How could you refrain from shopping?

[camberiu]

2. Exhausting your spending urge at garage sales (Recent examples: Perfect 17" inch Sylvania LCD flat-screen monitor: $23. Like-new down jacket, 50 cents. Cargo pants 50 cents).

That should be illegal!!!

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I am doubtful but encouraged.

Soon to be annoyed and disappointed

 

[SteveR]

Soon to be annoyed and disappointed

Nah,

I have lived with the ultimate shopper and DW is not even in the same ballpark.

 

[Siv]

I'm simply amazed with you guys who can simply dress with T shirt, khakis, spend only $50 for outfit.

Nver balance what I spent but so far this year it could have been 2K. My problem is I tend to think about mom, sisters, 1/3 of what I bought is usually for them. Second problem is I bought 1 and give away 2...my wardrobe stays current and lean. Like it that way.

That said, I'm a good saver (think I am) and a very much believer that life should be simple.

 

[LOL!]

I let others buy me clothes. It gives them pleasure to give me clothes, so that's what I let them do.

But I do not mind shopping for clothes when I need them AND they are on sale. I spend about $500 or less per year on clothes including shoes. My wardrobe consists of blue jeans, khakis, dress shirts, sweaters, shorts, t-shirts, casual shoes, sandals, socks and underwear. I have a blazer that I wear about twice a year and a suit that I wear about once every 2 years.

As for simple clothes, there are only 2 kinds of socks: white and black. There is no possibility of getting a mis-matched pair.

My wardrobe stays current as well. Jeans, dress shirts, khakis never go out of style. My new blazer is exactly the same at the one I bought 20 years ago that was worn out.

I do not need power tools. I have tools and use them, but prefer non-electrical ones. Power tools are too much work.

 

[ESRBob]

Sil;
Trombone Al is onto something: If you really just have a need to go splurge and buy something, do it in a place where you won't get hurt: a thrift store in a church in an upscale neighborhood has given my wife a ton of satisfaction at 1950s prices.

I admit that I'm down to buying a few polo shirts a year (the collars wear out and sometimes I need to look presentable) and a fresh pair of loose-fit khakis (in ER, even though my waistline hasn't expanded, I have no patience for anything that constrains me like my old suit pants used to). I could trim the closet clutter way back -- most of the stuff in there I haven't touched in years... So, buy more? Can't see it.

Even Home Depot is losing its grip on me, (but that could be because of my new Milwaukee 1/2" drill and matching masonry bit set)

 

[Sheryl]

I used to love shopping. It was a great release and satisfaction. But I didn't have a lot of satisfaction in other areas of my life. I now find I have no real interest in shopping about 360 days of the year. About twice a year I go on a binge and buy spring/summer clothes or winter clothes. This spring I went to the Coldwater Creek Outlet store. I had a $100 G.C. I added $175 of my own and came home with : two skirts, two pairs of pants, one pair of capris, one jacket and five tops. I am still working and needing dress-up clothes, this will get me through the summer and fall in good style.

But to address the larger issue, I think if you get more satisfaction from spending than saving, making it to FIRE is going to be harder. A $1,000 bump in my asset spreadsheet makes me much happier than $1,000 worth of purchases ever could.

 

[tikitoast]

I'm glad Siv started this thread. I was thinking of asking something similar, but I confidently expected the answers to be different from the norm because this is a group of early retirees and those who want to be.  To accomplish ER your relationship to shopping would either 1) already be unusual by cultural standards, or 2) be the first thing you'd slate for change.

I can't recall which guru said it but you can either look rich or be rich--most people won't have enough money in their lifetimes to do both.

I'm just beginning to see the error of my ways. Shopping was always a distraction and I knew it was problematic. I could write an essay on the psychological implications. I had a period of buying handbags which was very strange, because I work in radio. I wear jeans and tee shirts almost exclusively, yet I was shopping for "it" bags and designer-inspired pieces that didn't go with my wardrobe at all. I was indulging in a fantasy of a lifestyle that I will never have, and I don't really even want to have it. Kind of a puzzler.

A trick I use on myself:  thinking of the amount of money I've spent on girly bullshit--accessories, makeup, non-essentials--in my lifetime, and imagining how much money it represents and how much interest that amount would have gained over the years had I invested it instead. This is meant to keep me from going shopping. It doesn't always work, but it does make me cry.

 

[ESRBob]

Tikitoast -
Don't beat yourself too badly over this -- it's pretty normal. Figuring this out relatively early on and just becoming aware of it is a huge step. The Millionaire Next Door research definitely backs up what you said, though, about 'looking rich or being rich'.

I've come to define 'rich' now as having much more to do with time and freedom than with money. Maybe a self-serving definition, but there is nothing attractive about the lifestyles of some of the traditionally rich people I know who are slaves to stressful jobs and out-of-whack lives. Real wealth is in the clarity and freedom to live your life on your own terms -- for me that means FIRE blended with healthy relationships, good physical health, plenty of interests and, in honor of the French win over Portugal, why not: joi de vivre!

 

[Nords]

I'm simply amazed with you guys who can simply dress with T shirt, khakis, spend only $50 for outfit.

T-shirt, shorts, & slippers.

Total cost about $8, split between Goodwill & Long's Drugs...

Your ER clothing budget will probably drop by a similar fraction.

