Save. Spend. Splurge.

In the world of Save. Spend. Splurge.

ONE.

Amazing street performer Bryson Andres a Filipino-American from Anchorage Alaska creating his own one-man orchestra with a looping pedal, and he is a serious badass on the violin to boot.

(I made the baby listen to all of them… LOL!)

He’s not just amazing on the violin, he is a musical genius to boot.

Secrets – One Republic

Halo – Beyonce

Also.. I kind of want his killer electric violin (not that I could ever do it justice because he is a billion times better than I will ever be).

You can watch all of his videos here and buy his songs here.

TWO.

How much does it cost to show at New York Fashion Week? About $200,000 – $1 million

  • Venue: $15,000 – $60,000
  • Styling: $8000 a day to $10,000 as a fixed fee
  • Production and PR: $5000 – $20,000
  • Models: $150 – $1000 per model
  • Celebrity appearances: $15,000 – $100,000
  • Livestreaming of the show: $20,000 – $50,000

… O_o

THREE.

I’m sure you must have all heard of Stella and Dot that sells jewellery Mary Kay-style.

A Stella & Dot stylist brings over sample products for the women to try on and takes merchandise orders, earning a roughly 30% commission. The host of the party receives free product credit and other perks.

[Jessica] Herrin said stylists typically earn $250 to $300 per trunk show.

Most stylists are women who sell Stella & Dot products part time and make an average of $2,400 a year.

Stella & Dot designs and manufactures all of its products. Half of the jewelry is priced at less than $50.

This is how the Stella & Dot founder saw an opportunity and made it happen.

FOUR.

I’m a self-proclaimed feminist but even I don’t think women should help other women unless they’ve proven worthy of said help.

I wouldn’t help any other woman just because she’s a woman, the same way I wouldn’t help a man just because he’s a man.

FIVE.

I wasn’t thinking about looking thinner (I’m tiny as-is, or so people tell me), but these “thin” styling tricks are ones I use anyway because they’re comfortable!!

That said, I generally avoid looks that make me look or feel sloppy unless I WANT to look and feel sloppy that day (e.g. super oversized anything).

Speaking of style, I like Jenna Lyons sometimes, but her style is the opposite of what I want to wear. It’s too masculine, too baggy.. not my thing, but it looks incredibly appealing and wearable when this fashion blogger does it.

neutrals-with-flair-2014-01-its-not-that-deep

SIX.

little-girl-africa-wild-animals-photo

What an amazing childhood, this girl literally grew up among animals.

SEVEN.

Who are these crazy people climbing on unstable wood planks and shizz to get to some frickin’ teahouse!?

EIGHT.

This article is exactly why I tell NO ONE how old I am at work any longer. I once made the mistake of mentioning that I’ve seen record players and records only in films, having grown up with cassettes and DVDs, and the silence in the meeting said it all.

In my line of work, the older you are, the better. I just let everyone think I’m 6 years older than I really am.

One day, I will reach my real age.

😉

NINE.

new-york-city-looks-like-gifs-to-someone-who-wears-glasses

I wear glasses so this hits home for me. What stunning gifs! More here.

TEN.

This story made me really, really sad.

ELEVEN.

Why am I buying these stupid herbs and vegetables again if I can just grow them myself? I’m a moron.

On my list: Scallions (Green Onions) and Basil.

You might also want to check out these awesome kitchen / cooking hacks as well.

TWELVE.

zara-flowing-trench-coat

This coat from Zara looks nice. I’m fairly sure it’s made in China so I won’t even bother (not to mention how tall the model is and how weird the coat will look on someone much shorter), but the styling is v. appealing.

This coat  is pretty too.

zara-grey-marled-coat

THIRTEEN.

This man won 1.7 million pounds after spending his last few coins on a ticket and vows to help addicts and abused women.

Faith in humanity, restored!

FOURTEEN.

$1000 for a haircut that only lasts 3-4 months? Er… I think I’ll pass, but I am in the wrong business because it’s $1000 for about an hour’s worth of work.

(And who says so-called blue collar professions can’t make the big bucks!?)

