Cat - Wow, you look GREAT! I love the dress, everything looks really super. You did a great job of finding clothes that disguise the pooch. Where did you get everything? When you shop, do you mainly hit the department stores of the specialty stores?

Thanks! I'm happy with the wardrobe updates. :)

When I shop, I go EVERYWHERE. Which is why shopping is hard work, spread out over many days. This time it was 2 malls and 2 days. 1 Macy's, 2 Lane Bryants. About 30 things tried on.

I'm after a good fit. I don't care about brand or price (within reason).

This year I actually set myself a quarterly budget for clothing. ($1000 for the year total). Which serves two purposes -- 1) MAKES me go, 2) keeps my spending in check. So when I say I don't care about the price when I go out -- I don't, so long as I stick to my $250 for the quarter. That can mean one super spendy thing, or several less spendy things or a LOT of cheap things.

This quarter I spent about $300, and I made up the extra $50 from my personal checking account. (Paul and I have separate "allowance" accounts from the house one.) I can go out again in June to spend my next quarter and see how the selections have changed.

This time my main focus was underwear, and regular clothes, but lucked into some party wear. In June, I will probably focus on shoes and skirts and just keep my eyes open for anything else and hit Ross stores and the factory outlet malls to see what out there.

I've set a budget for Paul (same as mine) and the baby ($300 a year from us... relatives inundate her with clothing!) as well.

Paul is trying to get me to let him spend his budget on doodads rather than clothing. What he NEEDS is clothes. He has to carry an impression at work whether he likes it or not. What he WANTS is more musical toys.

Oy.

So while I'm done for me this time, I still have to go out again for him.