 

[kz]

I wasn't born with the 'shopping gene' according to hubby. I'd rather go hiking, canoeing, snowshoeing, etc. than waste my time indoors spending money on things I don't need. A few pairs of jeans, a couple pairs of Birkenstocks, and some Life is Good T-shirts and I'm good to go.

DH has always been the shopper in the family but he's slowly mending his ways. He can't fit anymore clothes in his closet and he has all the power tools a guy could want. Of course he still has his heart set on a "tractor with a bucket". I don't know why...we only have half an acre.

 

[Sarah in SC]

Girly stuff:  the guy who cuts my hair charges $55 a pop.  I go quarterly and make the next appointment while I'm there.  The women at the salon all snicker at the very idea that someone could wait that long between haircuts, let alone not do all the color and what-have-you. He laughed when I pulled out my spreadsheet of haircut costs, dating back to 2000, showing his price increases and how I determined the optimal number of haircuts a year to look marginally presentable.  He's glad I'm his only weird client!  Trade-off city-I could go to someone cheaper more often, but a good haircut looks better longer.  

I have gotten better at figuring out what purchases really still thrill me when the newness wears off, and which expenses bring the most satisfaction beyond the initial rush.  My top 5:  the electric gate opener (no getting out in the rain), the '76 Airstream MH, the iPod, my digital camera, and the 1970 Caddy convertible (now gone ).  These purchases provided WAY more satisfaction than their cost would indicate.

We have some quibbles over "special tools", but fortunately the tractor came with enough attachments to keep DH busy (box blade, 4' mower, tiller). But don't tell him he could get one with bucket!
Sarah

 

[shorttimer]

when we decided to pay off the house we didn't shop at all except for food for over a year. It was so freeing. We also had the kids permanently move out so we started cleaning every closet, drawer, etc. and decluttered.
The combination of both changed our habits. When you start really cleaning the corners of the basement and closets we were amazed at all the stuff we wasted money on.

It was funny when we did pay off the house. I went and bought all new socks and undergarments and threw all the old stuff away. It was the big joke here what a splurge it was. I made a few purchases of fresh shirts to spruce up the wardrobes, but since DH wears company issued shirts and pants, and our neighbor owns a bar and is constanly giving him promotional t-shirts our wardrobe budget is very small.

Now that I am out of work I wear shorts and t's every day. I have a couple of dresses in case of a funeral or other occasion but basically gave all the work clothes up. That was actually fun.

 

[IHateCNBC]

Best way to buy clothes is go to other countries and buy them and mail them back.

I buy an around the world ticket and stop in 3-5 places buy or have my clothes made and mail them back.   The difference I would of paid at the local mall pays for the airfare.

For my lodging I use my RCI weeks.  I bought timeshare weeks off ebay for $225 and use that to trade.  The placed I stayed in Sydney was $150 U.S. per night.  The place I stayed at in Bangkok was $185 U.S. per night.  My maintenance fee is $104 per year.   

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

Girly stuff: the guy who cuts my hair charges $55 a pop.

Pair of electric clippers and a comb, about $35 five years ago.

Giving myself the exact same haircut I was getting before that: free.

Just watched what the folks that cut my hair did and then copied it. But then its not like I'm getting some complex style or anything.

I might even get a flowbee or something like that and see how it works. How bad can it be?

My wife still resists my offers to cut her hair, but I think the place she goes to charges about $15. Some stylist in the 'bad part of town', which around here is saying something...

 

[tikitoast]

Thanks for the vote of confidence, ESRBob. I'm ordering your book today, can't wait to read it

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

So let me get this straight...he tells you that you can cut back on shopping and your first reaction is to buy something?

 

[Martha]

Pair of electric clippers and a comb, about $35 five years ago.

Giving myself the exact same haircut I was getting before that: free.

Just watched what the folks that cut my hair did and then copied it.  But then its not like I'm getting some complex style or anything.

I might even get a flowbee or something like that and see how it works.  How bad can it be?

My wife still resists my offers to cut her hair, but I think the place she goes to charges about $15.  Some stylist in the 'bad part of town', which around here is saying something...

Greg used to always cut his own hair and did a good job.  Now I cut it. Growing up I was the family barber.  When I was about 11, my dad handed me the clippers and said go to it.  Those first hair cuts were horrifying, but my father never complained and the sibs were all little and didn't know if they had good or bad cuts.  Years ago while in college I let Greg cut my hair.  Never again.  (or at least not until I am willing to get a buzz cut).

 

[yakers]

I don't shop, well except for Fry's Electronics......


I tell myself to avoid it.....MUST NOT GO TO FRY'S.......but the car somehow goes there by itself



My name is yakers and I'm a Fryaholic...

 

[IHateCNBC]

So let me get this straight...he tells you that you can cut back on shopping and your first reaction is to buy something?

Library card.

 

[cute fuzzy bunny]

I don't shop, well except for Fry's Electronics......

Yeah, well, I had to move a couple of hours away from the dang thing and then they built one across town and I had to move again.

 

[cube_rat]

OMG!! I LOVE FRYS! A geeks paradise

 

[cube_rat]

There used to be a Stacy's Bookstore in Palo Alto --Another geek paradise!!! Too bad it's gone. The only location left is in SF on Market St. The geek sections are half of what they used to be in late 90's

 

[Mwsinron]

OMG!!  I LOVE FRYS!  A geeks paradise 

Ha ya I love that place. When you check out its like you are walking down the aisle of pure temptation snack food wise. I feel for parents bringing little kids through that place.

 

[justin]

OMG U guyz R n3rds.