https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/whats-your-monthly-clothing-budget-or- Style Advice for Fashion Lovers en-US Sun, 10 May 2026 22:15:21 +0000 http://bbpress.org/?v=1.0.2 q https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/search.php https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/whats-your-monthly-clothing-budget-or-#post-54463 Sun, 15 Mar 2009 03:33:35 +0000 shana 54463@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>In the past I never worked with a budget - I kind of operated along the same lines as Steph above. I just bought what I wanted or needed. Being a bargain hunter, I was forever buying stuff on sale - sometimes just because it was on such a super sale that I felt I couldn't resist. At the same time, I would spend lavishly on crazy impulse buys. Generally, I was probably spending anywhere from $100-$400 a month (though not the max every month) on clothing/shoes/accessories. There was really no rhyme or reason to my spending (on a side note, none of this involved any credit card debt or anything and we were in a pretty strong financial situation with no debts, maximum retirement contributions, college saving etc). I never shopped with a list or had any particular mission when heading to the mall except for the occasional "Oh my god, I need a suit tomorrow or a dress for the wedding on Saturday." Consequently, my closet is full of wardrobe orphans or items that don't fit quite right or are not flattering. And despite all the money that I have spent, I still have trouble putting an outfit together sometimes.</p> <p>Now, with neither of us working, we have set up a pretty strict budget and my "fun" money budget which includes clothes, going out etc, is just $100 per month. Other than when I was a student, this is the first time in my life that I have had to operate under a budget. And I have to admit that I love it. Combined with the info that I have learned from this site, I am shopping so much smarter and buying things that are versatile and flattering. Working with a budget, I have to make tradeoffs and there are fewer impulse buys. I am generally only buying things I really need or really fit me. My husband and I have agreed that even once we're back to working, we will stick with a budgeting scheme for the future. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/whats-your-monthly-clothing-budget-or-#post-54376 Sat, 14 Mar 2009 19:50:19 +0000 Steph 54376@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I don't know if this will help much, but I have never had a clothing budget. When I was a poor student with about $10 in my bank account and then once I became a professional, I have always just used the philosophy "if I have enough money for this and I really want it, I'll buy it." When I'm determining whether I have enough money for it, that of course takes into account my bills, my savings, and everything else. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/whats-your-monthly-clothing-budget-or-#post-54358 Sat, 14 Mar 2009 17:06:03 +0000 Alecia 54358@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>My hubby and I each have some fun money each month that we can use as we wish. It totals about a little under 7% of net. That amount is not just for clothes, though. I use that for my hair appointments, gym, going out with friends, etc. My spending on clothing changes from month to month depending on the other expenses I'm anticipating. Use last month for example, I had a lot of expenses for my lifting competition - entrance fee, powerlifting association membership, singlet, new shoes (which are converse so they can work in other settings, too - I love it when purchases are versatile) - so I didn't have much left over for clothes. This month, I don't have those expenses so I will have more room to play.</p> <p>At the beginnning of every month, I look at the expenses I know I will have like if I have a hair appointment scheduled or something and figure out what extra I have. Then I usually give myself a bit of money for spending during the week on incidentals like lunch if I don't bring it to work. And then I have an idea of the stuff that's left over. If there's something I'm looking to buy (like right now I want a jcrew suit) I usually save a bit of it for that expense. I find this to be really helpful because it give the power to look at my expenses and say "Do I want the mocha or would I rather use that $ for my suit?" </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/whats-your-monthly-clothing-budget-or-#post-54352 Sat, 14 Mar 2009 16:04:16 +0000 anne 54352@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Hi JG<br /> I think of clothing in annual, rather than monthly terms, and for most of my adult life have spent between $350 and $550 ( I think; it's an estimate) depending on whether it is a year with a lot of restocking. One year I spen t about $1000 but that was on returning to corporate life (bought 2 suits) after 2 years overseas wearing shorts and tracksuits (yuk). I don't have a budget as such but I usually make a list at the beginning of the year and work out approximately what I'll get. I am not a spendy type so I don't have to be too rigid. It's easy for me to go a month without buying anything.