We all need clothing, which is unless you live on a nudist colony or an equivalent.
It's a necessity as much as water or food, however a little too much of something can really be a bad thing.
Too much water = hyponatremia, too much food = obesity and too much clothing = debt (eventually).
Thus we must take things in the right portions, not too little but not too much.
The average American household spent around 900$ on clothing alone in 2004.
With women contributing more then 2/3rds of that amount.
The biggest spenders were people aged 45-54, with annual expenditures on clothing at almost 1500$ a year.
1000$/Yr is a lot of money considering every year you buy more and more.
10 years is 10000$, 30 years 30000$ and so forth.
We have to face it, we spend a lot of money on clothing.
So how can we reduce the amount of money we spend on clothing? We can't utterly banish it from out lives (speaking realistically here, nudity is not the way to go).
If we can't banish it then we must learn methods of dealing with it.
So lets start.
Have you ever bought second hand (SH)? If you haven't you must seriously consider it.
There are now large stores that are put up for the sole purpose of selling only second hand goods.
It's not a matter of walking into the Salvation Army and picking out of a box but you can go shopping now for second hand goods.
Many people seem to have a pride issue with second hand, "What will others think of me? What if someone I know sees me? It's dirty.
" Et cetera.
If people start to think about you differently because your seen shopping in a SH store then who cares.
You do not risk tarnishing your personal image any more because buying SH is becoming more and more politically correct and it will continue to do so.
The clothing isn't dirty as well.
You will find some shirts with stains and when you do, don't buy them.
Instead find something you like and that doesn't look like it was made in the 1950's and passed form generation to generation and get it.
The clothing is all treated and cleaned before it is stocked and actually a lot of clothing is not put in stock because of its condition so even SH stores have standards.
If your gonna buy clothing you might get a deal on them.
This does not mean listening to the advertiser.
For instance I've been looking at certain jacket from Sportcheck that was on "sale" about a week ago.
Well the sale ended yesterday and now it's being sold for 20$ less then the "sale" price.
Fortunately I was forewarned of the store doing something like that so it was not purchased.
Best thing to do, is buy off-season or after a large sale.
For instance, buy Christmas presents many months before the Christmas season.
Note: This does not apply to all things but it does for most.
Chocolate is cheaper after valentines and Easter.
Winter jackets are on sale after winter, summer jackets are practically nothing in the winter.
To save the most money wouldn't it be nice to just buy one winter jacket and use it all your life? We know that's not the case but some items do last a long time, Birkenstocks supposedly last up to 20 years.
A good piece of clothing should last you years not months, unless you try using some sandals for mountain climbing (although mine have lasted for quite a while).
Buy in quality, not quantity.
Good clothing should last for a good amount of time.
If there is a deal going on, say 2 jackets for the price of one, and you are in need of a jacket you might as well get to with the deal eh? Don't pass on deals like this.
If your going to buy a quality jacket at 300$ and you can get another one for free, your best bet would be to get it as well.
It's a free jacket, the only case where I would not recommend this is when there is a deal on some clothing and you don't need it.
You don't save money by buying something with a deal.
Many people are afraid of debt and as such they avoid using credit cards for purchases.
There are many upsides to using credit cards but I wont go through them in detail in this article however one upside is that many of the cards do offer incentives or points for using them.
Take for example Airmiles.
Not only is the card free but used often enough can give you air tickets and many other household goodies.
Airmiles is now in conjunction with American express.
CIBC shopper's optimum credit cards give you optimum points on every single purchase.
Optimum points can easily and quickly be exchanged for cash rebates at any Shoppers Drug store (for the women, they carry a lot of perfume).
Many people under estimate the value garage sales have with finding suitable clothing.
Many garage sales have hoards of clothing available to you, and you can even ask the people selling the items whether or not someone had died in these clothes.
Although you're best bet would be to clean and treat them before putting them on.
An important note, you do not need designer clothing.
Many designer labels are now being made in China, like it or not.
The only thing (for the most part) between a designer article and a generic article of clothing is the designer's name.
If you are look for a Kashmir sweater then of course you might as well look in for a good one and a reputable company but that's not always the case and you should know it's the name that brings the price up, not the quality (again for the most part).
Finally, spoil yourself ...
just not all the time.
Don't feel guilty for blowing a couple hundred dollars on a nice suit once and a while, it's fun and it makes you feel good about yourself when you buy high quality expensive clothing.
Everyone likes that feeling just don't go overboard.
Hopefully this helps some of you with your shopping expenses.
Please tell you friends about the article and help them as well.