Income/Clothes Spend ratio?

[Britalian]

What percentage of your monthly salary do you spend on clothes, footwear, and accessories?

Me first: 15-20%

 

[kitonbrioni]

No one else, including me, is going to touch this one.

 

[kali77]

Originally Posted by kitonbrioni

No one else, including me, is going to touch this one.

Ditto. I don't even like to think about thinking about it

 

[Spencer Young]

Don't they say housing should be around 30% of your monthly income? 20% seems a bit much, but if you can make ends meet, more power to you.

I'd guess mine is something between 3-5%.

 

[Steve B.]

Last I saw (1999-2000) in some of the research I did for my book was 5.9% of gross for the national average...So 10% for people like us is entirely reasonable as long as you're paying your other bills and not running up CC debt.

I'd say if you're living at home 15-20% would be OK.

And you may choose to drive a shitty car or live in a smaller house to feed your habit. I'm pretty sure a few have done that here as well.

I still think we should start our own 12 step group.

 

[pejsek]

I try to keep it to walking aroiund money in my pocket. Of course, I'll pull out the debit card for some $15-$20 Lobbs or EGs or, say, a $17 Savile Row suit.
I wouldn't enjoy clothes half as much as I do if it were costing me real money or cutting into my ability to put money to work. I absolutely hate being in debt or living on the edge. Just a personal thing, though.
How do we account for time spent chasing bargains?

 

[JeffC]

That was my question, pejsek. With all the goods you find, how much time per week do you spend hunting bargains at thrift stores?

 

[pejsek]

JeffC, On average, I probably spend 5-6 hours per week thrifting--sometimes more, sometimes less. Not that I'm claiming it's a healthy and trivial pursuit, however, since it probably took me 10 years or so of more intensive thrifting to be as efficient as I am today. As with any true passion, I am totally in thrall to the process. I like to think of it as Urban Anthropology (though those closest to me may not agree with such a self-serving asessment). Still, I feel much better spending the time than the money. Time is amorphous (even considering ill-fated attempts to assign value to opportunity costs); money much less so.

 

[LabelKing]

Europeans apparently spend a higher percentage of their income on clothing.

 

[kolecho]

I'd say that I have been spending quite a bit in the last 18 months rebuilding my wardrobe etc after discovering SF. Once the staples are in place, new suits, shoes, ties, shirts, trousers, jackets etc, expenses should stabilize, I hope

 

[stach]

Originally Posted by Steve B.

I'd say if you're living at home 15-20% would be OK.
Yes, if you're living out of a shopping cart you might want to keep the excess baggage to a minimum!

 

[NewYorkBuck]

What percentage of your monthly salary do you spend on clothes, footwear, and accessories?

Pre or post tax? Huge difference. I would estimate my pretax %age at about 5%.

Don't they say housing should be around 30% of your monthly income?

The convention for prime has been 28%. But the housing bubble has thrown these WAY WAY out of proportion.

By far my two largest "expenses" are taxes and savings. Together they represent about 80% of my budget.

 

[Yudi]

Originally Posted by kolecho

I'd say that I have been spending quite a bit in the last 18 months rebuilding my wardrobe etc after discovering SF. Once the staples are in place, new suits, shoes, ties, shirts, trousers, jackets etc, expenses should stabilize, I hope

Yeah, this is pretty much true for me as well. I have a very sneaky feeling though that it won't work according to plan. As with all possessions, the more you have the more you want. I can't see it slowing down even after I have all the basics finally covered.

 

[Holdfast]

Some months more, some months less. Depends on how big the credit card bill is (it gets paid off in full automatically at the end of the month). I also have all my various savings plans taking money automatically out of my bank account. If I notice the total in the account falling significantly I cut back the next month. Otherwise I keep spending.

I'm not telling you a percentage though!

 

[Sartorially Challenged]

... expenses should stabilize

Spoken (actually written) like a true addict.