How much do you spend on clothes?

[bobdog]

Have just looked at the credit card bills for 2010 and even though I tell myself I send a lot back it appears I have spent over a grand and yet my wardrobe is n't bursting.

In real life it would never occur to me to ask, just say you look lovely in your new coat/hat/flip flops but quietly, please how much have you really spent so far this year? and do you normally keep track of it?

PP I do wear everything. As I said I tend to buy things that I really like and that are good quality.

Earlier in the year I spent £150 approx on new jeans. They fit really well and I will get a lot of wear out of them.

A decent winter coat and boots at the begining of the year cost around £500.

I also bought a leather jacket from Ted Baker which I think was £300.

Add to that a couple of tops and cardis from Ted Baker a couple of going out dresses from Reiss and a couple of bikinis and pairs of flip flops for my summer holiday I am easily up to £300 per month and the wardrobe is certainly not bursting.

I will probably end up spending a bit more in the next few mpnths as I am pregnant and although OK for clothes will be splashing out on some nice maternity?nursing lingerie.

~£280 in last 20 months, or £14/month.

For DC I come up with an estimate of maybe ~£25/month each.

Jumble sales are amazing places to get clothes cheap.

I humbly submit that it should be quite possible to get a "decent" winter coat for a fair whack less than £500. Doesn't have to be a slaveshop product, either.

I dislike spending money unnecessarily... it feels profligate, especially since I already have a wardrobe bursting with clothes. Would admittedly have to spend more if I went out to work. Mind, I can think of far more silly things to spend money on than clothes, I am sometimes guilty there too :).

It's funny because whenever I am dithering over buying something for me DH ALWAYS tells me to just go ahead, he hears so many stories on how much his work colleagues' girlfriends spend on their clothes/makeup/shoes/appearance.

Does sometimes make me feel like not quite a "real woman" to have no love of shopping for appearance things.

Oh sorry, I just clocked that you said boots+coat for £500... still, I'd have to have somebody mighty important to impress before I could imagine spending more than £200 on that combo.

I don't think you spend lots on clothes to impress important people though ragged. I expect she buys them because she likes them and can afford to.

NancyDrew can spend her money how she likes, it's just the way she phrased that, she made it sound like it was a completely ordinary amount to spend on those items!! :)

My shoes and bras don't generally last that long, Riven -- don't you find that the bras lose support after a couple of years, and shoes often lose their soles (am trying to remember if you have a disability that hinders walking, maybe?)?

I am trying to pare down what clothes I have without just giving them all away.

ragged I don't buy my clothes to impress anyone, lthough i will admit to being flattered if someone comments on me looking nice

I suppose for me it is a totally normal amount to spend on those things - Not so cheap I know it wont last or I feel guilty about where it might have been made and at what cost but not so expensive that it feels inappropriate.

I'm still buying off the high street at those prices, although maybe the "higher end".

I don't spend anywhere near as much as I'd like. I've bought very little this year so can pretty much tot it up in my head:

H&M haul for holiday £100
Sandals £35
Asos t shirt £15
Oasis dress £45
Long Tall Sally dress £45
Wedges £40
"spree" in TK Maxx £100
couple of things from Sainsburys £30
Sunglasses £30 (2 pairs)

£440 to date

unfortunately won't be spending much more this year although am hoping to get nice pair of winter boots and possibly a new dress and shoes for my birthday so maybe another £300 or thereabouts. Oh but I do need a couple of new bras and possibly some new jeans and some thick tights.

So lets call it a nice round £1000 for the year. I suppose to some that would be a huge amount of money but to others not so. I would love to spend more, wouldn't we all? I think, given my circumstances and our income, it's an ok amount.

It really comes down to your disposable income doesn't it?
We have a big mortgage and a lot of outgoings. Once my adult children are financially independent, then things will change. We have a good income, but for the past 6 years we have been supporting my son and daughter at uni, as they did a 3yr and 4yr masters degree courses. Currently, we are paying around £500 a month fo my DD for her rent and living expenses, and did the same for our son for 4 years. I keep joking that once she is working I can have a new Mulberry handbag every month!

We are doing without a lot ourselves, and clothes is one thing I have reined back on.

When they were younger I actually spent more, but I still think I'd rather just have 6 nice tops, trousers and skirts or dresses than loads which I don't wear.

As for bras etc, I tend to buy M&S as they fit well for me and never spend more than say 4-5 x £15-£20 a year tops.

Generally I'm quite thrifty, I like to ebay! However I have a weakness for lovely lingerie and I've spent lots whilst pregnant so it probably averages out to £100 pcm

I have a big splurge in the Jan sales where I pick up major items like coats and boots that I have had my eye on. It probably averages out to £100 - £150 pm. My LK Bennett winter coat was half price as were my Duo boots! Similarly, I've picked up Orla Kiely handbags in the summer/winter sales for the last 2 seasons. I'm obviously not that frugal but I've learnt to wait for items to be discounted. I'm too tight to buy them full price at the start of the season and if they're not reduced - I can usually live without them.

If DH allows me to get away with it then I spend around £300 per season (i.e Spring/Summer and Autumn/Winter) with a few pieces bought in between for nights out etc.

However every season we have to have an argument over it. Even this season when I had just one pair of jeans that were still wearable and they had a hole in . I always win though

He manages all the bills and so has final say on what it is spent that is not necessary (or he likes to think he has final say ) because he knows where we stand with regards to how we are managing our payments on things. Much of what we buy is on credit or buy now pay later.

I've probably been spending about 250gbp per month, partly because I've just finished y4 of pregnancy/breastfeeding but also because I've finally at about my ideal weight and none of my pre-pregnancy clothes fit so new jeans/tops/bras/undies/ work wardrobe soon as will be back pt from october etc etc

We have a family clothes budget of £2400 a year, that's me, dh and teenage dd, covers underwear, shoes, sports gear, school uniform, 2 decent suits and some shirts for dh's work. I work p/t and can wear reasonably casual, and Debenhams is probably the most expensive place we shop. dd is not at all label-conscious and buys at Matalan, Peacocks etc though she did get a lovely TK Max prom dress for £40, that was a big spend for her.