Do Fashion and Frugal Belong in the Same Sentence?

Do Fashion and Frugal Belong in the Same Sentence?

First of all, I think that all of the frugal fashion divas out there have my undying admiration.  They offer outstanding tips on looking good, without spending a lot of money – and they have your best interests at heart.

That being said, the extent to which a person embraces fashion, is sort of at expense of their frugality.  Being frugal means that you don’t buy a lot of stuff, so you don’t need too much space . There is always an aspect of minimalism that is wrapped up in frugality.  A closet full of clothes is at odds with that.

There is also an environmental and sustainability question involved with fashion.  The more land we turn over to the farming of textile crops – the less land is available for food production.  There is actually a virtue to having fewer clothes in your closet. 

I have always spent around $200 a year on clothes.  These are usually bought at department stores, and in styles that are pretty bland and timeless.  Golf shirts, polos, chinos, jeans, hoodies  and oxford shirts just don’t go out of style.  I have never bought a pair of acid washed jeans or rugby pants or a velour shirt.

So, you should pay attention to fashion – it should be enduring – and so should the quality of the clothes themselves

The Cost of Travel

The Cost of Travel

I hate travelling, so I don’t.  As it turns out a great deal of the savings I’ve accrued over the years are due to my lack of wanderlust.  I am continually stunned by the amount of travelling that people do and the thousands of dollars that they spend every year.

The term staycation has crept into everyone’s consciousness lately.  If you Google it, you’ll find people offering staycation ideas.  I find that quite funny.  Perhaps I can retain someone who can offer me tips on how to not travel.  For me, the vacation was that I didn’t have to go to work.  I could sleep in, have a leisurely cup of coffee, go for a walk, stay up late.  Now that I’ve left the world of work behind, I do that every day now. 

However, while I was working – and I had some vacation time coming, rather than spend $1,000 or more on a trip, I would stay home and purchase something that would provide me some enjoyment during my time off and beyond.  I would aim for something in the $3-500 range.  It was usually something related to technology.  So, think games consoles and games, computers – stuff like that.

As I said, I don’t work anymore – and I financed it, in part, by not going on vacation.  I look around me and I’m surrounded by all of the things I purchased instead of taking those trips.  So, I guess being born without wanderlust has its benefits.