So you found that must have jacket or those stylish shoes, but you just can’t justify spending that hard earned money to suit up. This is why in order to help you decide whether it is worth forking over the money for that new item we are going to introduce you to a clever formula known as the Cost Per Wear (CPW). Calculating the CPW is as simple as dividing the cost of the item by the expected number of times that you plan to wear the article of clothing.
For example let us assume you have your eyes on a hip pair of Diesel jeans that are going for $200 and you estimate that in one year you are going to wear those jeans a total of forty times, then to calculate your CPW you would divide $200/40 and your end result will yield $5. This means that every time that you wear those jeans you will pay $5. If this sum seems reasonable to you buy the jeans, if not, pass.
Now every time that you contemplate purchasing some clothing put it into one of three categories: 1) Staple Item 2) Trendy Item 3) Luxury Item.
Staple Item
This is something that you will wear again and again, over multiple seasons. A $25 CPW may be considered acceptable for you. Examples: Overcoat, shoes, shirts, etc.
Trendy Item
These are items that are currently in fashion and can only be worn on a few occasions, and after that must be tossed. $15 CPW is fair game. Examples: Jeans, hats, scarves, etc.
Luxury Item
Classic, timeless pieces. Designer high fashion items that are status symbols. $60 CPW. Examples: Watches.
Keep in mind that the above figures are general guidelines for the average person. Your financial situation will more accurately determine if your CPW figures are higher or lower than the stated values.
We'd love to hear from you! Let us know if you found this article helpful, do you plan to use the CPW formula? Leave your comments in the comments section below! Or if you are too shy to leave a comment, take part in our simple poll!
