For those with a set budget. How much for clothing?

[queenofthehivemomof5]

I am trying to tweek my budget a little here and there and was trying to get a grasp on what is a reasonable clothing budget per person.

What percentage of your income do you allot for clothing per person? Do you shop department stores/name brand/full price or do you shop sales/off season/yardsales/secondhand? Do you need special work clothes?

I currently have our budget set at $100 a month for 7 ppl so that is roughly $15 per person. 1 of the kids is "lucky" enough to have been born in the right season to get his brothers hand me downs:Nod: So there is very little going for that litte guy except for shoes.

I am pretty thrify and shop alot of second hand (consignment stores/yard sales) as well as clearance deals. We dont have dept stores here. I do a little online shopping. There are months where it seems everyone needs "something" or someone needs a special outfit for a dance or swimsuit in the middle of winter (yeah 2 weeks ago 2 kids needed swimsuits and there wasnt one in any of the stores except for womens suits with the skirts..LOL We do kids shoes at Payless and teen gets name brand reasonable priced shoes when I can find a deal on them (she likes Converse) Both DH and I get new sneekers twice a year at $50 a pair budget.

Then there are months where we don't buy/need anything.

DH needs carheart coveralls (doesnt need to be that brand but that is what they sell here) and steel toed boots and I buy them at the end of winter for next year when they are 60% off)

[maree_strawberry]

Between Freecycle, yard sales, & out of season clearance-75% or more off, the kids & I are set! DH buys on impulse (gives him a high).
I can't really BUDGET this, because of his spending habits. I just do the best I can.

[BzyBee]

Queen, we are at $20/month for each person...so $80 for the 4 of us. It seems to be plenty...this is starting the second year with that amount. We also find that the fund builds up over months we don't do any clothes shopping. We are buying mostly new, deeply discounted...not too much of any one size 'cause the kids (esp. DS) are growing fast. Geesh, we even found clearance socks and underbritches...had some Hanes peelies to make the deal even better. DS doesn't want to know I am buying his boxers with a coupon...LOL!!

It helps that the school has a strict dress code...a few pairs of pants and shirts go a long way. We try to keep the amount of clothing to a minimum...no need in having things we are not wearing or things they will grow out of before they even wear it much...KWIM? DH keeps up with work clothes, changes out a few old shirts for new each season, gets pants as needed and as found on sale. Jeans, when they start to wear become lawn-mowing jeans, keep an eye out for decent shoes on sale or clearance...his steel toed shoes are supplied by the company.

[queenofthehivemomof5]

there are times when clothing expenses sneek up on me. Like those bathing suits! Ouchy I ended up buying online and spending $40.

Bzy when you don't spend your full cothing budget one month do you put that money in the envelope for the next month? Do your kids have much say so on where "thier" part of the money goes?

My teen has stopped growing for the most part and dresses pretty funky (she loves thrift store jeans thanks goodness) but my almost 10 year old is this tall lanky thing with no waist/butt and legs that go on forever LOL She is always needing new jeans because they are too short on her (thankfully I know enough about sewing that I am making them into capris and shorts for this summer. LOL)

[BzyBee]

Originally Posted by queenofthehivemomof5 there are times when clothing expenses sneek up on me. Like those bathing suits! Ouchy I ended up buying online and spending $40. Bzy when you don't spend your full cothing budget one month do you put that money in the envelope for the next month? Do your kids have much say so on where "thier" part of the money goes? My teen has stopped growing for the most part and dresses pretty funky (she loves thrift store jeans thanks goodness) but my almost 10 year old is this tall lanky thing with no waist/butt and legs that go on forever LOL She is always needing new jeans because they are too short on her (thankfully I know enough about sewing that I am making them into capris and shorts for this summer. LOL)

Yes, we roll it over, it is given out as $20 per person, not really $80 for all of us...KWIM? They get as much say as they want. We don't go shopping a lot, so if I see something I think they will like for a great price I buy it, knowing there is a chance I may have to return...doesn't happen often. I don't ever buy shoes without a try-on first...way too hard to fit, pants for DD are just as bad...she sounds like your DD...long legs connected directly to her torso...no butt, no hips. If we are out and they see something they want...they just ask me how much $$ they have for clothing and decide if they want it or not. I might make a recommendation, very rarely have to overrule something, mostly it is up to them.

DD will wear some of DS's left overs...mostly at home but she is not into girly stuff so a great pair of camo shorts with cargo pockets and she is thrilled!! She will sometimes just cuff a pair of pants that is too short....instant capri's...LOL

[queenofthehivemomof5]

DH are doing the envelope budget thingy starting next week. I am excited. I think I am going to bump the clothing budget up a little bit to $20 per person for the teen and adults and keep it at $14 for the little guys. Maybe I will splurge on Liam and actually get him something once in awhile. He litteraly is set on hand me downs from Parker for pretty much forever unless he has a growth spurt and moves out of season. Parker was born in March and Liam in October...but Liam is much smaller that Parker was and so he is just right season wise that Parkers old winter clothes fit him/summer clothes fit him.

[Stacy]

I think I will start doing this too! Great idea! I very rarely get any new clothes, every once in a while. Right now I need jeans desperatley, but don't buy them. I don't know why thought! :)

[SyLph211]

I do not really budget to the point of seperate envies and such. I do shop major sales and end of the season clearance. The baby got all his summer clothes for cheap cheap when Kmart did thier mondo sale during the winter months and I got them for .10-.60 an outfit. I shop targets clearance racks and used to thrift shop but stopped. My DH wears uniforms from work. I do not buy anything full price. I should start budgeting and see if that goes anywhere. It would be nice to be able to go shopping for new jeans or something for myself once and awhile.

How do you do the envie budget system??? Do you put anything in the bank etc???

[queenofthehivemomof5]

Originally Posted by Syph211 How do you do the envie budget system??? Do you put anything in the bank etc???

bzybee or her DH seem to have a system down. So I hope they will answer this question. Right now I have a plan for it but it may change if they post.

My plan this far is...
DH gets his paycheck direct deposited every other Tursday, and I have automatic withdrawl set up for savings acct on Friday. Goal for savings acct is down payment on house/emergency fund.

Saturday AM (have to note AM because the banks close early on Sats here) we run to bank and withdrawl all monies in acct except $20 (min ammt we need to keep acct open) and ammt we have alloted for automatic bill pay for cable/internet and City bill (garbage, water, electricity, sewer) which is set to pay on the 15th of the month

Divy up money into envelopes according to our budget.

• Rent
• Groceries
• Personal Spending Allowances (for DH, DD, DD, and myself)
• Gas
• Clothing Allowance (for all 7 of us)
• Dining Out
• Entertainment
• Insurance
• Heidi's Coupon money (to cover pphf)
• Vet bills
• Tithing

That is what we have thus far. Like I said might need to tweek it some.

We do pretty well with a budget but I am hoping that a cash only system will help us do better in watching the little bits of money and its flow. We tend to do an aweful lot of $1.00 20 oz. cokes or cups of coffee at the gas station or starbucks without really tracking that money and it ads up to the point where we look at each other and go "where did it go??"

[ncbrunet]

For your Starbucks, gas station drinks... have you thought about buying a gift card for that store with the cash and when the card is dry so are you?? Then you know how much you spend there.

Marsha