.

I got to a point where I was happy with all the things I bought and started realising I actually need to go outdoors to wear them, which nowadays I am lacking the opportunity. So until I can wear my new things, I will try not to spend a lot of money. 

My opinion about online shopping habits is, it can be beneficial specially during covid-19 times, but be very mindful of what you are doing. You need to be super alert of your finances, your budget and have self-control to stop when you have to. 

If you know you can’t control yourself then Uninstall the Apps, Unsubscribe the newsletters NOW. Clothes are non essential items and your personal style doesn’t depend on brands. Trust.

My name is Franca and this is personal.

Family vintage.

I have shared with you my story about cleaning up my family house. I went through wardrobes, drawers of clothing, especially my mother’s clothes.

The fun part of going through “old stuff” is that you find cool unique pieces you remember your mother wearing back in the days. It’s like thrift shopping but in your own home.

I had told her I wanted to find and check the status of 2 coats she had, one leather jacket, one fur coat.

One of the items was a leather jacket, 80’s style with big shoulder pads. The jacket was in good condition, I had it dry-cleaned and now looks mint. 

The second, was a rabbit fur coat my mother had bought before I was even born, I think. I had known of that coat for years, yet I had never seen her wear it. Back in the days the mentality was that you would have nice things, but ONLY to wear in SPECIAL occasions.

Now, if you have a common life of work, taking care of kids, husband, house, etc, those special occasions don’t come often and you miss out on wearing your nice clothes.

The rabbit fur coat meant a lot to my mother, hence why she has cherished this coat for some many years. She grew up in extreme poverty, this was probably the 1st luxury item she ever bought with her own money. This coat represented something, represented that she had made it in life, she was no longer poor, that she could afford things.

She also gave me this coat. She said “If there is someone who will wear it, it’s you” 🙂

I now own these 2 coats and I really like them. I know for  fact, I will never sell these or give them away because they will always be my mothers’ coats. When I wear them, I know she HAS made it.  She has worked really hard, raised 2 amazing human beings (me included), built/owns several properties. She has made it, when I wear these coats, I carry my mothers’ legacy on my shoulders. 

My name is Franca and this is personal.

Statement pieces.

Sometimes I get this idea in my head of something I want to buy and I can’t really shake it off. It’s not like I lose sleep over the new item, but definitely stays in the back of my mind.

I like the idea to simmer for a while. I avoid impulse purchases at all costs, that’s when you don’t make smart choices and usually overspend. So my strategy is that if I forget about it, then I “really didn’t need the item” and I will save my money.

For months I had been thinking I wanted a used/vintage/2nd hand leather jacket, but I wanted it to be a statement piece. Not a common ordinary jacket, no sir I wanted to be a Wow type of jacket. One that all you need to wear under is a white T-shirt and that’s it, there’s the entire look right there! I had also been curious about trying some tassel on my life 🙂

Mid August I was browsing the internet and I found this beauty. My first reaction was definitely “You either Love It, or Hate It, that’s for sure. And I LOVE IT!” 

I made my bids and I won the auction. The jacket arrived while I was away on holidays, busy cleaning my family house.

When I arrived home late at night, 1st I called  family to let them know I was home safe. The 2nd thing I did was search for the jacket, I was so excited. Mannn, when I saw it I kept wishing “ I hope it fits, I hope it fits”, because you never know when you buy things online if size 8 is really Your size 8.

I slid inside the jacket like butter, perfect fit in every place, waist, my arms, neck. Perfect!

As I looked at myself in the mirror, I kept twirling to see the tassel move. I later checked the general state of the item, it was mint for a used jacket. 

Like I said before this is a Love It or Hate It piece. I know I am going to get a looootttt  of jokes and funny comments. But I am going to shrug my shoulders, waive my tassel and sing out loud “Jolene, Jolene, Jolene, Joooleeeeennneee. I’m begging you please don’t take my man”.

My name is Franca and this is personal.

Hoarding

Hoarding disorder is a persistent difficulty discarding or parting with possessions because of a perceived need to save them.

My “holidays” were spent cleaning the family house, so we could place it in the market. I spent 5 days of my life cleaning a two storey property, with my mother. It was definitely one of the hardest tasks I ever had to do in my life.

I love my mother, but I finally had to confront her about her hoarding habits, that are not full blown but they exist, and how this affects her and others. 😦 It was hard…

Her habit of keeping things, comes from a complex life experience but the keys trigger points were: 

  • An upbringing in  extreme poverty. Portugal in the 40’s, 50’s was an extremely poor country.
  • A mother (my grandmother) that already had the habit of keeping things.
  • Not catching up w/ times and not understanding that if something is ripped, broken, etc the repair may not be worth it and it is better to get rid of the item.
  • Access to space that allowed her to “put things in the garage, I’ll have a look later”.

I am definitely not an expert, but following my experience, hoarding doesn’t make anyone happy. It’s the bodys’ inability to deal with separation, to digest life events, to maneuver through life changes.

It’s a temporary measure (“put things in the garage, I’ll have a look later”), that piles and piles until someone “bursts” and says NO MORE! In this case it was me, out of the desperation of wanting my parents to have a better life quality  and not be engulfed by long outdated life habits. 

We did it, we cleaned the house in 5 days. We woke up early and put on a pair of gloves and masks and did it. Sometimes silently, digesting the old memories in silence. Sometimes raising my voice when I was not seeing progress made (I had a deadline) and asking why on earth we needed another blanket.

