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Old 08-26-2009, 08:43 AM   #61
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Well, I probably spend about $200 per year on clothes. My work outfits are business casual and basically consist of a bunch of khaki-type slacks and button down shirts, and I probably wear out one or two of each during the year and cycle in some new ones. The rest of the annual clothing purchases are just casual wear odds and ends I pick up (or more likely, my better half picks up for me) on occasion.

But that doesn't include shoes. I probably spend at least another $100 per year on shoes. I walk a lot during my commute, in all types of weather, and I generally need a new pair of shoes every year for work. My work shoes then become casual shoes etc.
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Old 08-26-2009, 01:24 PM   #62
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Hmm - this is interesting. I splurged for the first time on an entire drawer of undergarments!! ($150 was with giftcards from VS, so that amount will be deducted from my total)
"Civilian clothing" = $515 (including the VS trip listed above, and a new pair of NB sneakers on clearance on base) but of course - 90% of this stuff was on sale!
"Military uniforms" = $1400 (including pantyhose) Will only be reimbursed $400 for these.

This year has not been typical for me. Clothing/shoes tends to be less than $400 total.
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Old 08-27-2009, 01:55 PM   #63
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I budget $120 a month for me, wife and 2 boys. I need to track it more closely to see if this is realistic.

Since I'm newly retired, I'm hopeful that increased exercise leads to weight loss and the need for new clothes that fit my predicted buff self
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Old 08-28-2009, 09:31 AM   #64
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Originally Posted by walleye View Post
Since I'm newly retired, I'm hopeful that increased exercise leads to weight loss and the need for new clothes that fit my predicted buff self
Seriously, the thought of having to buy new clothes is a factor in my motivation to go out for a run when I feel my pants getting a bit tight around the waist ... I want to stay the same size for the rest of my life!
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Old 08-28-2009, 11:24 AM   #65
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Seriously, the thought of having to buy new clothes is a factor in my motivation to go out for a run when I feel my pants getting a bit tight around the waist ... I want to stay the same size for the rest of my life!
Good point. It motivates you to get out and run, and you're always glad you did when you're done. Funny how a desire to spend wisely causes exercise which causes saving money on health care (assuming a healthier weight and heart).
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Old 08-29-2009, 08:34 AM   #66
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I spend about $600 / yr on clothes + shoes. About half that is for work (business casual) + general casual wear and the other half is for exercise - running shoes & clothes.
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Old 08-29-2009, 11:33 AM   #67
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I probably spend as much as I do on wine(see another thread running currently). I don't know if this is good or bad. I have enough clothes and shoes to last me an eternity.
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Old 08-29-2009, 04:03 PM   #68
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Gosh, I just got back from the outlet mall. I spent $129 for five pair of sandals. They were cheap, end of season saile, so I bought enough to do me for the next couple of summers. I bought casual and dress sandals in brown and black. I am set!

I usually spend about $125 a month on cloths and my husband probably spends $50. I live in an area that is somewhat affluent and my husband and I travel a good bit so I need dressy as well as casual. I find that I don't replace things to often.

I always plan my purchases for end of season sales, etc.

We leave in a couple of weeks on a three week trip to Europe. I have spent more in the last month than I have all year. But the spending is over until January or so when I hit the end of season sales for winter things.
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Old 08-29-2009, 05:47 PM   #69
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Gosh, I just got back from the outlet mall. I spent $129 for five pair of sandals. They were cheap, end of season saile, so I bought enough to do me for the next couple of summers. I bought casual and dress sandals in brown and black. I am set!

I usually spend about $125 a month on cloths and my husband probably spends $50. I live in an area that is somewhat affluent and my husband and I travel a good bit so I need dressy as well as casual. I find that I don't replace things to often.

I always plan my purchases for end of season sales, etc.

We leave in a couple of weeks on a three week trip to Europe. I have spent more in the last month than I have all year. But the spending is over until January or so when I hit the end of season sales for winter things.
3 weeks in Europe...I'm jealous...Bon Voyage!
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Old 08-31-2009, 11:44 AM   #70
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I think we benefit on clothing costs in two ways:
- Our boys don't mind wearing Walmart clothes right now. As they get older and care about it more, we will indulge in more expensive stuff, within reason.
- My wife and I don't dress our boys in expensive clothes for our sake. We aren't out to compete with the neighbors.

