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I've tracked every piece of clothing I've worn for three years (2021)

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Re: I've tracked every piece of clothing I've worn for three years (2021)

#121

Post by mtts »

sneak wrote: post #93
n4r9 wrote: post #4

I did a double-take at the 3.5k Euro spend per year on clothing. My own spending is probably 2-3 orders of magnitude smaller. But then I saw how many shoes they own, and the fact that they have a summer house where at least one pair resides. This person lives differently to me.

25.5% of that is Finland's VAT. Europeans include tax in prices. Also, for whatever reason, European clothes cleaning systems are insanely harsh, and your clothes don't last nearly as long when washed there. I think it's related to the energy efficiency requirements; the dryers are much much hotter (if they are available at all) and the washers have to use miniscule amounts of water so they use a lot more agitating i…

> Also, for whatever reason, European clothes cleaning systems are insanely harsh, and your clothes don't last nearly as long when washed there. I think it's related to the energy efficiency requirements; the dryers are much much hotter (if they are available at all) and the washers have to use miniscule amounts of water so they use a lot more agitating instead, I suppose.

Wait, what? The one time I visited the US and had to use laundromats I could basically thrown away everything I’d worn on that trip because hose washing machines were so harsh.

Back home in Europe, my clothes last years and sometimes even decades.

Re: I've tracked every piece of clothing I've worn for three years (2021)

#122

Post by seszett »

switch007 wrote: post #119
seszett wrote: post #117

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm not even sure US-style hot dryers are allowed in the EU? Everyone I know that has one has a low-temperature heat pump dryer.

Condenser dryers? Still available in UK and fairly sure most of EU

Alright, condenser dryers are the missing link I had forgotten between dryers that vent outside like in the US and the modern heat pump dryers.

Re: I've tracked every piece of clothing I've worn for three years (2021)

#123

Post by benediktwerner »

ranguna wrote: post #105
literalAardvark wrote: post #62

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I doubt anyone is spending 3 bucks per year on average on clothing. Unless you're in Bangladesh or something.

Like the parent comment that you've replied to said: > For people who buy clothing frequently, this might be unimaginable I too have not bought any clothes in the last 3 or 4 years. I have no need to. My current clothes fit me perfectly fine and my shoes are not in a bad state.

That still doesn't mean you spend zero on average. I assume pretty much all your clothes are less than ten years old. To have a 3.5€/year average, all the clothes you own would need to have costed at most 35€ total, which is clearly unrealistic.

Though 35€/year maybe is achievable, especially if you get/wear shirts, hoodies, maybe even shoes from conferences or company events.

You probably at least still need a decent pair of shoes, one set of nice clothes, a jacket, pants, and underwear. 350€ to get that stuff for ten years still sounds very tight but maybe possible.

Re: I've tracked every piece of clothing I've worn for three years (2021)

#124

Post by Freak_NL »

InMice wrote: post #16

Interesting data tracking. I have to say for my jeans - I never put them in the dryer, always hung dry. All my jeans are now 10-20 years old now and except for some wear on the back cuff from wearing them around the house without shoes on they look and feel brand new. I can't find author mention "dryer" anywhere in the article. Hung dry clothes last a long time. it's the machine dryer that slowly destroys them IMO. A…

Consider 100% linen or a blend as well for hot summer days. I have a few short-sleeve linen shirts which are great for days over 28°C. Linen has a coarser weave than cotton, and breathes even better. It can handle sweat better too (dries faster when wearing).

I don't have a dryer, so all my clothes are hung to dry. Jeans tend to go in the seat first. I think I average eight years or so, wearing jeans most of the year.

Re: I've tracked every piece of clothing I've worn for three years (2021)

#125

Post by kristopolous »

imp0cat wrote: post #111
jsnell wrote: post #40

> The 90 euro Converse sneakers and the 30 euro Mywears have a similar CPW of 0.87 euros and 0.70 €, respectively. Their effective cost is roughly the same, which means that walking around in the cheap Mywears is roughly as expensive as walking around in Converses. In this case, money buys quality, at least when measured by durability. I don't think there's anything wrong with the author spending a lot of money on cl…

Oh but there definitely are differences between cheap and expensive sneakers. The other thing is that some people might not notice them because they don't walk much, never getting to the sneaker "EOL", so to speak.

I've gone from a $400 shoe preference to $20 over the years.

Comfortable cheap ones are harder to find and they don't last as long but in practice it's more like 40-70% as long.

