YouLookFab Forum » Topic: Budget update late fall, and 'enough'

YouLookFab Forum » Topic: Budget update late fall, and 'enough' https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/budget-update-late-fall-and-enough Style Advice for Fashion Lovers en-US Sun, 03 May 2026 15:04:14 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 <![CDATA[Search]]> q https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/search.php Dimity on "Budget update late fall, and 'enough'" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/budget-update-late-fall-and-enough#post-1396532 Fri, 14 Nov 2014 06:42:01 +0000 Dimity 1396532@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Elly - I don't own a clothes dryer so I understand about clothes drying! When it's really humid here it can take days to dry things properly, but that's also when you need to wash clothes frequently because it's so humid. Catch 22. Elly on "Budget update late fall, and 'enough'" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/budget-update-late-fall-and-enough#post-1396524 Fri, 14 Nov 2014 06:15:31 +0000 Elly 1396524@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Nice to hear about your journey-- I enjoy learning how others come to their decisions about enough. That is something I'm thinking about a lot in my own life. For me, I'm thinking with my laundry cycles I'm somewhere around 9-11 days of clothing with a couple of gallery items and my interview and special occasion capsules. Currently I'm at around 7 days of clothing, so I'm scrambling the couple days before and the day after laundry day while my clothes are still air drying. I'm also missing a few add-on pieces that I've realized through dressing for the last few cold weeks. So, I'm not there yet but I'm getting there. Anonymous on "Budget update late fall, and 'enough'" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/budget-update-late-fall-and-enough#post-1396451 Fri, 14 Nov 2014 03:44:35 +0000 Anonymous 1396451@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Great post! Narrowing down what you might actually wear does seem to make it harder not to buy everything that fits those criteria. I really relate to the same sentences Caro mentioned. My response to conflicts and challenges in general is to twist myself to please other people and to avoid friction, so I turn to clothes/shopping, along with food and reading, as areas of my life where I get complete control over all my decisions based entirely on my whims. And it's probably not great to let my indulgences get utter free rein in any of those categories. Even with (zero-calorie, zero-money-involved) reading, I can easily get lost in a book and ignore all the other things I should be doing, and shopping can obviously lead to buying lots of cute things I don't really need "just because." Dimity on "Budget update late fall, and 'enough'" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/budget-update-late-fall-and-enough#post-1396436 Fri, 14 Nov 2014 03:16:41 +0000 Dimity 1396436@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I used to think that more was better, but lately I've been thinking that enough is better still. I decided what I liked to wear (a dress in the summer, pants and a loose top in the winter), and how often I'd like to repeat outfits, and then worked out how many pieces I need in each category (like bottoms, tops or cardigans) to rotate to my preferred frequency. So I know I need, say, ten summer dresses, ten winter pants and 15 winter tops. That's over-simplified, but that's the basic idea. It's simple, it works and the best thing is that I feel content that I have the right clothes for any situation. Plus I don't feel guilty about what I have because it's all planned.  I'm actively cultivating contentment with what I have. That doesn't mean it's boring, it means that I might dye something or cut a dress into a skirt or re-style something if I feel like I need a change, before going out to buy.  N-Marie on "Budget update late fall, and 'enough'" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/budget-update-late-fall-and-enough#post-1394877 Tue, 11 Nov 2014 20:30:54 +0000 N-Marie 1394877@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I do find knowing when you have "enough" to be really tough as well. Especially when items do to turn out to be as versatile as you had hoped, or you find a nicer version of a current workhorse.! Caro in Oz on "Budget update late fall, and 'enough'" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/budget-update-late-fall-and-enough#post-1394861 Tue, 11 Nov 2014 20:09:15 +0000 Caro in Oz 1394861@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Love this: "one of the ways that I comfort myself in those situations is to shop. It's not buying stuff per se, although that is part of it - it's feeling free to make choices on your own without anyone else's say so, about in a way trying to define who you are and what's important to you." Great post Laura your thoughts really resonated with me. I know in the past I have used shopping for the same reasons & also as a relaxation tool too - when I was too stressed to do anything creative :)  Astrid on "Budget update late fall, and 'enough'" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/budget-update-late-fall-and-enough#post-1394837 Tue, 11 Nov 2014 19:32:10 +0000 Astrid 1394837@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Wise words! Sal on "Budget update late fall, and 'enough'" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/budget-update-late-fall-and-enough#post-1394827 Tue, 11 Nov 2014 19:14:26 +0000 Sal 1394827@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ Yes wise words. I also have to say to myself that it is okay not to have the perfect capsule or perfect combination....and not get into upgrading for upgrading's sake. If you are sticking to your budget though you are doing well, and now you have spent that maybe time to shop the closet and make new combinations from what you have. jenanded on "Budget update late fall, and 'enough'" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/budget-update-late-fall-and-enough#post-1394825 Tue, 11 Nov 2014 19:11:28 +0000 jenanded 1394825@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ still chuckling at monkey brain lol and that feeling of seeing 'it' ad having to have it. lots of good insights here though ... bj1111 on "Budget update late fall, and 'enough'" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/budget-update-late-fall-and-enough#post-1394815 Tue, 11 Nov 2014 18:56:23 +0000 bj1111 1394815@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ so thoughtful...re value-based spending and knowing "enough". also...i hear you on the shoes! Laura (rhubarbgirl) on "Budget update late fall, and 'enough'" https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/budget-update-late-fall-and-enough#post-1394805 Tue, 11 Nov 2014 18:37:46 +0000 Laura (rhubarbgirl) 1394805@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ I've again spent my late fall 'allotment' within the first two weeks of the cross-quarter's beginning. Well, that's not true; I've got 16 bucks left for an emergency (pedicure-related or otherwise!) or a thrifting find. One of the downsides of figuring out your style pretty clearly is that when you see stuff you like and you know you will use, you want to buy it, even if you don't have the money! Still, I think I picked up some really useful items this cross-quarter. (It pained me to spend fall money on two out of season summer items, although they were both great deals. Another downside of the seasonal budgeting?) The counts so far are 20 items: 3 pairs of shoes, 1 belt, 1 dress, 4 pants, 2 skirts, 3 sweaters, 1 jacket, 5 tops. This is similar to late summer, in which I bought 18 items, and early fall, with 20. I am considering a goal for 2015 where I try to lower this number, and spend more per item, ala Mo's project of a year or two ago. Funny thing is that if I'd been tracking this a year or two ago my counts would have been significantly higher, what with all the thrifting and secondhand buying I was doing. One thing I have noticed since I started tracking this seasonally, earlier this year, is that I've bought a lot more shoes than I expected. I had a lot of shoes already, but several of them were really on their last legs and I need to be better about replacing them as I go rather than waiting until they are literally falling apart. This impacts my budget because since I don't have to buy heavy coats, shoes are often my most expensive items per garment. I've been giving the concept of 'enough' a lot of thought recently. Certain events in my family and personal life have left me feeling out of control, and one of the ways that I comfort myself in those situations is to shop. It's not buying stuff per se, although that is part of it - it's feeling free to make choices on your own without anyone else's say so, about in a way trying to define who you are and what's important to you. It's been helpful for me to remind myself that other values are also important to me: having a good relationship with my spouse, which requires me keeping my spending under control; being able to do other things with my time and save up for other priorities, etc. But when your monkey brain is screaming that's sometimes hard to remember.