Good news: anyone can afford a sustainable wardrobe! Updating your wardrobe with long-lasting pieces helps understand your style more, manage a budget, create sustainable practices, and lastly it helps our planet. Before creating a sustainable wardrobe, we must understand and review our pieces of clothing. Reviewing the garments in your closet is essential, in order to fully know what you’re missing or what you want to upgrade.
Setting a Spending Plan
A spending plan is essential because it allows us to track our expenses, follow a plan, and create a better relationship with your personal finance. Establishing a spending plan allows you to make sure if there is enough money for the items that are important to you.
Creating a budget will help to understand what you really need rather than what you want. Schedule an appointment with one of the Bobcat Financial Coaches, if needed assistance with creating a budget.
Make a Shopping List
Next, creating a shopping list whenever you shop is important because it helps a better shopping experience and to buy what is necessary. Creating a shopping list of your needs we as humans typically buy with our emotions rather than what we actually need. A great tip of knowing what you need is to revise your closet often to understand what you own. Knowing what you own is important to view what you need in your wardrobe. For instance, this is my shopping list for the new upcoming season:
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Black Boots (I have one pair of suede boots, and Winter is approaching!)
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Neutral colors (shopping for neutral colors will be helpful to use throughout all seasons of the year)
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Socks (needed!)
While shopping for any clothing, it is important to keep in mind that it is a larger financial commitment to purchase all items in one visit. It is better to wait and find the items over time since it will allow you to catch a sale.
Questions to ask yourself while shopping:
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Do I own something like it?
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Would I wear this?
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Is this piece part of a trend and would I continue to wear it?
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Is it within my budget?
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Is it part of my shopping list?
These questions will generate a good starting point to improve shopping habits. Asking these questions will help you not overspend on items that you don’t need or wear.
Consider all options
You don’t have to break the bank to afford a sustainable closet. There are realistic and affordable options to seek. Thrifting, flea markets, or garage sales will be the places that you can find new or gently used at a discounted price. When purchasing clothes, accessories, or footwear, it is good to analyze the quality of the items and spot if it's a valuable piece. Purchasing better quality garment pieces tends to be pricier than fast fashion and a way to catch sales for any item is always helpful to save money.
If you are interested in creating a spending plan for your new or updated closet, here is our link to our coaching sessions!
About the Author:
Kenya Castillo
Bobcat Financial Coach
Kenya is currently a fourth-year majoring in Management and Business Economics at the University of California, Merced. Read more about her here!
