A Moment of Weakness at Louis Vuitton

I was weak... I got called by my LV rep for the new perforations speedy in Fuschia, and I immediately rushed over. So much for the shopping ban... I know it looks a little strange with little holes everywhere, but it's cute in person! Maybe I'll use this bag in Vegas...

I definitely think my bag habit is getting a bit crazy. I might ebay a few just to keep my bank account healthy. The good news is, I just found out that the ebay going rate for my LV Cerise Speedy is quite good and I may consider letting that one go. It's so hard though, all of my bags are special to me and letting them go is painful. Ugh, I'll worry about this after I get back from Vegas.

Scary Shopaholics

I just finished watching Secret Lives of Women - Shopaholics, a documentary on the We Network. I'm typically not a We watcher but the title caught my attention and it was added to my TiVo. DH and I watched it and we found it unbelieveable how badly these women sabatoge their finances. I can certainly empathize as I love nice things too, but to own 15 credit cards and having trash bags full of unworn clothes on the floor is insane!

Oprah also kicked off her "debt diet" series and this one woman had a 66 page credit report! I think the average is 3 sheets/ 6 pages so you can imagine how scary this is. This woman explained that she feels like she needs has an image to project and people see her house and car (BMW), she needs to have the clothes to match her "image". I used to fall into this trap too until I read something Suze Orman wrote that is so true -- "why do you want to impress people that you don't even know?" Not to get philosophical, but why is it that we feel that projecting the image of money/wealth is more important then actually having it? I still struggle with my expensive taste, but I'm determined to maintain debt-free and have enough to retire one day!

Vegas Baby!

Yay! I just booked tickets to Vegas! I'm going with the hubby for his work and I'm planning on a few days of R&R. Just booked my spa appointment and we'll probably also try to catch a show. The problem is, how can I avoid shopping there?

For a non-gambler such as myself, the shopping, shows, and fab restaurants are the main attraction, so i might have to lift the self-imposed shopping ban (just a little) :) Good news is, I was just told that we are getting our '05 bonuses, yay! I'm planning on saving most of whatever I get (that's my story and I'm sticking to it!)

I'm also completely pumped about having my favorite Ice Blended drink at Coffee Bean & Tea Leaf. There's two stores inside the Venetian and one in the Palms. I might have to buy some more of the do-it-yourself drink mix.

I'm counting down the days...

Louis Vuitton Price Increase -- Again?

I just heard that Louis Vuitton is increasing their prices, yes, again. This time around, it's 5% effective 2/22. Ugh... do I keep with the shopping ban? There's nothing I really "need" right now, but the increase is making me think I should get something.

Snowed in and lemming a new bag

There's about a foot of snow outside my house right now and I'm passing time by flipping through magazines. I'm loving the new Dior Gaucho bag, but I seriously question how often I'll actually get to use it. The sensible side of me says that there are much better ways to spend $1400 (or better yet, save it), but the inner fashionista is telling me how cute I'd look with it. I've been watchful of our household finances these days and was able to purchase an investment property and pay off my car loan (a year early, yay!) This of course, now leaves me cash-strapped and I'll need a good recovery through a shopping ban.

As I'm writing this, a gorgeous new Chanel bag is sitting in a box waiting for my decision on whether or not to keep it (so much for the ban!). It's that new kelly style quilted bag with a single handle across the top. I loved it after seeing Nicky Hilton carry it in a few celeb photos, and immediately ordered it. My husband saw it and thinks it's ugly and said it looks like a old-lady bag. Decisions, decisions...

I'm also catching up on my TiVo'd shows. Last week was hellish at work with me putting in 12 hours+ per day. I love all the financial shows and I'm currently watching The Wall Street Journal report with Maria Bartiromo. Her guest was Liz Perle, author of a new book titled, "Money, a Memoire". I totally agree that we women often don't take control of our own financial future, and these are professional, intelligent women! This author had her husband "take care" of all the finances and found herself in a jam when they divorced (all the assets were in his name only). Some stats I gathered from the show:

- 85% of men said they knew what they were worth. Similar number of women said they were not sure. The experts on the show said that men are competitive and view their net worth as a "scoreboard" of success. Women on the other hand, relate money to emotions and although love making money and decisions on how to spend it, lose sight of the bigger picture.
- 40% of women admit to lying to their partners about what something costs. LOL, I've definitely been in this category before. Not huge discrepencies, but say $200 for something that was really $260. My husband caught on pretty quick and I realized that it was totally unnecessary to fib about these things.

To jump start your financial future, here are my top picks on which books to read:
- The Money Book for the Young, Fabulous, and Broke - Suze Orman. I learned so much from this book about credit scores and the basics of saving/investments. If I only had it when I was in college...
- Smart Women Finish Rich - David Bach. I read Smart Couples Finish Rich, but it's essentially the same message, Bach coined the term "Latte Factor", which is how all the little seemingly inconsequential spending can add up to big bucks.
- Save Karyn - Karyn Bosnak. This woman spent and spent and spent, living large in NYC and was $20,000 in credit card debt. She came up with an idea to ask people for help and through a combined effort of people sending her money and a lesson in frugality, was able to turn it around. I originally saw her story on TV 2 years ago and thought it was disgusting to ask random strangers for help paying off her gucci purses and such. But kudos to her for coming up with the clever idea and hey, she didn't force people to help.

Knowing your financial situation is a very empowering thing. I love making investment decisions and watching our money grow. I know I could do more if I really curbed the shopping, but hey, live within your means (this means not going into debt shopping!) and life's too short to give up on what makes you happy!

Getting Started

I'm a newbie to the world of blogging, but it just seemed like so much fun I had to give it a try. Just to get started, I'll share some tidbits about me:

Age: Early Thirties
Marital Status: Happily Married, no kids! (seems to the ? I'm constantly asked these days)
Love: My pup, All things fashion, Addicted to luxury goods
Occupation: Senior management in the technology industry
About the blog: Don't get me wrong, I love my job and the company I work for, it's just that I never expected to be in the technology industry. My major in college and my interests just didn't quite jive with this field, but a college internship gradually evolved into this career. I'm a workaholic that puts in long hours and it affords me my lifestyle. The ironic part is I love fashion and shop designers, but I'm also incredibly conscious of my finances. It's always a balancing act when it comes to staying debt-free, investing wisely, yet splurging on a Chanel bag or a pair of Manolo Blahnik shoes.

I'll post my musings on fashion, finances, work life, and my current addiction to Project Runway (go Chloe!). I hope readers will find it entertaining and informative, all at the same time :)