Five Favorite Things that Help Me Feel Fancy (Without Costing a Fortune)

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I don’t feel fancy very often, especially when it comes to home management stuff, but when I do, I enjoy it! Here are five favorite things I’m enjoying, that help me feel fancy, and don’t cost a fortune!

Five Favorite Things that Help Me Feel Fancy (Without Costing a Fortune)

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You know when you come across something so cool, you just have to share it. Well, today’s edition of Five Favorite Things is inspired by those things that have crossed my path this week that make me want to shout from the rooftops how awesome they are.

These aren’t any big old deal kind of things, but they’re things that are making me feel fancy. When you don’t have a ginormous income and you’ve had your fair share of stained clothes and squeezing every last bit out of the bottle of shampoo, well, you appreciate “the fancy things”, small though they might be.

This week’s roundup of Five Favorite Things includes little things that make me feel fancy, feel special, feel like I’m not scraping the bottom of the barrel. Best yet: they don’t cost a fortune!

Five Favorite (Fancy) Things

Nespresso capsules from the source

We’ve been looooongtime fans of Amazon, ordering whatever we needed from them by default. However, as I do more online shopping, I’m learning a few tricks. Namely, Amazon isn’t always the cheapest game in town. (Neither is Walmart, by the way.)

I already told you how much we love our Inissia espresso machine — and it was/is cheaper on Amazon than elsewhere, though we bought ours for much less than it’s selling for now. However, on the hunt for more capsules, I read a review on Amazon that said the capsules were cheaper on Nespresso.com. Really?

I checked it out and lo and behold! ‘Tis true!

Not only were the espresso capsules significantly cheaper than Amazon was selling them, but my order arrived in ONE DAY (not the two day shipping that somehow ends up being four with Amazon). Additionally, Nespresso offered free shipping AND included 20 free capsules. Bonus: we could also choose as many sleeves as we wanted of each variety and still get the same pricing. I am a fan! A super fan!

And yes, we’ve done the math, FishPapa and I, and realized that we are spending less money now, having one cup of really good coffee each day than we were buying mediocre Starbucks or Peets coffee from the store and brewing much of it.

Totally fancy without spending a fortune!

Five Favorite Things that Help Me Feel Fancy (Without Costing a Fortune)

A silver cloth

I’ve been wearing my jewelry a little bit more now that I’m paying attention to what I wear. And of course, when your jewelry comes out into the light of day and breath of air, it gets tarnished. Forget old school silver polish, get a silver cloth! It’s amazing. You just rub your jewelry and it comes clean! Without leaving a mess anywhere.

I got this one back in September and it’s still going strong. I can feel fancy wearing jewelry — particularly the kind that’s not tarnished!

Five Favorite Things that Help Me Feel Fancy (Without Costing a Fortune)

A clothes drying rack

Another thing I’ve been doing in my new fight the frump routine is take better care of my clothes. That means hand washing my very expensive bras so that they last longer and air drying blouses, etc. instead of throwing them in the dryer. I figure if I’m going to invest in clothes, I need to protect that investment.

I found this 3-tier drying rack that fits on the clothing rod in our laundry room. It’s perfect for drying my bras, blouses, and no-show ped liners. It folds up neatly, too, if you don’t want it hanging there all the time.

Five Favorite Things that Help Me Feel Fancy (Without Costing a Fortune)

Velvet hangers

I mentioned yesterday how much I’m learning from the Style Challenges. Last week I asked what was the big deal about velvet hangers — and boy did I get a response! Apparently, I’ve been living under a rock. I thought I was doing good with my “no more wire hangers” rule, but I guess there’s been an upgrade in the last few decades and velvet hangers are a thing.

Selling points of velvet hangers:

  • they take less space than plastic, so that you can fit more in your closet – a perk for small closets
  • they don’t leave weird marks on your clothes like plastic
  • clothes don’t slip off
  • they make your closet look pretty fancy!

I bought a set of suit hangers, thinking those were the ones to get. However, after switching out my husband’s clothes, I realized that, for the price, the shirt/dress hangers were sufficient. I don’t like how my pants hang on the suit hangers, so I’m still looking for a great solution for hanging pants and skirts.

Clearly, I’ve spent a lot of time in my closet, but the good thing is that I feel really good about what’s in there and that I’m taking good care of what we have.

One caveat about the Amazon hangers: they shed a little velvet when you first get them. Thus, the lint rollers at the top of my closet.

Five Favorite Things that Help Me Feel Fancy (Without Costing a Fortune)

Taking a day off

Last Friday I took the day off. Once I got the kids settled with independent work, etc., I headed out to have lunch with my husband, got my hair cut, and shopped to my heart’s content. I didn’t buy much and I didn’t spend a lot of money, but just having that time to do whatever I wanted was so refreshing.

You may think that it will only come once you have kids old enough to be babysitters, but this was actually my regular Saturday morning gig when my kids were little. Bryan knew that I needed “a carrot” to get through the long work week of solo parenting, so he made sure I left the house every Saturday morning by myself. It was a habit for a season of life, but I enjoyed it so much last week, I think I need to get it back in the rotation!

What are the things that make YOU feel fancy these days?

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10 Comments

  1. I have not tried the velvet hangers, but I have long used satin ones. Years ago I purchased solid cedar wood hangers for my husband’s suits. I also like sachets in my dresser drawers. Those little touches do make a difference.

  2. I was just thinking about the silver cloth you posted a little while back this am and thought I really need one and that I would need to look on your website to try to find it. Then you posted it on FB this am!

  3. Hi Jessica. What brand of silver cloths do you like? The link sent me to a page with multiple items. I definitely need one and want to make sure you get the credit. 🙂

  4. I bough velvet hangers from Costco a while ago and I haven’t noticed any shedding. They always have them, a box of 35 for $9.99, in case you need more.

    1. Good to know! Thanks for the tip. I found them at Walmart the other day for the same price — after I’d already switched mine out, of course.

  5. Ha! I went out last Friday By. My. Self. too! Tried on a ton of clothes just to get an idea what sizes/brands work for me. Didn’t buy anything. Apparently I have expensive taste! But now I can buy from the clearance online with confidence of my size.