A few of us at Style Section L.A. are Mint.com converts (the cute personal finance website with the even cuter founder was recently bought for $170 million by Intuit, maker of unsexy-software bore Quicken). The “planning” function is sincerely helpful for keeping real budgetary considerations in mind–especially while you’re contemplating another $14 flute of bubbly.  Need a fourth glass? No, sayeth Mint.

It’s helpful…except when it comes to shopping. Our clothing budgets usually turn us into fiscal losers—sometimes to the detriment of groceries. Watch what happens as one of our well-meaning contributors comes closer to insolvency for want of a new pair of shades.

Sept. 6

$300 budgeted for the month. Not including dry cleaning. Quasi-modest approach in these recessionary times. After all, the Calif. joblessness rate just went up to 12.2 percent–if you can spend, so much the better for our shaky economy.Went to Barneys Co-Op for a prime find from Loomstate. On track. Could shake Suze Orman’s hand without trembling in shame.

Sept. 14

Opening Ceremony beckoned while driving down La Cienega. Oops. $14 left. Planning a Jet Rag run for the remaining balance.

Sept. 17

Fail. Raised spending limit as well. Double fail, thanks to one particular resale boutique on Melrose. Mint.com needs to disallow any attempts to increase clothing budgets. Or it needs to hire passive-aggressive mothers to email you with notes like, “Your IRA could have used that $118 that you spent at Wasteland. Enjoy your second-hand Gucci shoes.”