<br /> other factors<br /> 1) I am talking Aussie dollars. I don't know how our clothing costs compare but it costs about $175 a week on average to feed etc my family of 2 adults and 3 kids under 6 (including disposable nappies and eating relatively frugally)<br /> 2) we don't have big coldweather purchasing needs<br /> 3) that figure is just me, not DH or kids<br /> 4) I reckon I would find it hard to get by on less than $200 a year as I need shoes and /or shoe repairs every year and some underclothing<br /> 5) our income is less than the australian average wage, but we are blessed with moderate rent, little daily travel costs and no debts. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/whats-your-monthly-clothing-budget-or-#post-54285 Fri, 13 Mar 2009 23:54:44 +0000 marianne 54285@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Thanks Shiny! I guess I always think in terms of net, that's why it threw me off a little (not your response but the report I was talking about :)).<br /> JG, sorry if polling was a bad suggestion - I just thought it would be a quick way to gather info in multiple choice format (I am all about multiple choice :)). I am also in the less the better camp, but last year I spent more than normal to cover the basics. I actually never budgeted for it and I realized I could only estimate it very roughly, which made me think I SHOULD budget, so thanks for starting this discussion! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/whats-your-monthly-clothing-budget-or-#post-54281 Fri, 13 Mar 2009 23:07:32 +0000 shiny 54281@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Marianne, I have this spreadsheet my planner gave me for budget planning, and yes it does break down taxes as percentage of gross too. I gave gross because it was easier for me since I had the numbers all worked out from my annual budgeting exercise. </p> <p>JG, It took me about a year - but bear in mind I had the luxury of being able to spend 8-10% last year! Which meant if I found a great pair of jeans, I'd buy two. :-)</p> <p>2008 was an unusual year - 4% is probably more the usual, average year. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/whats-your-monthly-clothing-budget-or-#post-54276 Fri, 13 Mar 2009 22:50:31 +0000 Mellllls 54276@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I spend 1% of gross....Rarely do I have a problem staying within that; usually only when I need big ticket items like a coat. I currently have a lot of clothes....but I'm sure if I posted my clothes on the forum I would then need to start from scratch ;)</p> <p>FWIW my transportation budget is 4%. I like to have a cushion in my transportation budget so I can fly home on a whim if necessary. I also budget on a use of lose basis unless I need to save for something so my overly large transportation budget tends to pad my savings </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/whats-your-monthly-clothing-budget-or-#post-54273 Fri, 13 Mar 2009 22:37:10 +0000 JewelryGirl 54273@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Marianne, I didn't have a real preference for net or gross to be honest with you other than wanting to have a base for responses. So, if one person said 2% and another said 10% I knew it was comparing apples to apples. Make sense? I really just want to try to figure out something realistic for me personally which is why I asked the question about current state of the wardrobe as well. I'm trying to shop more with a purpose than just whatever catches eye. I think my beliefs/priorities seem to be in-line with some of the regular posters on this blog so I thought that would be a good benchmark. Well, from what you can tell about people from reading things like this anyway! </p> <p>Shiny, I don't reconcile my budget with what I actually spend - currently that is. It all seems to work out each month so I haven't paid real close attention to it before &#38; want to start. Interestingly enough, I just went into my money file for the last year &#38; for the entire family it shows about a 4.9% allocation to clothing. </p> <p>Kari, I think that's the point I'm getting to actually. </p> <p>Shiny/Kari, I'm curious - how long did it take you to get your current wardrobe to it's current state once you really started focusing on it? A year due to seasonal changes? I feel like I really hunt/shop for something specific at times. It's typically a better outcome when I do though. </p> <p>Gosh, I wish some of you girls were local! I can't thank you enough for sharing!! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/whats-your-monthly-clothing-budget-or-#post-54245 Fri, 13 Mar 2009 16:51:56 +0000 marianne 54245@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Shiny, I meant to ask - why do you base it on on gross income? Recently I was moving around some retirement stuff and the the rep generated a report/plan for me that was also dealing with gross income. Are taxes then treated also as percentage of your expenses? Sorry about OT, I'm just curious. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/whats-your-monthly-clothing-budget-or-#post-54238 Fri, 13 Mar 2009 15:30:25 +0000 Kari 54238@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Jewelry Girl, I don't have a set clothing budget and live very similar to Shiny's suggestions (although she and I are at different life &#38; financial stages.) As a young professional with just a couple years of work experience, my #1 priority has been building up my savings, plus my dad raised me to keep my eye out for a "good deal", so my clothing budget has been relatively frugal.</p> <p>That being said, in the past year and a half (earning more steady money &#38; entering a slightly more formal work environment than when I was on the college campus) I've realized that too many of my past purchases, while inexpensive, weren't very "good deals" because they weren't totally flattering or didn't hold up for long. The pieces I bought 4-8 years ago that I still wear were probably more expensive pieces but were high quality and the fit was/is great.