Let me start off this post by saying I don't recommend anyone taking financial advice from me. I am not the smartest at managing my money and I have a shopping addiction. I have gotten so much better and continue to do better with my finances daily.

However, what I think you should take my advice on when it comes to organizing your finances. I've tried many ways to organize myself in terms of money in the past but I finally found a way that really works for me.

Most recently, I tried having a budget journal, using a May Designs notebook and then a few inserts in my Louis Vuitton PM Agenda. I got bored of both of those and switched over to only digital organization.

I have a lot of credit card bills and two student loans, so I pay a lot of bills on a monthly basis. I also have a lot of monthly bills for subscription services that are on autopay so I needed a way to remember the dates the money gets taken out of my account.

I was so disorganized at one point that I was getting overdrafted on a weekly basis. I think I finally got most of my finances worked out.

Forget the apps, forget the planners -- I have found my way.

How I Organized

I made an Excel sheet that shows the current balance on all my credit cards, the date that the bill is due, and how much I will pay this month.

That way, I can see the total amount of bills I'm paying this month and how much money I have left over.

I live at home but do pay a little 'rent' to my mom monthly I also put all my balances at $0.00 for privacy reasons :)

In this document, I also have my monthly auto-pays but I will show you how I took it one step further with these expenses.

I update this document about twice a month, whenever I get paid, so I know exactly what needs to happen to stay on top of my bills.

It's that simple... no crazy spreadsheets or formulas or anything spectactular. It's one sheet, a few columns, and a broad overview while still being as detailed as I need.

One thing I do recommend is putting your excel document into Google Sheets so you can update in real time on your phone, or another computer. Sometimes I would need to make an adjustment and if I waited until I went home to edit it on my computer, I would forget and it just threw me off.

Having it in Google Sheets the past few weeks has been really helpful.

My Auto-Pay Bills

I always get sad at the beginning of December because my favorite season is on its way out. I feel like once December 26th comes, I have nothing to look forward too. My birthday, Thanksgiving, and Christmas are gone and it's one step closer to Spring. UGH

But November was a good month and I think it went at a decent speed. Thanksgiving was great and my birthday yesterday was really good, it felt like my birthday for the first time in a few years.

The one thing I failed at this month? No Buy November. I not only failed but I failed miserably. The Black Friday & Cyber Monday deals got to me and I just went insane. December will be different. It has to be. I am overwhelmed with my belongings and I'm starting to get nervous with my finances.

So No Buy December (aside from two more Christmas gifts) is going to be a thing. I am sticking to it this time.



November was good, December will be better. I'm ready for 2016 as well.

November was also filled with lots of amazing products and services that I couldn't stop using.



1. Anastasia Beverly Hills Self Made Palette: I love that none of Anastasia's eyeshadow palettes are permanent and every few months we get a new one to lust over. I've been waiting for the right palette to splurge on, espeically because all of her palettes are under $40 and the moment I saw the Self Made Palette, I knew I needed it. I went to the Sephora near work the day after seeing it and grabbed the last one off the shelf. I was in an eyeshadow funk before buying this but this restored my faith in eyeshadow. I wear eyeshadow every day now and have really gotten comfortable doing different looks that are outside my comfort zone. The shadows are super pigmented, buttery, soft and smooth. If the colors are colors I like, I will for sure be buying her palettes in the future!

2. Lilly Pulitizer Agenda: I spoke about this earlier in the month and I traded in my ban.do planner for my beloved Lilly one. Since getting my planner, I've felt totally more like myself. I plan accordingly, I get a lot more work done, and I just feel more organized. The print is so 'my print' and I've fallen totally back in love with Lilly Pulitzer.




3. Becca Champagne Glow Palette: Another palette, but how could I resist? I Instagrammed this palette when I got it in the mail and honestly, I haven't stopped using it. I was also in a little bit of a highlighter rut but this changed everything. I already knew I loved Champagne Pop by Jaclyn Hill but having Pearl & Blushed Copper is such a nice little package deal. I like to mix Champagne Pop & Pearl together (Pearl is the white highlight) and I use Blushed Copper as a sparkly blush; it adds the perfect amount of sheen and glimmer to your cheeks. This is also such a great travel palette! (The palette isn't available anymore but you can still get Champagne Pop here)

4. Poshmark: I talked about this handy little app two years ago but I just rediscovered it and I'm addicted. I love the thrill of selling items and getting paid for virtually doing nothing. I decided to start selling my old, unused items because I was feeling so cluttered. I now feel so much better knowing I'm slowly getting rid of stuff! I really need to look through my draws and closets to find some more things to sell but I'm doing good!

5. Mint: I won't go into too much detail since I did an entire post on this app this month but my goodness, it's changing the way I think about money... even though I did fail at No Buy November!

I'm sure there were other items I loved this month but these were by far my favorites!

What were your favorites this month? Happy December everyone!