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[quote=Anonymous]We spend 5-6K on clothing for two adults. 190K HHI, so roughly 2.5-3% of our annual income. It's typically one of our top five spending categories annually (after our mortgage, student loans, and groceries). When we first started tracking our money I was a bit disgusted with how much was spent on clothing and tried to cut back, and set an annual budget of $3500 for both of us. We wanted to cut back primarily on principal, since it wasn't a strain financially - we were still meeting all of our established financial goals. All I learned from limiting the clothing budget was that I really like clothing and am willing to spend money on it. Artificially limiting my spending on clothing felt stupid since there wasn't a real financial reason to do so for us. There are other things I don't really care about that were better places to cut (we average less than $100/month on restaurants and alcohol). I don't buy a lot of clothing, but each individual item tends to be pricey. For example, in the past year I've readily spent $400-$500 each on good quality boots, a Scottish cashmere sweater and a new coat. My husband, who probably spends $1000-1500 each year takes a similar approach. So his share could literally be a pair of $650 shoes, a $500 suit, and then just replacing staples. With staples, we find what we like and buy it in bulk, which can also add up. We'll buy 14 pairs (i.e. two weeks worth) of the same Smartwool sock. Since we buy them all at the same time, they generally need to be replaced as a group too.

Even though I know we buy way more expensive things than average, and we do this weird bulk purchasing thing, I really think that people here are grossly underestimating how much they spend on clothing (or they don't track their money well enough that their answers could be considered anything more than a wild ass guess). Even if all they did was replace essential staples that wear out - going to Target and buying a six pack of basic Jockey undershirts will set you back $50. So are you really only spending a couple hundred bucks each year? Really? Well, I believe the people who openly acknowledge that they live in holey and ragged clothing that is well past the replacement date. And I'd believe it from people who only shop at thrift stores and have small wardrobes. And I definitely believe it from folks who legit don't have the money to spend more on clothing. But for everyone else - I suspect they just don't track their spending well enough. [/quote]

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