A few years ago, my friend and I realized we were in office fashion ruts. You know the feeling right? You have a closet full of clothes yet you have nothing to wear. You hate everything you own and think the only solution is buying a new wardrobe. You have a few go-to pieces and are bored by them at this point. You don’t even care what your hair and makeup look like because you feel so dull anyway, so what’s the point?

Have you been there? Well, that’s where we were, so we decided that, even though we didn’t work together, we would have fashion themes every week and send each other pictures of what we wore. Not only did this reignite my fervor for fashion, it made me excited to get ready in the morning, it gave me something to look forward to each day, and made me realize I had great pieces in my wardrobe that just needed a second chance.

Well two weeks ago, we found ourselves back in that rut. With my friend in law school planning a move to California and me as a new mom and part-time teacher, we’re both trying to save as much money as we can.