resonable amount to spend on clothes per month

nursekaz

Can anyone tell me how much is a reasonable amount to spend on clothes per month. I have a 15 year old son, who is not too greedy about new clothes. He has some reasonable priced items and other Primark stuff. However, I have always made sure both my kids wear good quality shoes. My 18 year old daughter has gone to uni, and does very well to clothe herself, with her loan and part time job, but I obviously give her £ 20 here and there. I don't want her to run up loads of debt, and as far as i know, she has avoided using her overdraft, so I am really pleased. I very rarely buy myself anything because I wont buy larger clothes till I have lost weight, sigh.

But I am trying to fill in a form for my solicitor and I have to state a reasonable amount that i require to spend on clothes so that a judge can decide what percentage of the assets of the marriage I am entitled to.

Obviously, I don't want to be too frugal so that he thinks i dont need much, but i want it to show a realistic amount. The fact that I am careful about it should not benefit my ex should it.
Please help

skintchick

Last month I spent £3 on a cardigan from a charity shop, and £13 on a dress and £5 on shoes from eBay.

This month, £50 on some work shoes.

Next month - not going anywhere near the shops. Does that help?

Tondella

you could try thinking of it in terms of the whole year, ie one new school uniform, two or three pairs of shoes at average x price, say two tops or one bottom per month, one winter coat per year (budget one for your daughter too, students never buy coats!), socks and pants etc. Then divide it all by 12?

I'm on a budget to repay debts but i have left myself a (perhaps generous) £80 per month to clothe myself. My rationale for this is a) I need to look smart at work b) I run, which equates to £40 per of trainers twice a year

ms_london

I spent £18 in primark at the weekend on clothes, but thats the first time I've bought anything in a long while.

When I was 15/16 I used to have a Saturday job and bought my own clothes/toiletries & paid for my driving lessons (obviously once I hit 17) out of it. And as for the 18 year old, I think she should be able to buy her own clothes too.

I could understand if you were posting asking about food, but clothes, well, that's not quite so important & you can spend as much or as little as you want to.

xx

frugglewump

Moved my reply from other thread

nursekaz wrote:

Can anyone tell me how much is a reasonable amount to spend on clothes per month.

The way I budget for clothes is to assume I need 1 new work outfit, 1 new casual oufit, both including shoes & underwear in a 6 month period and then adjust to a monthly rate. I don't buy clothes this often and some of the prices are higher than i normally pay, but it's useful for the budget and every 6 months i can add some extra to debt repayment.

So - approx prices :new work outfit: top £20, skirt £40, shoes £30, underwear £15, new casual: jeans £20, tshirt £10, underwear £10, shoes £30
total = £175 so monthly = £30 (the underwear costs may look high but i was amazed how expensive even really plain bras were recently)

I look at it as a breakdown fund.

Addicted2Chocolate

look at the annual expenditure survey on the office of national statistics website. I personally think about £50-£75 per month for 1 adult and two teenagers is reasonable.

exessexmum

My frined has just done this for her divorce settle ment and she did as other on here have suggested. She worked out what she and her kids needed in a year, ie socks and underwear, tops, bottoms, shoes, coats, etc etc and divided it by 12 and it came out as about £80 a month, her 2 kids are small so need full sets of clothes twice a year really as they are growning so fast, but you don't pay VAT on them. At the end of the day this is one time when it doesn't do you any favours to sell yourself short. Even if you buy your clothes in Charity shops or Primark, price up your budget from a mid priced store like Next or M+S and base it on that.
Tracey

Benji

I was talking to a debt proffesional a few days ago and they said £400 pm for food etc and £50 for clothes - that's for 2 adults and one 10 year old.

Addicted2Chocolate

it does depend on the peoples jobs also..i woudl allow more for smater clothes for an office worker, than for someone who had a uniform paid for by the employer...no hard and fast rule thats why you shoud try to calculate what is reasonable for you and your chidlren....

fatbelly

National Debtline guidance is £3 to £5 per person per week. Remember to multiply by 4.3333 if you need a monthly figure. But I think in your situation (you're not making offers to creditors here) I'd go a bit higher than that so figures of 75 and 80 per month previously suggested seem reasonable.

elona

I would go for £100 as children grow - some faster than others - especially for shoes.