Want to change, but am afraid to spend money.

Hey, I've been lurking here for a few weeks, mainly SW&D, and have learned a lot. I am planning on buying some new clothes for the summer very soon.

I've gathered this isn't a problem a lot of you have, but I've got some weird issues with spending money - more specifically, anything more than $10 at a time. It makes me uncomfortable and leaves me second guessing myself. From looking at similar threads brought up, I'm thinking I should hit up a thrift store/goodwill and buy a little at at time. But I may eventually start looking for more specific things.

I wish I had some nice arguments to convince myself to get past this mental block. Do you have any?

Move slowly you can't hurry love, no you just got to wait.

No need to go out and spend a ton at the beginning because you will make mistakes and your taste will change. I'm exactly the same way as you when it comes to spending money.

If you get good deals for SF approved items on ebay or B&S, you should be able to resell them here at a minimal loss if you decide you don't like them. This is especially true for used items.

What I found about small items are that they build up over time and you get stuck with a lot of low quality small purchases that you don't do much with. What I do now is research stuff very heavily before buying to make sure I'm getting a good quality item that the price commands. That might be the best way to approach buying stuff a step up more expensive than what you have.

I'm a MC guy myself. I hate a most of the stuff in SW&D. I once had a mental block on shoes. I couldn't spend more than a couple hundred. That pretty much limited me to kenneth cole. One day I saw a pair of ferragamo loafers i really loved, and I broke down and bought them for $425+tax. That was the first pair of kinda expensive shoes I had ever bought. I still wear them, though they are now in their last days (they were purchased in 2002) because i abused the hell out of them the last couple of years (worn in winter without rubbers). Anyway, I quickly became a quality freak b/c they were the most comfortable shoes i'd ever owned. I'll be sad when they die. These days i don't eve look at anything that's not Santoni or EG level or above. Anyway, don't spend money you don't have, and don't go buying a whole bunch of new **** at once. You need to figure out what you like and what looks good on you. If you spend all your money at once you will waste it. To this day I wish I could get my money back for the MTM armani suit I purchased.

Thanks, everyone, for your responses.

Originally Posted by nate10184

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If you get good deals for SF approved items on ebay or B&S, you should be able to resell them here at a minimal loss if you decide you don't like them. This is especially true for used items.

Sorry for being dense, but how do I know what's SF approved?

don't be afraid to spend more, as long as you can cover it... at this point you're letting money control you instead of you controlling your money.

Drop some cash on a pair of nice raw denim, and you can pick up a lot at the thrift store-- hopefully you can sew to do your own alterations and save $

I don't believe it is necessary to spend a a lot of money to have a professional wardrobe with accents of personal style. I feel that many of the people who are spending a great deal of money on clothes do it for reasons other than looking professional.

Originally Posted by Joseph K. Bank

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I don't believe it is necessary to spend a a lot of money to have a professional wardrobe with accents of personal style. I feel that many of the people who are spending a great deal of money on clothes do it for reasons other than looking professional.

This is true. +1 on what acidicboy said too. Just because you're on a budget doesn't mean you have to let money control the way you want yourself to look.

I was/am the same way. I would go to a store and buy 10 shirts I didnt really like for 10 apiece (and god help if they were on clearance), but wouldnt dream of spending 100 on something I really did. I wound up with a rediculous closet (I once counted and had enough buttondowns/polos to wear a different shirt to work each day for 6 months without repeats), but only a few items I actually wore. I am trying to wean myself off (graduated from goodwill to tj maxx), but the old patterns are still there. moving in with my GF helped a lot because I had to consolidate so we could both fit, but its still really bad....

Originally Posted by gsgc

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Sorry for being dense, but how do I know what's SF approved?

There's no list out there, just read around. Note which brands are popular here. Those will be much easier to sell. A pair of Crockett and Jones is going to be a lot easier to unload here than Mezlan.

I really enjoy Kenneth Cole and what he has to offer. Great polos and dress shirts are really nice too. One thing I did realize is, when there is a sale there, it is actually a sale. Not some bullshit buy three $80 shirts and get the fourth for free. I hate those sales with a passion.

i'd go to a bunch of different places and try on as much as you can but don't bring any cash with you. if you try on a ton of stuff you'll have a better idea of what you really like.

I'm going through the same thing right now.

I used to be a huge shopper and would buy something on a weekly basis. But my new years resolution was to cut back, and since then I haven't bought a single thing. With summer coming up, I've been planning on getting some new shoes, denim, shorts, etc, but I just don't want to spend the money. After not spending a dime for the past few months, it's hard for me to get back into the swing of things. I think it's all mental though.