I think as long as you have enoguh to cover all your responsibilities you should be able to spend the rest on whatever you like! personally I like to keep my spendings guilt-free by rationalizing that I always save 1/3 of my paycheck, and 1/3 goes to bills and such. The money that's left is free to spend on whatever I like cause it's whats left 'after being responsible' haha

though some months I don't buy anything, and other months I buy a lot. It depends ofc but imo the thought that its money that's extra helps me not feel so bad about spending it ;o

Yeah, that reasoning makes a lot of sense to me :)

For me it varies greatly over time how much I go shopping, online or offline, too. Sometimes I'm just in the mood for it and then I'll have long stretches where I have no desire for it as well.

I do 90% of my shopping online, though I do enjoy going shopping with my friends but I like it only when we have a whole shopping day, and take our time and make it a fun day out with good meals inbetween and gossip etc c':

I tend to just find my style more online...

I don't really like shopping for clothes online all that much, since I'm always uncertain about sizing and fit etc. And some clothes I just need to see on myself to judge whether I like them. But I get frustrated with what is available in stores, too... That's how I started sewing :D

I know my measurements pretty well, I've had few ill-fitting adventures, esp sine I do know how to alter some things :P

The 2 ali dresses that were a full size too big were cheap enough to be losses I'm willing to accept haha

but I rarely even need to alter, I can actually say I know my fit enough to nearly always get it exactly right :D

My latest alteration was a shortening of shoulderstraps on one of my lolita jsks, and that was because the seller I got it from neglected to inform me that the shirring in them was completely stretched out >>

do you sew whole clothes or just alter? c:

Maybe you just shop at better stores than me, if they actually provide measurements... I often get annoyed because the online shops only list clothing sizes and those can vary wildly...

I actually sew whole clothes (I've done a skirt and a two tops so far and I have like three more skirts that I've planned and bought everything for lying around in the drawer and I just need to actually get started on them), bigger alterations somehow scare me more than starting from scratch because I get worried I might ruin a good piece of clothing :D (I'd like to add pockets to a lot of my skirts and dresses, but I haven't actually done so yet...)
But I of course also do some small alterations at times.

Ha I'm the other way around, love altering things like adding or enlarging pockets, shortening straps or adding a zipper. But I've only ever made one dress from scratch and I'm still not entirely pleased with it so its just hanging in my closet rn.

when it comes to cosplay though its somehow a whole different story. I'm always too nervous to even attempt a simple skirt yet somehow a big cape for a cosplay is no problem...

Haha, maybe you should think of everyday clothes more as cosplaying yourself so you can make those too ;) :D
I should really get onto that pocket adding...

I have so much fabric lying around for skirts etc, I really really should haha

but there's always something else to be found to do instead :x

I absolutely know what you mean :D

*looks at fabric lying next to her on her desk to remind her to start the skirt*

*looks at chest of drawers I bought this summer to store the pile of fabrics I had lying around in*

I did mention I had materials for three projects already, right? :D

At least I've been making some progress on my crocheting project the last few days.