this is a HUGE weak spot of mine and major goal for 2015!!! (I joined the "no new clothing" thread :))
according to Mint, in both 2013 and 2014 I spent just over $1500/year on clothing, or ~$127/month. yikes!!! (I don't even want to talk about 2012... I went from grad school to a real job, aka a ~5x pay increase and a need for business casual clothing... it wasn't pretty :)). in 2014 there were 36 different transactions!! to be fair, most of the time I buy stuff online and sometimes it doesn't fit and I return it, so some of those transactions are returns. still, even 25-30 transactions is pretty ridiculous! looking back, there are only a few things that stand out as memorable and probably truly useful:
-- three bras from Victoria's Secret (I finally sucked it up and admitted I'm an AA and not an A... so much better)
-- a couple running items (tights and a nice long-sleeved shirt... plus other shit that was less memorable/not needed)
-- replaced my two main pair of work shoes, brown and black flats... puppy ate the brown ones, plus they were a really shitty cheap pair that was worn out and probably going to be replaced soon anyway. the black pair were only ~2.5 yrs old but the leather on the heel had cracked and they were looking crappy (I already had them resoled once, I love getting shoes repaired, but this didn't seem repairable...?) the replacement black pair were my most expensive single purchase of the year... with tax and shipping they were $175. I KNOW. they are definitely the most comfortable pair I've ever owned, right out of the box, but I REALLY hope they last many years!!!
-- black sandals to replace another pair that I wear all the time that the puppy ate
-- a $30 black short sleeved dress from Old Navy that was seriously one of the best purchases I've ever made, especially in terms of bang for the buck! I wear it all the time and in all kinds of circumstances (with a light scarf in the summer, with tights and a cardigan in the winter, to work, on the weekend because it's stretchy and super comfortable, to a fancy birthday dinner, to see Book of Mormon yesterday... no seriously I think everyone might need one of these, LOL)
everything else was basically unnecessary. I categorize running shoes separately in Mint so yeah, those aren't even included in the $1500. what. the. fuck!
I am so nervous but excited for the "no new clothes/shoes" challenge... nervous because it's obviously a huge change but excited because I KNOW I can do it and I already have so many clothes and shoes I love and that work well for me.
I have a growing pile of items that need to be mended but I've been a HUGE procrastinator on that... I really just need to take an hour and dig out the supplies and sit down and do it. I don't have a sewing machine but they're mostly little repairs. I have two skirts I might take to a pro because I'm not sure I can do a decent-looking job and they're for work :/
I'm also working on minimalism in the closet, which is helping. I got rid of a bunch of stuff last year without feeling the need to replace it, and I'm much happier with less.
me too! well, not really minimalism at all, but much less clothing than I had. I've always been pretty good about donating stuff I don't wear, but I've improved on that and now I'm really working on not buying stuff to replace it. I have one small-ish 5-drawer chest, three big plastic stacking drawers in my closet, probably 4-5' of hanging/rod space in my closet, a bin for sweatshirts, an under-bed box for tshirts, and an under-bed box for out-of-season stuff. holy shit, now that I spell it out, that sounds like a lot! :) but it's an improvement... at least, being able to fit everything IN to those spaces without them being bursting at the seams/hard to find stuff so I can actually wear it.
Thinking about writing a blog article about this, as I feel that "clothing" doesn't really deserve it's own budget category, and instead is part of "spending"
I see what you mean, in that at least some of it may be random "fun" spending... but as others have pointed out, not all of it is... plus, coming from someone who clearly has an issue with this, if you're trying to get your spending in check it helps to see what your weaknesses are (and just how bad they are!). plus even when I'm at my own personal "most Mustachian" (totally happy with your spending/priorities), I know I'll want to at least have a small clothing budget even if I don't NEEEEEEED anything... just the way my brain works. also, I guess I've always been a "splitter," not a "lumper" :)