Yes, you read that right. This is not a post about buying knockoffs, borrowing, stealing, being a consumerist hoarding fiend, or being irresponsible with money in the name of fashion.

This is a post about being clever with a little bit of money, keeping track of it, and watching it grow in designated ways. It's not hard to do either; it just requires a bit of patience. How else do you think I always have a designer purse for most of my blog posts of late? They are all 100% authentic and belong to me. I'm not even rich at all.

And I don't say "designer purses" as if I'm someone who will follow anyone with a "brand name" like some zombie fangirl. It's simply that usually, the purses which have insurpassable quality + design ARE some sort of designer brand. And as you grow up, you start to see the value of quality over quantity. And I think that's a good thing.

Anyway... this is how you start.

1. Save $50 or so. That shouldn't take most people too long if they are very determined. With this $50, buy a *used* *authentic* designer brand purse on Craigslist, Ebay, Threadflip, or some similar site. If you pay attention, you'll see them everywhere. People often don't know the values of what they're selling, and aren't bothered to check. If you need advice doing this, ask me in the comments below and I'll be happy to answer. The key is to find a purse that you can re-sell later for quite a bit more than $50.

2. Clean up your purse and enjoy it for awhile. It's fun to have something new! At the same time, list it on one of the sites above at a higher price. Maybe $100. Maybe $215? Check the prices of other "sold items" to see what a fair amount would be. Good photographs and descriptions go a long way.

3. Whilst you're in mid-enjoyment of your purse, you'll most likely get an email that says "Congratulations! Your item has sold!" Huzzah! Step one is complete. Now you have much more than $50 in your hand.

4. Repeat the steps. Use your $100 to buy a purse that you can re-sell for quite a bit more than $100. See how this goes? Before long, you'll have waaaaaay more than what you started with (and you can decide whether to buy a super expensive purse, or buy multiple purses) and you have gotten to enjoy a load of them. All this without borrowing, stealing, breaking the bank, or being being unable to pay rent.

Everybody WINS!

<3 Julie

PS. I'm writing this blog post after having ordered my very first brand-new purse from Kate Spade, thanks to the method above. And I have money left over. Woooooo!