</p> <p>I've made a resolution that if a pair of clothing or shoes only "kind of" works for me, it's not a "good deal" no matter the price. I've also invested in some more long-term &#38; high-quality pieces which retailed for prices that would have made me gasp two years ago, but since I still wait for a "good deal" on these more expensive pieces AND I buy less overall, I've been spending about the same amount overall, one piece at a time. I can think of two "splurge" pieces in the past year that I paid full retail price for.</p> <p>For the time being, my wardrobe is pretty much complete and I'm working on weeding out older items that don't look good, but that I've been holding on to. I think I've idenitified any major "holes" and filled them with pieces that work, so my goal now is to only spend money on absolute essentials (a bridesmaid's dress that I've already paid half the deposit for, possibly a pair of shoes for the wedding depending on what the bride/fellow bridesmaids decide, possibly new ski pants and sports bra, possibly a new swimsuit if I can find a good deal, and a colorful belt if I can find an inexpensive one that I like on my body.) </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/whats-your-monthly-clothing-budget-or-#post-54222 Fri, 13 Mar 2009 13:50:16 +0000 shiny 54222@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I got really curious and did some web surfing yesterday. I did find a link that said the average household spends between 2.5% and 4.9% on clothing each year. (And spends closer to 13% on transportation - wow!). </p> <p>And then I was watching Wife Swap and there was a wife on there who said she spends $4000 a week for clothing!!! Her husband is a millionaire. But can you imagine.... ??? Wow. Considering WNTW gives you $5000 for an entire wardrobe makeover, that is something to boggle over, huh?</p> <p>The general advice was to use this "average" as a guideline only - that it's tough to compare to others, because everyone's circumstances are different. The only thing you might be able to deduce is that at a bare minimum you would need 2.5% to replenish necessities like underwear, shoes, etc. </p> <p>The best way to figure out what's right for your circumstance is to first budget everything else - especially savings. Do you have 6-9 months savings should you lose your job right now? That should be priority number one. Do you have any debt? Paying it off should be priority too. </p> <p>If you have no debt and you have a decent amount of savings, then the question becomes - is there anything else you would want to spend your discretionary money on? </p> <p>Do you want to save for any big-ticket items, such as a house, new furniture, renovation, going back to college, a trip around the world, etc, etc... ?</p> <p>And/or would you get more daily pleasure spending your money on a hobby, entertainment, eating out more often, buying more books or music, driving a newer car, etc?</p> <p>In other words, is your clothing spending sacrificing something else you could be spending on instead? </p> <p>Everyone's answer is going to be different. I long ago realized that it gives me much more pleasure to have a nice wardrobe and go on frequent trips, versus driving a nicer car or having newer furniture. Those things just don't really interest me. So that is where my discretionary budget goes - to the things that do interest me. </p> <p>Of course, if you are married this has to be a negotiation with your spouse, too. Our priorities are eating out, travel, entertainment, clothes for me, gardening supplies for DH. These are the line items in our discretionary budget. </p> <p>Now, if you are finding you spend but only wear 20%, you need to ask why that is. Is it because you have no plan so you spend on the wrong items? If so, you may do the exact same thing no matter what your budget. Or is shopping and buying clothes where you get the pleasure, not actually wearing what you buy? </p> <p>You could simply take an assessment of what you actually spent all last year, total it, then arbitrarily decide to see if you can live on half of that amount this year? </p> <p>Finally, I will pass along my dad's advice. He always recommended that the best budgets are based on actuals. He thinks people are very consistent over time. If you have years worth of data, you can test this out. You will probably discover that no matter what your income you were consistent with the percentage you spent on clothes, year after year. Trying to reduce this amount substantially, may be impossible (unless of course you get laid off and simply have no choice).</p> <p>Insert whatever gives you pleasure in place of "clothes" above and his principle applies.... for example, my dad's always had a passion for cars, ever since he was a teen and worked as a mechanic in a gas station. It may seem frivilous, but his life would be bleak and pleasureless without a cool car or two to tinker around with. Cars for him are not merely about transportation - they are his passion. No matter how little income he had or how much, he consistently spent a percentage of his budget to enjoy that passion. </p> <p>Hope that helps! