Well folks, it was bound to happen eventually.  With only a few weeks left of my six month shopping ban, I finally cheated.  Not just a little cheated, but $175 cheated.  Now what would I buy for $175?  These stunning beauties.

Way back when I was first craving the goldenrod Fluevog Malibrans, these caught my eye.  But back then, they were way out of my budget, at over $300 (if I remember correctly).  I had hoped to buy them on a trip to Chicago, but then ended up not going.  They went on sale in the spring, yet I still couldn’t afford them.  And then Fluevog discontinued them.  And my heart sank.  I wanted these gorgeous blue boots so badly.  While recently debating if I should keep my orange Fluevog Fiorenzas (which I am), I tried to decide what my ultimate shoe purchase would be to replace them.  These boots were the first thing I thought of.

And then last week, they showed up on my Ebay saved search e-mail for size 8 Fluevogs.  They wanted $200, I offered $150, we settled for $175.  I bought them only a couple hours after they were listed.  And I don’t regret it one bit.  Even though they made me so broke that my last three meals have been ham and cheese sandwiches.  They were worth it.  Do I feel guilty?  Not at all.

Since it’s so close to the end of my ban (which will be January 1), I’m not counting this against the money left, since it would take up all the ban and free money left.  These are my Christmas present to myself.  Yes they were cheating, but one of my philosophies of style is: If you absolutely fall in love with something, and you can afford it, buy it right then and there, because you never know if you’ll find it again.

Now, to actual ban money.  Since it’s been two weeks since my last ban post, I had the $4 left over, plus $30 from those two weeks.  There’s also $7.50 left over in free money, plus the $50 of free money for December.  Why am I not counting my shoes against this month’s free money?  Because I really need some tights, and I’m not buying those second-hand.  So that’s $34 in ban money and $57.50 in free money.

And I didn’t really buy much, since I was broke from the shoes.  I bought a 3/4 Boden dress on Ebay at a mere $25 (they retail for over $100).  It’s gorgeous, but I need to get it altered, so I’ll take pics after that.  That leaves me with $9 free money and $57.50 free money.

**(And technically, I still haven’t bought the third pair of shoes I was allowed during the ban, a pair of brown dress pumps.  And I’m getting a pair soon for free, so we’ll just let these boots replace the pumps ban-wise.  Not that I’m trying to justify.  I have no regrets.)