Money is a touchy but vastly important topic. But for some reason, most people don’t really want to talk about or think about. 86% of Australians don’t know their monthly expenses (MoneyMag.com, 2018) and household debt has more than doubled since 2004 (ABC.com, 2017). Certainly, an unhealthy relationship with money can lead us into dangerous territory. Shopping is an easy place to get into hot water. This is why setting a clothing budget can be so valuable. Watch the video version below or continue reading if you prefer the blog version.
Clothing budgets are not just for the shopaholics among us either. They are also to allow those who are frugal to a fault and don’t want to spend money on clothing, to purchase what they need. In setting a clothing budget we are putting fashion and style in its place. As well as keeping our focus set on the right things, clothing budgets have other benefits.
Clothing Budgets Reduce Stress.
When you commit yourself in advance to a realistic amount you can afford within your budget, you no longer have to worry about any purchase. The fear or apprehension you previously felt when buying clothes goes away. The experience becomes stress-free.
Clothing Budgets Relieve Guilt.
All that buyer’s guilt goes away. If you normally felt remorseful after purchases, or experience mom guilt when you spend money on yourself, having a budget will help relieve that uncomfortable feeling.
Clothing Budgets Create Family Peace.
If you’re married or sharing your finances with someone, having a set budget can be a great way to bring peace to your home. You don’t need to discuss purchases with your spouse or partner. You don’t need to hide your shopping bags. If it’s in the budget that you mutually agreed upon then it’s fair game.
Clothing Budgets Help With Purchasing Decisions.
When you have a clothing budget, it can be helpful to imagine purchases as slices of a pie. How many slices is this purchase going to take? If it’s half my pie for the month, then it may not be worth it, even if it’s on sale. A huge part of loving your personal style is being a smart shopper. Having a budget can greatly help in this area.
So, what do you think about setting a clothing budget? If you are committed to setting yourself a clothing budget now, strap in as I tell you what I imagine you want to know next… how to set your clothing budget. So what might that look like? A helpful rule of thumb is that your clothing budget should be between 2-7% of your monthly income. If you have a partner, you’ll want to sit down and have a chat about the exact figure.
Decide right at the beginning what your budget includes so you know where you stand. Does it include underwear, socks, PJs and active-wear? Does it include upkeep of clothing like dry cleaning or alterations? If you are buying your clothing online does it include shipping charges? Does it include everyone in the household or is it just for you? I personally like to have a separate budget for each person in the household. But it’s entirely up to you what you want to bundle into it.
Once you’ve taken all that into consideration, it might be clearer as to whether you need closer to 2% or up to 7%. If you are starting from scratch and don’t have many items in your wardrobe that are wearable, you might need to decide on a higher percentage. Likewise, you’ll want more money to work with if fashion is your main hobby. Whereas it might be closer to 2% if you have a lot of clothes already or are trying to fit a lot more into your budget in general. If you are a member of a gym and play social sports as well as have your own craft room at home, you might have less financial pie to go around.
If you go to my website, I provide a free budget worksheet for you to download for the year. This is what it looks like. Start with the month we are currently in and write the budget amount you decide on in the “Budget” section. Write down what you buy every month and how much it costs. You will start to see what you’ve been buying. You can evaluate if you really do need more of that one item that everyone seems to have, that they are obsessed with. Shoes anyone? No, maybe you’re more of a handbag person?
Add up the total each month, taking care to not spend more than your budget amount. Any money that’s left, rolls over to next month. This is important because if it expired at the end of the month you would be more likely to spend on items you don’t really need just because you want to use up your budget before it resets. Allowing your budget to roll over also means you can save up for more expensive items.
Helpful Budgeting Apps
If pen and paper aren’t really your thing, there are many apps out there that can help you with your budgeting. PocketBook, which integrates with many of the main banks, so you don’t have to input all your purchases and Good Budget are both great free choices.
And though not a budgeting app, I highly recommend Stylebook. You input all your clothing purchases into your virtual closet so that you never lose an item to the back of your wardrobe again. Not only does it help you put together outfits, but you can also log what you wear each day onto a calendar. It is a great way to keep track of what you’ve been buying and whether the pieces you’ve bought are good investments. Within the style stats, it can tell you your most and least worn pieces, the cost per wear for each item, your item count and your total closet value. All useful information to keep in mind when shopping for new clothing.
I’ve been using Stylebook for years now and I love it! If you’re interested my total closet value is currently $8,497.77 with 827 items. (This includes literally everything, clothes obviously. Shoes, bags, accessories and jewellery) Most of my best cost per wear items are cheap earrings. But a basic black tee and my white turtle-neck have gotten down to just 2 cents per wear.
Whereas my worst cost per wear is mostly costume pieces and special event dresses which is to be expected. The colour I have the most of in my wardrobe is black with 252 pieces and orange is my least favourite colour apparently with only 18 pieces. If you want to know your stats like this then download the Stylebook app and try it out for yourself.
That’s pretty much all I have to say about budgeting for now at least. Are you left with any questions? Let me know in the comments below and I’ll do my best to answer them for you. If you have any ideas, you’d like me to cover in the future comment them below as well. Good luck with your budgets and bye for now!
