How much do you spend on clothes in a year? - YouLookFab Forum

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How much do you spend on clothes in a year?

lawdiva

I'm new to this forum and absolutely love this site! I have enjoyed learning from all of you.

I used to be someone who absolutely hated spending money on clothes. All of my clothes were from Ross or Marshalls and while some of it was nice, a lot of it looked cheap and not that great. Once I became an attorney, I decided that I needed to invest in higher quality clothing and ended up buying a lot of wonderful clothes from the Classiques Entier line at Nordstrom. I now find that I love to shop (maybe too much!) and really enjoy fashion.

How much do all of you spend on clothes/bags/shoes in a year? I used to spend something like $2000 for the entire year. I suspect that I spend perhaps double that amount now, although I don't know for sure. I'm curious what others have to say.

Shopping

37 replies

Latest reply was from Steph

MsMary

Veteran

Oh, my. I keep track so I know exactly how much I spend. My normal budget is $150 per month. But this year I lost a bunch of weight and had to replace everything, plus I fell in among all you fashionistas, so I have exceeded my budget this year by several orders of magnitude. And that's just since late August!

chewyspaghetti

Veteran

Too much

RoseandJoan

Veteran

Not enough

Much less than £400 per year but fortunately it is topped up by Birthday, Christmas and Mothers Day gifts.

Louise

Veteran

I dread to think!!!!!! x

RoseandJoan

Veteran

Did I mention Valentines and Easter gifts?

Oh and Anniversary gifts

Stephanie

Veteran

You know, I don't really know the answer to this question, but I'd be interested to find out. Anyone interested in a track-your-2011-fashion-spending challenge? I'm not necessarily trying to cut back on my spending, just to be more conscious of it.

kimlee

Veteran

Stephanie - I think a track your fashion spending challenge would be a great idea. I would really like to track how much I spend - specifically on what are impluse fashion purchase vs. investment in quality pieces.

Mo

(website)

Veteran

I'm not sure but I'd guess $150 a month, sometimes less sometimes more. Never more than $300 a month! So I suspect I spend the similar $2000 you used to :). I'm trying really hard to be the smarter shopper for fewer better pieces, but it's sooooo hard to break old bargain hunting habits. (just today I got 2 bargain pieces - a necklace and boyfriend cardi. Did I mention how hard it is to change?!)

Lisa

Veteran

Too much, hopefully I will settle down the spending come the new year.

MsMary

Veteran

I already track everything, so I'm totally in for the track-your-spending challenge!

mamaKate

Veteran

My dear friend, that transition to a professional wardrobe is so much fun! As a seasoned professional, I, too, have found a lot of love from the Nordstrom in-house brands, including Classiques Entier. But I have had even more fun finding treasures at consignment shops. If you are trying to find a benchmark for how much you "should" be spending, or affirmation that it is now OK to be spending as much as you do....well that is, of course, a very individual question that requires introspection into your budget, upbringing, personal style, and circumstances. I know women who have no regrets about spending over $10,000 per year on their wardrobe, and others who have similarly high standards for style but do it on less than $100 per month. You will be able to stretch your dollars if you know how to make small alterations yourself. But I agree with advice that I have received many times, which is that you can find yourself spending just as much by shopping at sales and discount stores than if you buy "quality." There is a natural tendency to buy something just because it's cheap or on sale, where if it was pricier, you might think twice. Think twice anyway!

celia

Veteran

Too much

Megan

Psychic forum strikes again, I was thinking about this yesterday!

I'm up for a track your spending 2011 too- I use a program similar to Mint.com (but for Australians) that helps me classify what I'm spending.

I have spent WAY too much this year and really need to reign it in in 2011.

I started with almost nothing but still, the amount I've spent is absurb.

Mo

(website)

Veteran

I am in for tracking for 2011! I am also trying to decide what I should plan, or budget, for the year. Are you gals thinking of just tracking, or budgeting as well?
I'm trying to nail down a figure that pleases both the BF and myself lol! Seriously, though. If I aim to have less, but of better quality, I don't really know if I'll need to spend more or not. Hmm. Maybe $250 every 2 months, which is $1500 for the year?

Megan

I'll have to budget as well but as my income is variable depending on how much teaching I do I won't know how tight my budget will need to be until Feb.

That said, I've got the essential skeleton of a workable closet now and won't NEED to spend loads of money!

catgirl

Veteran

I have been spending an outrageous amount in the past 6 months or so, but that is partly making up for my crazy stingy/thrifter habits of yore, as well as all the wardrobe holes YLF has kindly made me aware of since being here! I am hoping to do a shopping ban once all the obvious gaps have been filled (cognac boots excepted - if I find cognac boots ANY TIME, I am buying them!).

I have also not kept great track as I have been buying and returning. That makes it feel like I'm spending a huge amount but with all the back and forth it's probably not so bad.

ETA: Okay, maybe I'm not as outrageous as I thought. I'm somewhere around $150 to $200 per month recently, averaging out.

Beth

Veteran

For the last few years, my spending has been very circumspect.