I took breathers and made sure I explained to her why something had to be thrown out or donated. 

My mother’s hoarding habits are not severe, but we had to clean the property of things over 30 years old. They now live in a nice comfy flat and since they moved I explain to them their lifestyle changed and that slowly they need to adapt and that they have to manage their new space. They cannot go back to keeping everything. 

I honestly think she is making a huge effort to understand this and adjust, especially after she saw the effect of the cleaning had on me and the hard physical labour we both had to put in.  I keep a positive outlook on this process, I think things will get better. 

I’m a very intuitive person and you may not believe in this or understand it, but this is my experience. When I was doing the deep cleaning I kept feeling a weight being lifted off  my shoulders, of all the old memories, bad and good experiences that we were releasing into the world/universe. As I threw away old school books, I was grateful for the good memories in that house, all the hard work I did in school, the shelter that house gave us, etc but now it was time to move on. I threw away old silverware and was grateful for all the food I ate in that house. I cleaned the garden and was grateful to have grown up in such a green place. But I choose to be focused on the future, that is so bright (I choose to believe).

I keep repeating “things don’t own us, we own them”, we have things to make our life easier and prettier and happier. If they are not doing any of this, maybe it is time to donate it, sell it, throw it away. 

So my advice that I follow and I give to you is, when you buy something ask yourself “do you love it?”, “is it useful?”, “will it make that person happy?”. If you don’t get a hell yes to one of these questions, put it back on the shelf, you don’t need it. Put the money on your pension fund 🙂

I love my mother. We are all humans doing the best we can, with the tools we are given. 

I am Franca and this is personal.

Trash.
Donation pile.

Melissa, a love story.

Like Carrie Bradshaw had a love affair w/ Manolo Blahniks’, I have an affordable love affair with a brand called Melissa.

I want to say that my review is not sponsored or paid. This is my honest review of a  brand that I think deserves the accolades. 

In a nutshell, Melissa is a brazilian brand that creates shoes made completely out of plastic. One of the details I love about them is that many models are just one piece, a block of plastic molded into an amazing shoe. 

The other curiosity I show everyone, when I buy a new pair, is that the shoes smell nice, they have this bubblegum scent that last quite a long time. So when I buy a new pair, I take it off and give them to people to smell. It can be funny, as no one expects to smell someone else’s shoe and be pleasantly surprised it actually smells nice. 

Here goes a more detailed explanation of why I love the brand.

Amazing designs, the brand by itself does a very modern kind of futuristic type of shoes. 

But they also do a lot of collaborations w/ other designers. Some are running for a long time such as Vivienne Westwood collaboration, some designers cooperate with Melissa for one season only.

The smell of the shoes are definitely a plus for me 😀

They are super comfortable.

They are versatile, because you can wear them in Winter or Summer. In Winter, if you get caught in the rain, it’s Ok. When you get home you can dry the shoes with a cloth.

You can wash them. Yes you read this right, I wash my Melissas all the time. In Summer w/ the heat and sweat, the shoe can get a bit dirty. Also if they are light coloured and you bump them in the pavement, cars, stairs, etc, they can’t get spots. Every once in a while I gather all my Melissas and I wash them with cold water, non abrasive soap and a sponge.  

And my favourite thing about the brand is that these shoes last a lonnnnnnggggggg time. I have been buying, using this brand for years, I have had many many pairs and they last many years. If the shoe has glitter, rhinestones, etc, etc, anything attached to it, it can affect the shoe longevity and they wear off faster. But I can attest that the average pair, with me, lasts about 7 to 8 years, at least. And these are shoes I use a lot, not just for special occasions.

This is my favourite feature of the shoe brand and this is important to emphasise because Melissas are not cheap, but in this case I think  you get your money worth out of the shoe.

Back in the days, when I was young and with less financial goals in life, I would buy Melissa’s full price. Nowadays, if I have friends going to Brazil I try to order some pairs.  If not, I browse the internet for used pairs and/or check the sale section on the brand website, or the physical store. 

The one I like to visit is the flagship store in Covent Garden.  I have been there recently and saw this heart shaped bag that I really liked.

My most recent purchases of the brand have been on Ebay, I bought 2 high heels, one from Melissa and one from their sub-brand Mel (Mel is a diffusion line of Melissa usually cheaper, with more basic designs). 

I also had to let go of a pair recently and this always leaves me sad, because I have had these shoes for years. Seeing them break down, fall apart and having to put them in the trash is always a tiny bit difficult. This last pink pair, I had it for about 8 years, one of the bows fell out and I still tried to super glue the bow back, but it didn’t work. I still wore them for a while, but I couldn’t stop the bow from falling apart. I had to accept that it was time for these shoes to go.

I will leave you with the brand website: https://www.shopmelissa.com/ if you want to browse, but always check other platforms to see if you can buy used pairs, to save some money. 

I am Franca and this is personal.

Summer underwear

Lockdown measures have been slowly being lifted in the UK and I have been making some shopping. In my mind, I’m kind of preparing for Summer that I’m still not sure how I am going to enjoy it.

Nevertheless I decided to venture into the real world, with a mask, and see if I could find some nice summery underwear. In the event of the lockdown being extended, at least I have nice, new, beautiful under wear to make me happy.

As per usual all the items were bought on sale. I spend around £47 and I bought 4 bras. Overall I think I got a good deal. Check it below and on my Instagram page.

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