When it comes to spending on clothes, people often tend to cross limits. Women especially try to break the bank. They mostly are impulsive buyers of clothing, who often have this post-purchase regrets that certain outfit they purchased so thoughtlessly was one which they didn’t want all that badly.
The fundamental question that keeps on haunting us is; Doe’s our wardrobe needs splurging or can it be taken care of in a budget as well? Being in a high-end fashion business for almost 20 years, I know for sure that extravagant shopping for clothes is not a wise thing to do. If you have enough grey matter in your skill, you should buy intelligently, leaving aside the myth that, high cost and quality are inevitably linked with each other. Let’s explore this intriguing question in a bit of detail. Here go my observations and suggestions:
Buy only when you need
Do you believe in the common perception that high-cost clothes offer superior quality? If you also think this way, know one thing for sure that spending more bucks does not guarantee quality. So my best advice will be that you should never be tempted by attire no matter how alluring it is. Take a pause and simply ask yourself do I really need it? If your wardrobe is already packed with the type of that specific outfit and you either don’t wear them or use once in many months, what is the use of adding one more item?
According to fashion designer Michael Kors, 70% of a wardrobe is packed with stuff which one wears on a daily basis. Following this, ascertain your current needs of basic pieces like jeans, pants, tops, and skirts, etc. Keep quality in mind and check out online discounts and coupon offers, for saving a substantial amount of bucks.
Know your spending limits
The smart buying is to shop within your monthly budget. If you haven’t made one, what are you still waiting for? Most financial planners suggest that one should spend 5% of his or her take-home (after tax) income on clothing. For an average American, this is good because of other financial obligations.
Just because certain clothing items are cheap does not mean that you shop recklessly and accumulate heaps of outfits in your wardrobe. So avoid shopping spree and buy less but buy better. Don’t overspend at the cost of other genuine needs of your loved ones.
Second-hand clothes (especially if they have their tags) feature a very good option for budget conscious people. You can find many, which were worn so less that they almost look new.
Consider renting attire for formal occasions
On some formal occasions, you make a mistake of buying an expensive dress that you are not going to wears again after that particular event. Be it a fundraising gala or a black-tie-wedding, it is likely to break the bank. Taking a dress on rent is a much better option in such cases.
The most bang for your buck
Though it is nice to cut your clothing cost that does not subscribe to buying cheap always. The whole cloth shopping exercise must give you the maximum benefits proportional to cost. In its simplest connotation, this means that your cost-per-wear is good. To explain this, suppose you buy a pair of jeans at $125 and wear it 3 times a week for 2 years (wearable 312 times). Its cost per wear comes to 40 cent which is pretty good. On the other hand, if you buy a pair of jeans which cost $ 40 and lasts for 20 times usage will give you $2 as its cost per wear. This calculation shows one thing, that cheap buying is not always beneficial.
How to pay less?
The cloth shopping addiction syndrome is so common in the female fraternity. It is natural and is almost universally accepted fact. But the problem is that it is inimical to a bank account. What is the treatment then? There are measures that can reduce your clothing bill. Here are some of my favorites:
Don’t buy at full price: How to pay less than the shelf price is a tricky knot to untangle. One way is to keep browsing on the net and identify items you need to purchase. You should save them to your shopping list. Keep a vigilant eye on these items for any discount or coupon offer. Make a deal when you get such an opportunity.
Get rid of impulse buying: Don’t be carried away with dazzling looks of attire. Remember, impulse buying beats the very purpose of your budget and sometimes eats up all your savings.
Shop from thrift stores
Thrift stores sell clothing items that are used carefully at amazingly discounted prices. These are popping up on the streets and online. These are not small stores. In fact, some of them are really big. For instance, Poshmark presents over 25 million items from 5000 brands. Discount rates are as high as 50%.
On-line coupon and cash back options
Sitting right in your home, you can use your smartphones to find a clothing coupon. There are plenty of them online and offer various deals. Some of the best coupons include J.C.Crew, LLB and Old Navy, etc. You can install a token locating App also on your Android or iPhone.
There are many cashback sites which show a list of their stores that provide cash back. Ebates is one such website that features many stores offering payback up to 8%. So if you avail a *% cash back facility a denim Jean of $ 200 will cost you $ 184, because $16 will be refunded to your account at Ebates.