Since I found YLF?

I plead the fifth. :O

Kristine

Veteran

I was like you, I never used to spend much of anything and my clothes were cheap and worn out. Now my budget is $125 a month. $125 seemed like a nice amount when I first set the budget last winter but now it doesn't seem like quite enough! I usually stick to it but sometimes I don't count larger purchases like coats, boots or gear.

I read that a good guideline is 4-8% of your gross income for clothing. I should probably give myself a small increase for the new year!

anne

Veteran

Bear in mind that you as an attorney need to have a more expensive professional wardrobe than many of us.

I am a SAHM and my main challenge since joining YLF over 2 years ago was developing a casual wardrobe and catching up after 5 or so years of mostly being pregnant!
The first 2 years I spent about $1000 (AUD) a year but this year (ie from July 10-July 11which is the financial year in Australia) I am aiming for about $510. I think this will be difficult to keep to and I am already tracking my expenditure (so far $32!) I am happy to join in with a tracking challenge.

Another factor is whether you have changed sizes. Pregancy aside, I can still fit into my clothes from the last 15 years, and I find that that increases the size of my wardrobe somewhat. I am still wearing (YLF approved) dresses that are 9-11 years old.

Velma

Veteran

I spend no more than $1,500 annually--for everything from soup to nuts. I do a lot of thrifting, buy on ebay, and hunt for bargains, but I also shell out for some important items. I have always had the impression that I spend a LOT less than most YLF readers. Interesting to see that there are several others in my ballpark.

Laura (rhubarbgirl)

(website)

Veteran

Love the idea of a track-along. I'm similar to others; I probably spend an average of $100-$200 a month. What I need to get better at, in 2011, is saving my pennies for a few months and then buying a nice big ticket item (new coat, boots, nice jeans, real jewelry, etc.) instead of just frittering most of it away on more cheaper items, from Target or the thrift store or what have you.

Mo

(website)

Veteran

"What I need to get better at, in 2011, is saving my pennies for a few months and then buying a nice big ticket item (new coat, boots, nice jeans, real jewelry, etc.) instead of just frittering most of it away on more cheaper items, from Target or the thrift store or what have you."

@ Laura - Exactly!! I think I can get much nicer things if I wrap my head around this. I'm very curious to see if, in fact, thinking in terms of 'I have $250 to use for the next 2 months' will lead me to save up for that special item or two.
Right now I find I can get away with spending $30 or $50 at a time without having a discussion about spending too much on clothes. That is another part of my spending dilemma; I don't have my own money right now. And the BF isn't always the sole breadwinner, just when we are here in FL, so we keep switching up roles and don't have definite rules or agreed terms we live by. Complicates things a little . . .

Queen Mum

Veteran

my plan for 2011 is to purchase 2-3 items a month. I have a general monetary guide, but I don't want to just say "my budget is $XX because then I tend to see how many things I can pick up for that amount.. thus ending up with junk.

Bianca

Veteran

I can make a dollar holla and we have been on a tight budget. I would have to say maybe around $700.

chewyspaghetti

Veteran

I'm up for tracking. I did it for a while, but then I stopped. We are in the midst of re-doing our budget, and according to our income and the charts we are seeing, we are to spend no more than $125/month on clothing for a family of 4. Um.....yeah. I hope the kids don't grow anymore!

lyn*

(website)

Veteran

I spend up to $500/mth on clothes; especially if it's a month where I buy a jacket or there is a lot of fall/winter clothing on sale.

I spend as little as $50/mth during the summer months because we don't have much summer in central Canada and I don't spend my money here.

Probably about $1000 a year? I'm bad.

Mellllls

Veteran

After a year of not having time to track my spending, I just created my 2011 budget last night. I set $170/month as a budget, and a separate budget for dry cleaning. I don't think I will max out every month though and I do receive a fair amount of clothing as gifts.
My first two years post-school, I tracked everything but last year was just too crazy I am looking forward to starting to track again and would love to join the challenge.
Im a lawyer as well, so the need for professional clothes tends to make my expenses higher perhaps than others. I haven't bought a new suit in 4 years...at some point I am going to have to bite the bullet and do that.

Maya

Veteran

Now I spend freely because I can. But I have calculated my future budget at about $250/month, which is not that bad at all.

Theresa

(website)

Veteran

Megan can you tell me the name of that mint.com-like program you use? My bank has just installed a budget tracker in the internet banking section and already I can see it being quite useful, except that in order to stick to my set budget I'm withdrawing my *cash* amount each fortnight to cover all planned purchases.

I've been tracking my spending from July 2010 and I've spent $1300 this 6 months - which is FAR too much considering I'm still feeling like I don't have the basics I need and my budget really doesn't allow that... (Although I DO have some great shoes and I'm now completely covered for winter coats for the first time in my life, so there are a few things that I have achieved).

And now, having gained weight, I've started again with some things

But, my budget for 2011 is $55/month for all beauty & fashion related purchases = $660 for the year...

Yet another reason I'm leaning more towards making as much as I can of my own clothing!

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