Skishopping sillouhettemming through the archives of online magazine “Who What Wear”, I came across a very intriguing article. “How much should you really be spending on clothing every month?”  If saving money was one of your New Year’s resolutions, take notes!  According to financial planner Peete Dunn, we should spend 5% of our take home pay.

Here is an example of the breakdown.  If you bring home $3000 a month, after taxes, you should spend $150 a month on clothes. So take what you bring home monthly, multiply that by .05, and there is your budget. Now this is simply a gage and not set in stone, but you have to admit it is a good rule of thumb.

When I initially read this article I thought it would be almost impossible to do!  But I gave it a shot and found myself shooting for 3% (I’m competitive by nature).  I have a friend who gave himself a monthly budget of $60 for clothes.  He could very well afford to spend more, but he prefers to see his money in his bank account instead of his closet.

I challenge you to try this 5% clothing budget.  My rule of thumb when shopping is “Can this be worn at least 3 different ways?”  This definitely helps me when deciding to make purchases.  Or you could skip shopping for 1 month, combine your money for 2 months and buy yourself an even more special piece of clothing.  Whether you choose 5%, 7%, or even 10% you should have a shopping budget in place.  Better to have a budget than overspend and live with buyers remorse.