My loose goal this year for shopping is to limit myself to an average of four purchases a month (I keep it loose so that if I buy nothing one month, I could in theory buy eight things the next, since I tend to go hot and cold on shopping).

January was successful — I scored two great pairs of booties on sale, and a lovely long burgundy wool coat, also on a great sale. Also not pictured here is a basic navy short-sleeve tee I found at Nordstrom Rack (I think it was $15).

All told, I spent less than $300 on my wardrobe in January, and I’ve found all the purchases very useful — all were immediate inductees into the Team Wear group — so this was a very successful month.

I’ve started February on vacation in Mexico, and I’m not terribly inclined to count vacation purchases in my goal, but this week I bought a swim coverup dress and a sarong (total, a whopping $50 for both). I am not counting jewelry in my limit, which is a good thing because yesterday I found my holy grail jewelry store in Puerto Vallarta and scored two fab rings (my weakness) and a lovely pendant. I wore one of the rings out of the store and on the beach yesterday.