One thing we don't like is Conspicuous Consumption. It's a big part of why we just had this Great Recession - "people buying things they don't need to impress people they don't like."
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Old 08-31-2009, 12:04 PM   #71
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There is a certain middle-aged-man look that says safe, middle class, etc. If your face and build conform it is fairly cheap to achieve. But if I am wearing cheap clothes (which I usually am) it is mostly hobos who relate to me on the downtown streets. I am old and lean and muscular and bearded with a weather beaten face. I wear baggy jeans and tee shirt and a backpack. Many guys who look like me just got off the 'Hound and are looking for someplace to get a cheap shower and then a meal.

I have been spending some time around town with an attractive older woman and she has noticed the same thing about how I appear to be perceived. She says her experiences with me are quite different from her usual hangouts with men, not so much because we do things that are real different, but because I am different.

When I get away from the city center I don't notice this- people in upscale suburban type shopping areas must key on other cues.

Ha
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Old 08-31-2009, 12:08 PM   #72
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Well, my wife has spent about $400 in the last month or two, but that was an anomaly caused by getting ready to start a new job and needing a little more of a "work wardrobe." Not that teachers aides need to dress like a fashion plate, but a little more business casual attire that fit properly was in order.
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Old 08-31-2009, 12:31 PM   #73
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Interesting post haha. Part of the fun of people watching is being the one watched, and wondering or hearing what people perceive you as.

Myself I'm looking forward to changing up my appearance. Since I look young naturally, I look forward to getting back in shape and varying my look. I think it's 10% vanity, but 90% that I like it when people can't quite categorize me by my appearance.
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Old 08-31-2009, 12:35 PM   #74
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Ziggy, I like your "quote" (is there a name for the quote someone places below his/her post?).

Here are some I've liked so far:
"Hey, for every ten dollars, that's another hour that I have to be in the work place. That's an hour of my life. And my life is a very finite thing. I have only 'x' number of hours left before I'm dead. So how do I want to use these hours of my life? Do I want to use them just spending it on more crap and more stuff, or do I want to start getting a handle on it and using my life more intelligently?"-- Joe Dominguez (1938 - 1997)

"Go confidently in the direction of your dreams. Live the life you have imagined." - Henry David Thoreau

" - - my greatest skill has been to want but little - - " (Henry David Thoreau, in Walden)

"There is no more dreadful punishment than futile and hopeless labour" - Albert Camus

"Why should I let the toad work squat on my life? Can't I use my wit as a pitchfork and drive the brute off?" - Philip Larkin
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Old 08-31-2009, 12:42 PM   #75
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Quote:
Originally Posted by walleye View Post
(is there a name for the quote someone places below his/her post?).
Yes, it is your signature line.

Click on User CP above, then in the left column click on "Edit Signature" to enter a wizened quotation of your choice...
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Old 08-31-2009, 12:43 PM   #76
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Is there a more approprate thread to post quotes? I guess my favorites have to do with prioritizing time and money. One more and I'll quit.

Quote:
Money is something we choose to trade our life energy for. Our life energy is our allotment of time here on earth, the hours of precious life available to us. When we go to our jobs we are trading our life energy for money. [...]

Our life energy is more real in our actual experience than money. You could even say money equals life energy. So, while money has no intrinsic reality, our life energy does — at least to us. It’s tangible, and it’s finite. Life energy is all we have. It is precious because it is limited and irretrievable and because our choices about how we use it express the meaning and purpose of our time here on Earth.
Found at Amazon.com: Your Money or Your Life: 9 Steps to Transforming Your Relationship with Money and Achieving Financial Independence: Revised and Updated for the 21st Century (9780143115762): Vicki Robin, Joe Dominguez, Monique Tilford: Books
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Old 08-31-2009, 12:45 PM   #77
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Thanks REWahoo. I'm trying to learn how to post "correctly" and eliminate annoying newbie habits.
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Old 08-31-2009, 12:47 PM   #78
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If you'd like to continue posting favorite quotations, we can spin your posts above off into a new thread. Or start your own new thread and we will move these posts over for you.
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Old 09-02-2009, 09:09 PM   #79
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What's the going rate for a loincloth these days?
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Old 09-02-2009, 10:37 PM   #80
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I spend about $150/year on clothes, and about $40/year on shoes. $60/year is my normal casual clothing budget, and $90/year has been going towards needing to buy a couple suits and five dress shirts for work...work is going to end up being 80% of what I have spent money on for clothes eventually...
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