It’s not that I don’t think celebrity hair stylists are worth the money, but that budget for a haircut is permanently out of my stratosphere, because I thought paying $100 for a haircut to last 6 months was pricey.

I think it’s more of a placebo effect. If you pay a lot of money for something like a haircut, you will think your neck looks thinner and you look better, and even if it isn’t true… it’s true to you, which is what justifies the cost.

FIFTEEN.

Some of you are overestimating your net worth. Speaking of money, did you know it is also a story? And yes, money can buy happiness.

SIXTEEN.

This made my blood boil.

28 Comments

  • Revanche

    Growing scallions: I’ll share a bit more later but we grew them in water and it was awful. So maybe it’s not a horrible thing that you weren’t before 🙂

    I haven’t told anyone my age at work in 3-5 years and it’s hilarious. I borrowed a friend’s trick: every time someone asked, I’d lie to them. But really obviously lie so they’d know I was lying but it usually put them off asking again. If they pushed, I’d straightface it and stick to the story. “No seriously.” “No, seriously. I’m 59.”

    • save. spend. splurge.

      No kidding! I was looking forward to having free scallions for life.

      Oh I like that trick. I think one day I will reach my real age but that day has not arrived…

  • Ksenija

    One of the most interesting round-up posts so far. Lots of lovely reading tips, thanks for that! I watched a Dutch documentary about Tippie last year and was amazed. A truly inspiring life story and amazing parents she has.

  • The Asian Pear

    That violinist is AMAZING!!

  • StackingCash

    I’m a fan of violinst also. Ever hear of Lindsey Stirling? Bond? Vanessa Mae?

  • Stefanie @ The Broke and Beautiful Life

    Everyone thinks I’m five to ten years younger than I am when they see me, but when they get to know me they think I’m older than I am, so I just tell everyone my “number” so we can all be on the same page 🙂

  • Anonymous

    AH I loved the little girl growing up with animals! That post made my day 😀

    And that $1000 dollar haircut? Lifestyle inflation much! I’ll stick with my $40-45/haircut from my hairstylist, thank you. I don’t see how a $1000 haircut would make me happier than the $40-45 dollar one. I even think that is expensive. I think it should actually be $20-25.

    • save. spend. splurge.

      @Anonymous: I think a haircut could be worth $40 if I didn’t have to go as often to keep it up. Otherwise, I’m willing to spend up to $100.

      Isn’t that little girl adorable? I love that photo of her hugging a frog .. or is that a toad?

  • Anonymous

    I used to work at a company that only liked to hire female staff in its accounting department. They would say snippy things about men even when male co-workers went down to that department for whatever reason..

    to pick up a paycheck, ask for advance, apply for a position in the account department, etc., they would say nasty things about men even in their presence. Finally they hired a male accounting clerk but it took them awhile to do so and throughout the company, the accounting department was known as a bad place to advance in the company.

    Things were bad enough that people started quitting, one walked out in the middle of her shift….this woman had enough of the b.s. that the other women were pulling in that department and just walked out.

    As for feminism, I quit calling myself that. Women supporting other women just because they are women and for no other reason is sexism. I consider myself a humanist these days.

    Feminism is about female privilege these days and not equality. It’s disappointing to me how many feminist leaders like Gloria Steinem have said disparaging things about the opposite sex. I feel like these days it’s not any different from when men had the upper hand in society. I’m done with feminism.

    I’m a humanist. I support people and equality. In fact I read a book called “Men on Strike” about how female privilege is impacting men and how feminism has changed to the point where men don’t want to get married, men get the shaft in custody and time with their own children, where men get ignored on college campuses and why they’re no longer getting as many degrees in college as women are.

    Male children in the U.S. are now being left behind academically. Studies have been done where female teachers give girls better grades. That’s alarming. If I ever have a boy or girl, I will send them to single-sex schools. Studies show single-sex schools are better for kids anyway.

    Look how many sitcoms we have about the mom being the smart one and the man being the dummy. I don’t watch sitcoms for that reason. I like shows where men and women are well-rounded and not one-dimensional.

    As for the age thing. I quit telling people how old I am as well. I’m surprised people ask me that especially managers, I consider that VERY UNPROFESSIONAL. Should have looked when you had my license and social security number because I don’t tell.

