How “Saving” Money Costs You in the Long Run
Everyone likes a deal on clothes, but you have to be careful – not all “good deals” are created equal. Sometimes you can find a better price than usual on a high-quality item, but if your habit is to shop at bargain retailers because you feel like you’re saving money that way, here’s why you might want to rethink your wardrobe strategy.
Buying cheap clothes means you have to buy them more often. There’s no way around it – cheaper clothes are simply not built to last. Not only does this mean you’re having to spend more money in the long run, it also means that you’re throwing clothes away more often, which is not great for the environment. If eco-friendliness and sustainability are concerns for you, as they are for more and more people, then you’ll want to buy clothes that last a long time.
Shopping based on price emphasizes quantity over quality. This is a psychological cost, but it’s a significant one. A three-pack of shirts for one price is not automatically better than one shirt of the same price, especially when the three cheaper shirts are not going to give you the same feeling and look as a quality shirt would. If you start telling yourself that you deserve to have that higher level of quality, you’ll start to see why the number of items you own isn’t nearly as important as how you feel when you walk out the door in the morning.
It’s frustrating to have to take items back or have them repaired. When you buy something that’s not made very well, one of two things usually happens – either you notice a problem right away and you have to take the item back to the store to exchange it for another one, or a problem crops up two months down the road and you have to take the item to a tailor for repair. Doing so takes time out of your already busy schedule, and more often than not, you’ll probably just put the item in a pile on top of all the other pieces that need to be repaired.
Dressing poorly can literally affect your income. There’s a reason people are advised to dress their best at job interviews. Like it or not, how you present yourself matters in the business world, and as you work your way up the career ladder, it matters more and more. If you have your sights set on some truly ambitious goals, you can guarantee that the people who can help get you there will expect you to dress the part, and they can spot a cheap suit from a mile away. Your style says a lot about you, and you want that statement to be a positive one.
2020 is coming, and if you think that improving your image and adopting a more sustainable lifestyle are good goals to have in the new year, you can do both those things by choosing quality over quantity when you shop. You’ll understand the difference as soon as you come in and start trying clothes on, and you’ll never go back to the way you shopped before.