The day of hearts and love is upon us. I don’t really care whether you celebrate Valentine’s Day or not, I hope you still take a moment for some self-reflection and self-love sometime this month. This top adds the perfect amount of be-hearted spice to my wardrobe. I actually bought it last year in anticipation of V-day before I began my No New Things Challenge. Bonus, it’s now on sale!

I’ve linked the details below, along with some other fun heart-celebrating wardrobe items. Note: you never have to wait until February to break out these cute little love extras in your wardrobe! My update to my No New Things Challenge continues below.

Shirt, Jeans, Mules, Bag, Necklace

Sweatshirt, Shirt, Shoes, Sunglasses, Earrings, Striped Shirt

So I have some more exciting updates on my No New Things Challenge today. First up, the  Flexible Spending or Health Savings Account. I always have to smile at myself as I write these posts. I realize that for SO MANY of you this information is neither exciting or groundbreaking. Some of you have had FSA or HSA accounts for years!

That said, please note that I am really opening up these discussions for persons at every stage and every style of spending habit or money consciousness. I’m not even remotely an expert (nor do I intend to put myself out there as such). I am simply sharing some of my baby steps in my money journey as well as some of my experiences, emotions, struggles, and successes.

So this past week I checked in on my FSA. I had signed up at the beginning of last year, and I hadn’t even activated the card to my account. I was pleasantly surprised (read: enthusiastically stoked) to find that I had accrued a nice little nest egg in my account. In fact, I had great reason to celebrate this little savings because I was in dire need of new eye wear.

If you remember my post from two months back about Warby Parker’s eye glasses, I was seriously looking at some of their frames. Fast forward to this month, where I realized that I had some actual savings in my Flex Spending Account. The time was right, the savings was there, and I ordered a pair of Warby Parker glasses. I’ll show you the details of my frame choice next week.

I’ll say again that I realize these are not only baby-steps in money management, but they are steps that many have trod before me. One of the great things about a Flexible Spending Account is that your money is set aside pre-tax, so you have a little bit of savings on both ends of the spectrum— both the fact that you have set it aside, and the fact that it lowers the bottom line of your take-home pay. It also allows you to save for more expensive investments like braces (we haven’t crossed that bridge yet), or larger medical expenses that would otherwise really wreck your budget. I cannot tell you how happy I was to be able to purchase glasses, contact lenses, with enough left over as a cushion for unplanned for medical expenses.

What do you think of these combination posts? Should I have broken this one in half? One post about hearts and Valentine’s Day dressing and another post about the No New Things Challenge? I’m trying to get a feel for what you’d like to read! You can comment on this post, or leave your thoughts on Instagram or Facebook. I hope you have a fabulous Friday and a spectacular weekend!!

XX, Megan