Two recent screenshots that have been swimming in my head.
Monikh finally joined TikTok and I am living for her outfits (as always). I’m not on Instagram so I am always excited when content creators are on TikTok where I can view without signing up. This Chloe waistcoat is such a unique and timeless take on the vest trend. I’ll be hunting for a good dupe.
I took a screenshot of a recent Matches email because this Tibi skirt paired with an oversized button down is peak cool. I found two lovely oversized button downs that are on my shopping radar.
Speaking of my shopping radar, one of my favorite TikTokers PrettyCritical posted a video stitch of a shopping hierarchy by OldLoserInBrooklyn that really got my wheels turning.
Essentially, the shopping hierarchy pyramid consists of a base where we spend most of our money are “impulse” purchases. According to OldLoserInBrooklyn, Impulse purchases include things you didn’t spend much time thinking about before purchasing (imagine a hair clip you grab at Target). “Wishlist” items are things you actually add to a wishlist on a website (think “obsessions” on The Real Real). Wishlist pieces are things you might wait to buy until they go on sale or save for a little. “Investment” pieces are the items that require much more saving for or a celebratory item (think a birthday purse). Lastly we have “Grail” items which OldLoserInBrooklyn equates to Wedding Dress shopping.
I REALLY loved this pyramid concept. Up until now, I have had a secret Pinterest board that I have organized into Spring/Summer and Fall/Winter purchases. Everything I saw for either season went on to those boards. However, now I decided to re-organize my Pinterest Board into Impulse/Wishlist/Investment/Grail.
I, obviously, re-defined what each of those layers means to me. Impulse is where everything is going. If I see an influencer post something; pin to impulse board. If I see something from a newsletter; pin to impulse board. Impulse, for me, means that it’s something I impulsively decided I liked.
Wishlist is for things that, once they are on my impulse board, my love of them persists. You can see that it’s heavy on jewelry for me right now, but it also includes items that existed on my previous Pinterest boards.
Investments are items that I have wanted for a while but need to save for. They are there to serve as reminders to me to not just spend my money on Impulse/Wishlist items. They are generally things that are $500+.
Lastly are my Grail items, which for me, means items that are 1,000+. That is a price that I would generally NOT spend on a single-item unless it’s really special; hence, GRAIL.
Organizing the things I am shopping for this way has given me a lot of clarity about the way I spend money. As much as I love and adore the few influencers that I follow, they also really impact the way I spend my money, and often in ways that I end up frustrated about. I’m currently in a “no spend” month which will hopefully allow me to enter August with a clear head.
Definitely a fun way of thinking! I don’t do a lot of grab n go-shopping (thankfully my student budget prevents me from doing so), but I realized I almost never but anything investment or grail. Maybe time to start a special savings account for those future treats?🥰
I love this way of categorizing purchases and will give it a try myself. I don’t have a lot of impulse regrets, but need to slow down the speed of making impulse purchases.