    Sometimes I use my American passport to give proof of citizenship and that has your date of birth on it as well but it’s funny how they ask me the age question after they had the ID’s on their hands and didn’t pay attention to my age.

    One time in an interview an HR person asked me how old I was. I don’t feel it’s my obligation to tell anyone how old I am.

    If they didn’t look during the hour when they had my ID’s on hand to check for proof of citizenship, then why reveal? I can’t lie about being 6 years older because 90% of the time when I tell new friends my age, they think I’m 7-8 years younger anyway. So lying in my case wouldn’t help my cause.

    In fact people are surprised when I know about finances, insurance, retirement, etc. Also I’ve seen the surprised look on peoples faces when they couldn’t talk me into something questionable, they just thought that because I look young that I would fall for whatever fishy thing they were selling.

    They also get surprised when I know about history, classic American movies and old American songs that millennials usually don’t know about.

    How do you pull off lying about your age?

    • save. spend. splurge.

      @Anonymous: It REALLY bothers me with sitcoms where men are portrayed as idiots and women are the smart ones. I hate that dynamic, but it’s prevalent in a lot of shows – The Simpsons, Family Guy, Everybody Loves Raymond, etc..

      I also hate it when women perpetuate that — that men are dumber; in the end women are the dumb ones, because men just get off the hook from any kind of responsibility because they accept the label of being dumb!

      I like that term — humanist. I might use that instead.

      I don’t lie about my age, I just don’t tell anyone how old I am.

      My contracts don’t ask for ID or passports, so they never obtain my year of birth unless it’s a secure contract for the government.

      I started working full-time at a “real” job a long time before a lot of people my age, so my CV looks like I am 6 years older or so, and that helps.

  • Michelle

    I could never spend that much on a haircut. I have an awesome stylist, and she doesn’t charge much. I think it’s like $15 for a haircut, and it’s a really nice salon as well. She just hates charging a lot. I always leave a $10 to $20 tip though because I know she deserves more and I’ve been using her for awhile.

    • save. spend. splurge.

      I keep flip flopping on haircuts so I don’t really know what my price point is. My max is $100 – $200 though but I’d rather pay $25 – $50 for a good cut that I don’t need to maintain every 6 months.

  • AdinaJ

    Because we had an easy time getting pregnant the first time, I was terrified of having a miscarriage the second time. Those kinds of stories always get to me, too.

    People always seem to find cute coats at Zara (I like the grey one) but whenever I go into the store, I never see any if them. Which is probably ok, because I think they’re over-priced.

    • save. spend. splurge.

      Oh! I didn’t even think you could have a miscarriage the second time because the first time was so easy.. my first time was easy too. It was like the DAY I went off the pill, I got pregnant.

      Zara’s coats are cute but the quality is suspect for me. They look nice for the first few wears but I reckon they pill and look gross after a season.

  • jane savers @ solving the money puzzle

    My haircut went up to $18.00 yesterday. It was $15.00 and I have to go every other month because some parts of my hair grow much faster than the rest and it becomes unmanageable so quickly.

    $18 is just a trim -no wash and no blow dry. I was caught off guard and she still got her regular tip but now I will have to reconsider the tip.

    • save. spend. splurge.

      Wow you go every other month!! I think the last time I got my hair cut was September 2012 before I left NYC… I am due for a haircut soon.

      • jane savers @ solving the money puzzle

        @save. spend. splurge.: Some layering around the face means I have to go more frequently. There is also one small part at the back that grows twice as fast as the rest of my head and shoots out like a rat’s tail if it isn’t trimmed frequently.

        Thank you for the mention as well.

  • CorianneM

    That path! Oh my, it’s scary! I consider myself pretty brave, bold and daring, but this is too much for me I think… :O On the other hand, beautiful amazing views on the top of that teahouse 🙂

  • MelD

    Interesting line-up, great musician – thanks!

    (Sad story about losing a baby. I lost one at 13 weeks but it has never been an emotional problem for me. I had another healthy baby afterwards. Maybe I am hardened?!)

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