Clothing Budget!

[enchantingodin]

No monthly clothing budget. Only clothes that are needed are bought.

Same here. I say around the 500 dollar mark per year.

ETA: That is for a family of 4.

 

[Jenny-momof3]

I average right around $400 to $500 a month. This is for a family of 5... me, dh, dd14, dd10 and ds4.

My dd's are completely different body styles so hand me downs don't work. And they LOVE all the namebrands... as do I. I do shop the sale racks at Hollister and Abercrombie... but sale is still $30-$40 for a sweatshirt. I've gone into Plato's closet a few times and I refuse to spend what they want for USED namebrand clothes. I would rather buy it new and on sale.

When you break it down... it's about $1,000 per person per year. That includes shoes, purses ( I love Coach!), coats, etc.

No one else buys us clothes.... ever! I'm a SAHM so I wear jeans pretty much everyday. And DH wears jeans/khakis and polo shirts to work.

I used to spend A LOT more than I do now!

 

[Kit'smommy]

I spend about $200 a month on me and $100 a month each on DH and DS. In addition to this, I end up with money or giftcards for birthday from my family or DH will buy me a Coach bag, so I probably end up spending closer to $3,000 on me for clothing and accessories. DH and I both have to dress professionally and have high profile jobs where we are expected to look very presentable. We can afford it and I don't feel guily about buying nice clothing for me because my hobbies don't eat up any of our budget.

 

[JandJ]

Y'know I haven't really thought about it, so I pulled up Quicken and this year I've spent $210.87 on clothing just for me (that number includes underwear and shoes). That's about $52/month. I'm not working full-time right now and that makes a difference because I don't have to dress up for a corporate environment 5 days a week. I'm careful how I wash my clothes and if it says dry clean then I only dry clean. I have dress slacks that still look new and they're at least 5 years old. I actually just did a big closet clean-out and donated a lot of out of style or ill fitting clothes but I still have plenty of things to mix and match to wear to work or for casual outfits. My mom always said to invest in a few good pieces, like quality slacks or skirts, and buy cheaper tops and accessories to pair them with, and that's worked for me.

 

[englishteacha]

Hmmm....I don't have a set monthly amount. In August I usually buy a few new things for the upcoming school year for me (I teach). I think I spent around $60 on clothes and shoes this fall. I'd guess we spend abouth $300 a year on both of us. DH likes to get me clothing items sometimes for gifts (which is good because he has a better eye for what looks good on me than I do!), but even then I don't think it goes above the $300 yearly. I've really cut back on my impulse clothing buying. I have a closet full of clothes, and I'm careful how I do my laundry, so my 5 year old work clothes still look good. Most of our clothes come from Walmart, thrift stores (we're in Maine so we sometimes score when LL Bean sends stuff to Goodwill!), and clearance at Penney's and Sears. Oh, and sometimes I order dressy stuff from Chadwicks clearance online. Gotta love getting a dress for $7 shipped!

 

[kwhite1022]

I dont buy anything for myself or hubby, mostly because we have been blessed in past years to inherit entire wardrobes from people who were cleaning out their closets! I also get all my dd (6) clothes from my niece, but that will be changing as they are competely different body shapes and soon wont be able to share. (one has a butt the other doesnt ) My dd 3 gets the best of those, but I do buy just a few nice new things for them for summer. I lucked out and found all my sons summer clothes at goodwill for under $12! If you have a 9 year old boy, you know what a blessing that was! So annually I think were well below $200. I know the day is coming where that will change, and as anti spending as I am, I dont know how I will cope . This past school year my son managed to con my MIL into buying his sketchers as I refused to spend that kind of money....I dont own shoes that expensive! I will say, they lasted all year, so in the future Id be more willing to buy them as they seem worth the investment.

 

[mamalle]

$100 for the family per month generally..

 

[maddiesmom0116]

I usually buy a large lot of clothes each season, so 2 times a year I spend about $2500 each time, then about $400 a month outside of that. This is for my DD5 and myself. I wear suits so I usually buy a suit a month out of the $400. I really like clothes and don't like laundry, so My DD5 always has enough clothes to last at least a month. I spend more than I should because of this.

 

[dizluvah]

It is just DH and I and the last year I have been home (not working) so I don't really need any clothes. I have 6 or 7 trashbags full of clothes to take to Goodwill (all my clothes) and the excess is really shocking to me.

I did buy 2 sweaters for me ($10 each) and a pair of black slacks ($20) at an After Christmas sale from the Avenue (plus size women's store).

We buy work clothes for DH about twice a year. He does need new shoes, his dress shoes are looking ratty. So I plan on buying him brown and black shoes, approx $50 each. He likes one particular brand & style.

It sounds crazy but I would say if I averaged out our yearly clothing purchases it would be about $40/month for the two of us.

 

[BeckyScott]

No set amount, and it's in my "grocery/household" budget.

I'd say $50/month? But I go in spurts. Easter weekend the Sal Army was half-price on their clothes and I spent about $25 there. Last week DH needed new underwear and I bought some socks for myself and then spotted at Wal-Mart jeans that were actually my size on clearance for $3! I admit I didn't really need them but for $3 I just couldn't walk away. The kids get new clothes when they out-grow their old stuff, youngest DS gets hand-me-downs most of the time, and I don't buy clothes going into the new school year "just because" it's a new school year. We do end up buying them new sneakers every fall, but since they start the school year in shorts I don't buy any fall clothes until the weather cools down.

And I very seldom pay full price for anything.

Having said that, DH has a uniform for work so he only needs casual clothes, and neither boy is picky about what they wear.

I think I'm lucky though, because there are plenty of opportunities for me to get nice clothes cheap around here. The Salvation Army gets pretty good stuff, there is a yearly used "career clothes" sale where I work, one of the big organizations does an every-other-year rummage sale that is huge huge huge and has a ton of clothes.

 

[Darcy03231]

I don't have a set amount. I buy what we need, when we need it. I do shop the sale/clearance racks so I know I don't spend a lot. Biggest purchase for me is DS's sneakers. He wears a size 13 and has wide feet. They're tough to find and when I do find them they average around $100/pr.

 

[Chicago526]

DH and I are fortunate. I work from home so I only need a few "nice outfits" for the rare times I need to go to the office. DH wears uniforms to work (provided by the company). No kids (yet) so that's not a concern at this point. So last year we spent only $300 for the two of us, I'd say half that was in shoes. The one thing I won't scrimp on is shoes. I'll wait for a sale, but I want what I want. Besides, I wear them to death! My last pair of Teva sandals lasted 4 summers!

 

[bleufleur]

I budget $50 a month but it rarely gets dipped into, just builds up for when we do need to purchase something. Dh wears a uniform to work and is provided an allowance to replace them as needed. I'm a SAHM so no need for professional clothes. I just replace items for dh and I as needed, mostly underthings. Dd is who I spend the most money on but I shop sales and will pick something up in her current size and the next size up if I find a real bargain.