03 Sep 6 Year Blogiversary – Why I Felt Uninspired and What’s Next

Tuesday marked the six year anniversary of Looking Fly on a Dime® and you know what? I barely even noticed! I’ve been feeling less than inspired, burned out and questioning the direction of the site. If you follow me on Snapchat {@PatriceJWill}, then you heard the full story. But after taking some time off, I’ve realized where I want to take the site and how I can continue to make this a space that serves your affordable fashion and lifestyle needs.

So here’s what’s new for the coming year!

Of course the site will always focus on affordable fashion and making the cheap look chic, but here are some ways I plan to do that a bit differently. In addition to my thrift store finds and Thrifty Threads outfit of the day posts…

How To’s/Style Hacks
One of the things I love about writing for you guys is making your life easier, and of course, more stylish. So you’ll see topics on how to navigate a discount department store, the 1-minute hack I use to instantly hem a long skirt, etc. These are the posts you can use to shop easier, smarter and within your budget.

Printable Style Guides
Due to an increasingly hectic schedule, I no longer do personal shopping and individual styling sessions, but I can provide you with printable style guides. These will be downloadable PDFs that focus on specific topics. For example, in addition to writing a post on “5 Fall Essentials You Can Thrift,” there will also be a printable template you can take with you while you’re thrifting, or you can just pull the PDF up on your phone. Other topics will be what to wear when it’s raining, taking your outfit from work to weekend or day to night. This is all about making sure you have the style advice and clothing options on hand, so you can print them and hang near your closet or pull the file up on your phone as you’re shopping. It’s kinda like having me as your personal shopper, but without me actually being there! The guides will be a few pages and full of info and colorful graphics.

Your Style
As mentioned, I’ll continue to do my Thrifty Threads outfit posts and show you how I style my thrift store and cheap chic finds, but I also want to see what you’re wearing. Yes, you! By using the tags #LookingFlyonaDime and/or #ThriftyThreads365 I can see your cheap chic fashion finds and thrift store scores and share them with readers here and on my Facebook and Instagram pages. This is a great way for readers to see women of different sizes and styles rocking affordable finds and get inspired!

Travel on a Dime
Earlier this year I made it a point to start traveling more and that’s exactly what I did. This spring I took a trip to Belize, next month I’m in Jamaica and in February 2016, it’s Kenya! And because I always love turning my experiences into useful content for you, I’ve been writing more budget travel pieces and you guys have responded really well. The Bougie Girl’s Guide to Hostels and How to Save on International Travel posts have received great feedback and some of you have even asked for posts on how to travel solo on a budget {and safely!}. So you’ll see more travel content that will help you save serious cash without sacrificing your fun or experiences.

Spotted on Pinterest: DIY wardrobe using large bookcases and stacking two Ikea drawers! Update: I just tweeted the direct link to this DIY {Twitter @PatriceJWill}

A photo posted by Patrice J. Williams (@patricejwill) on Sep 2, 2015 at 3:23pm PDT

Lifestyle
If you follow me on Instagram, you know I often post “spotted on Pinterest” images of DIY projects related to organization and home decor and those are some of my most liked posts. Just last night I posted how to create a custom wardrobe using Ikea products {see it here!}. So that means I want to share that with readers here. But that’s where I want to hear from you. Do you want more easy DIY projects and organizational hacks? And related to lifestyle topics, should I resurrect my healthy living tips like the Fab, Fit and Frugal series? Let me know!

Those are a few of the bigger things I’m working on, but you’ll also see my newsletter once a week, compared to once every other week! So be sure to sign up for the newsletter here. And I promise, promise, promise to keep putting out YouTube videos. And you’ll also see a blog redesign in late fall that will make the site easier to navigate.

These past six years of blogging have been amazing, draining, frustrating and inspiring. But as always, thank you for your continued support and I’d love to hear from you if you have any feedback or suggestions. Leave a comment below or you can always email me directly: patrice {at} lookingflyonadime {dot} com.