Reasonable amount to spend on everyday outfit

Unlike most people who have problem overspending, I have the opposite problem. I naturally find it difficult to justify spending lot of money on clothing, especially when purchasing American clothing. This result in me not looking as good as I can look. I have been blessed with decent job and I would like to enjoy life but I have this mentality that prevents me from lavishly spending.

I didn’t realize how bad my spending habit is until I took my younger siblings (half my age-teenagers) shopping & they all picked out clothes that cost double what I would normally pick out. They went shopping in stores I normally didn’t bother entering because the price was high. Now I am wondering, why I am not spending on myself when kids half my age spend more? However, I also don’t want to be the brand name conscious over spending girl. I like this down-to-earth not-materialistic chick but I want to look good. Also I really don’t want my lifestyle expense to increase with my salary increase, I want that to be 2 different thing because salary goes up and down.

My goal is to get to that medium level, where my clothes doesn’t scream CHEAP CRAP but also doesn’t scream BRAND NAME SPOIL. Any suggestions?

 

Anjish – the problem is I don’t know what is a reasonable xyz to spend. I don’t want it to depend on my finance/saving because now as single female I can save more & spend more. But I know once I get married I will have to downgrade due to cost of family & then I might be unhappy because my lifestyle went up. That worry stops me from spending based on a percentage of my earning. I read online that on average people spend 4%-6% of their income on shopping.

Avhinavkumar123- I think you have a good method. If I spend only once a month, I am more likely to buy a nice outfit & be conscious of what I am spending. But I don’t have a set schedule and sometimes go on spending mood other times I pass on amazing item because I am in cheap mood.

 

When I was younger we did lot of our shopping in Kmart (this was back in middle school) because that is what my parents could afford. Shopping in Sears or Jcpenny was once in blue moon. Then when I got to High school, Sears and JcPenny became regular staple and Khols soon joined the rank. During university I pretty much shopped from those stores and any item over $20 seemed like a lot to spend on a cloth.

Then when I started working I noticed many of my friends were shopping at higher end stores while making half of what I was making. So I looked outside the department stores & noticed all the small shops. At this point I stupidly started shopping from teenager stores like Aeropostal, Dots, Debs..etc because their price was low (less than $20) and had cute things that I saw my friends wear before. But I wasn’t a teenager or college student anymore and soon after I realize how wrong they are for me. While my skinny friends can pull off wearing junior outfit, I being chubby (mid-20’s) did not look right in dress cutout for teenage girls. This is not the look I want for myself. I wish I shopped in those stores while in college and not 5 years after.

Only recently have I started shopping at Express and NewYork&Co, which I think is more age appropriate for me. Most of the piece in these shops is on average $50-$70, but on sale they go for half off. So now I am comfortable paying $30-$40 for an item but struggle to dash out $50 for 1 piece yet. But I am in my late 20’s already and I feel like I 5 years behind. I should have started shopping in Express & the links when starting my first job. Where else would you recommend is good place?