What percentage of your monthly salary do you spend on clothes, footwear, and accessories? Me first: 15-20%
No one else, including me, is going to touch this one. Ditto. I don't even like to think about thinking about it
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%.
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.
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?
That was my question, pejsek. With all the goods you find, how much time per week do you spend hunting bargains at thrift stores?
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.
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
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!
Pre or post tax? Huge difference. I would estimate my pretax %age at about 5%. 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.
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.
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!