So I just buy 2-3 after I find a good one and still walk away saving a bunch

Re: I've tracked every piece of clothing I've worn for three years (2021)

#126

Post by LandR »

hilux wrote: post #78
vitus wrote: post #14

Earlier quoted context omitted.

It depends how much walking / hiking / running / whatever else you do. A typical pair of running shoes lasts somewhere around 300-500 miles. (You could probably stretch a pair further than that, but you run much higher risk of injury once the cushioning wears down.) If you put in a modest 5 miles a day and have two pairs in rotation, then expect to replace both pairs every 6 months (if not more often). It is not unco…

I'm not convinced you need cushioning. I spend zero on running shoes, and I've run two marathons like this.

In regular training shoes I can barely run a mile without getting some pretty bad pains in the side of my knee. With good cushioned running shoes I can easily do 10-12 miles pain free.

I'm assuming it's a form thing, and that the running shoes just somehow naturally give me a better form, so I could maybe fix by learning how to run in normal non-running shoes, but I'm lazy and would rather just pay a few hundred every few months.

Re: I've tracked every piece of clothing I've worn for three years (2021)

#127

Post by thaumasiotes »

margalabargala wrote: post #61
eadmund wrote: post #58

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I did a double-take at the 3.5k Euro spend per year on clothing. My own spending is probably 2-3 orders of magnitude smaller. One order of magnitude would be €350; two orders of magnitude would be €35; three orders of magnitude would be €3.50 I sincerely doubt that you spend €3.50–35/year on clothing!

There have certainly been years when I bought almost or actually no clothing. For people who buy clothing frequently, this might be unimaginable, but I assure you that there are people who are happy with the clothing they own and do not buy more except to replace things that wear out or develop holes. And I do this by choice!

> I assure you that there are people who are happy with the clothing they own and do not buy more except to replace things that wear out or develop holes.

This is mostly my style. Actually, I can keep using things well after they develop holes. The shirt I'm wearing right now has four different holes developing around one of the wrist cuffs. I'd believe $60 / year for replacement-level clothing. $3.50 / year isn't enough to replace things that develop holes.

Re: I've tracked every piece of clothing I've worn for three years (2021)

#128

Post by LandR »

mattmanser wrote: post #91
n4r9 wrote: post #4

I did a double-take at the 3.5k Euro spend per year on clothing. My own spending is probably 2-3 orders of magnitude smaller. But then I saw how many shoes they own, and the fact that they have a summer house where at least one pair resides. This person lives differently to me.

I'm not sure whether you really spend so little on clothes, or have misunderstood the term 'order of magnitude'. If it were 3 orders of magnitude less you would be spending €3.50 on clothes per year. Even 2 orders less is €35, which I find doubtful a grown person can do (in America/Europe at least). Did you actually mean that? As I'm surprised your socks/underwear don't cost at least €35 per year, eventually they get…

I've had years where I definitely spend less than £100 on clothing, and many years where I've spent almost £0 (I'm not counting running shoes here, or climbing shoes), those are kinda specialist, but day to day clothing definitely very very little.

I loathe clothes shopping.

Re: I've tracked every piece of clothing I've worn for three years (2021)

#129

Post by funcDropShadow »

hilux wrote: post #101
jlarocco wrote: post #96

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I'm convinced you don't need it, but my shin splints disagree, and I'm happy to buy new shoes after 300-500 miles.

Interesting you mention shin splits - those (and ITBS) were my crippling complaint for 15 years, before I tried barefooting, basically in desperation.

Can you recommend any good resource on how to start seriously with barefoot running or walking?

Re: I've tracked every piece of clothing I've worn for three years (2021)

#130

Post by literalAardvark »

benediktwerner wrote: post #123
ranguna wrote: post #105

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Like the parent comment that you've replied to said: > For people who buy clothing frequently, this might be unimaginable I too have not bought any clothes in the last 3 or 4 years. I have no need to. My current clothes fit me perfectly fine and my shoes are not in a bad state.

That still doesn't mean you spend zero on average. I assume pretty much all your clothes are less than ten years old. To have a 3.5€/year average, all the clothes you own would need to have costed at most 35€ total, which is clearly unrealistic. Though 35€/year maybe is achievable, especially if you get/wear shirts, hoodies, maybe even shoes from conferences or company events. You probably at least still need a decen…

Exactly, it's very difficult to keep the average so low.

Not impossible, I'm sure I've done it in some of my broke Eastern European years, but most people probably spend more than that on socks and underpants.

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