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/whats-your-monthly-clothing-budget-or-#post-54192 Fri, 13 Mar 2009 04:42:09 +0000 marianne 54192@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>JG, you might want to do an anonymous poll - I can't think off the top of my head what site you could use for that, but you'll probably get more responses. Just a thought. :)<br /> I spend a very small percentage, and I have a limit in my head every month. I put everything on one card, so I know what the balance is. It varies month to month a little but allows me to keep track. I usually try to make items from my list a priority. Oh, and my wardrobe is still in state of reconstruction after having kids, but it's pretty small. HTH. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/whats-your-monthly-clothing-budget-or-#post-54178 Fri, 13 Mar 2009 02:33:11 +0000 JewelryGirl 54178@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>kh - actually that is helpful. I think it's something I'm learning after a lot of mistakes in the past. I just need some key pieces right now that I put off buying &#38; hate to shop for. Those are what I need to focus on instead of just splurging x amount. I'm trying to do that &#38; just keep things in perspective. I know how much I enjoy to shop so trying to be realistic with myself. It's very interesting for me to note what pieces I actually wear consistently in my wardrobe. I have a lot of clothes already; however, it's the 80/20 rule. I likely wear 20% of my clothes 80% of the time if that makes sense. So, I'm trying to get down to a 20% wardrobe but have it be a smart one that works so I only have 20% of my current volume of wardrobe items but wear them 80% of the time...if that's possible? Thanks for sharing! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/whats-your-monthly-clothing-budget-or-#post-54171 Fri, 13 Mar 2009 02:12:43 +0000 kh 54171@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>My budget is "the less the better"</p> <p>Not helpful to you I know. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/whats-your-monthly-clothing-budget-or-#post-54165 Fri, 13 Mar 2009 01:41:57 +0000 JewelryGirl 54165@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>Interesting Shiny, thanks for sharing! Oh my gosh, I hadn't thought about it in relation to auto expenses myself either....seems odd as our auto is less as well. We're doing the Financial Peace University starting next month so I was trying to get my head around some things before going into it. Curious if I can live on spending less on jewelry/accessories but more on clothes. I think it would help me to focus &#38; wear what I have for jewelry but it's almost an addiction for me so we'll have to see how that whole thing plays out...Definitely don't need but want. I need to get my wardrobe in balance with my accessories now I think! </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/whats-your-monthly-clothing-budget-or-#post-54136 Thu, 12 Mar 2009 23:14:22 +0000 shiny 54136@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I hesitate to be the first to answer this question, because I always wonder if I spend too much compared to others! But here goes..... </p> <p>Yes, I have a set budget, and it's about 3%. But I've calculated that based on GROSS instead net, because that's the method my financial planner taught me. </p> <p>Right now I'm in good shape and don't really need clothes - I just want them. ;-)</p> <p>Last year when I did my wardrobe makeover (after weight loss) my budget was closer to 8-10%. I'm guessing that is high (?), but we were in good shape financially with a decent emergency fund (for the times -now I want to increase it more); weren't worried about losing our jobs; and simply had no other big-ticket items we wanted to spend my last raise on. Also, since we got both kids finally off braces and to an age where they aren't growing out of their clothes every month, I figured I could justify spending on myself for a change. </p> <p>This year's budget is based on the assumption I will get no bonus, so that 3% is actually less than 2% of what I grossed last year. I thought it would be tough to back down like that (to what is essentially 1/3 of what I spent last year), but it's going okay. </p> <p>To keep me mindful, I have a simple spreadsheet set up and I record every receipt, keeping a running tally. It's not a "use it or lose it" method - for example I spent $0 in January but made up for it in February and so far this month. My budget is an annual, not a monthly, one. </p> <p>For what it's worth, my DH says I might as well spend money to buy clothes.... because it is a tangible good, something I can wear and that will keep me warm if the economy gets worse.... so just as good an investment as anything else. He's such an enabler... :-)</p> <p>Since you had me running to my spreadsheet to calculate the percent, I just realized we spend less than 1% on the auto category... maintenance, gas, insurance and tolls. Interesting!<br /> Of course that will all change when the teens start driving soon. Sigh. </p> https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/topic/whats-your-monthly-clothing-budget-or-#post-54125 Thu, 12 Mar 2009 21:48:57 +0000 JewelryGirl 54125@https://youlookfab.com/welookfab/ <p>I'm trying to decide what this should be for myself so curious what everyone else does. Keeping in mind the following; </p> <p>~ Clothing Budget ($Dollar Amt or % of take home income)<br /> ~ Current State of Wardrobe (Only needs updates/occassional pieces; or, Dire need to update many items)<br /> ~ Do you stick to this monthly?<br /> ~ Don't have a set budget? </p> <p>Appreciate any thoughts you want to share. </p> <p>Thanks a bunch! </p>