Here's my annual breakdown of spending on clothes and accessories for 2018. I've been keeping track since 2012 and for the first time I've included figures from previous years for easy comparison.

Spending total?
2012  £1,751.00
2013  £1,188.00
2014  £745.65
2015  £1207.87
2016  £742.39
2017  £663.03
2018  £546.18 the lowest yet, something I'm really pleased about

How many items did I buy?
2012  138
2013  131
2014  76
2015  74
2016  63
2017  83
2018  71 not the lowest, but not bad

What percentage of items purchased were pre-loved?
2012  42%
2013  58%
2014  46%
2015  41%
2016  37%
2017  52%
2018  69% Woohoo!

What percentage of items purchased are still owned?
(at the end of the year they were purchased)
2012  90%
2013  65%
2014  ??
2015  75%
2016  85%
2017  85%
2018  97% I'm pleased with this, only three items didn't stay in my wardrobe, and one of those was sold on ebay and recouped some money

Total of discarded items
2012  unknown
2013  £240
2014  £91.47
2015  unknown
2016  unknown
2017  £88.14
2018  £21.17 this is minus the amount I sold one item for on ebay

What percentage of items purchased remain unworn?
2012  33.3%
2013  13%
2014  ??
2015  5%
2016  12%
2017  19%
2018  22% some of these are in my new capsule wardrobe so this percentage will soon be reduced, and of what hasn't yet been worn I can't see anything that won't be worn at some point soon.


What was the most expensive item?
2012  £105.00 (half price) Kurt Geiger shoes
2013  £35.00 each for a pair of Toms and Next ballet pumps
2014  £64.00 for my very first pair of Irregular Choice shoes
2015  £85.00 on a dress worn for my Mum's wedding
2016  £95.00 for a winter coat
2017  £25.60 for my green skirt
2018  £66.15 jeans (full price £105)

What was most expensive pre-loved item?
2012  unknown
2013  unknown
2014  £45.00 French Connection maxi dress  
2015  £34.99 Irregular choice frog shoes
2016  £18.00 ASOS floral wiggle dress
2017  £24.99 burgundy leather knee high boots (sold in 2018 on ebay for £22.00)
2018  £12.00 black knee high boots

What was the cheapest of both categories?
2012  unknown
2013  unknown
2014  New grey vest top £2.00. Pre-loved scarf £1.25
2015  New blue pants for my wedding day £4.00. Pre-loved cork purse 75p
2016  New I purchased several items for £4.00. Pre-loved bracelet £1.25
2017  New flip flops for 90p. Pre-loved maxi skirt from ebay 99p
2018  New flip flops for 90p. Pre-loved £1.00 each for a pink scarf, and red summer top
I won't be purchasing the flip flops again. Although both years I wore them almost daily, until they fell apart, I know that if I don't pay much for something that someone, somewhere will be paying.


My 2018 Resolutions
My resolutions don't change much year to year. 

Reduce the number of clothes I buy overall.
I purchased 12 fewer items than last year, and I really feel like I made good purchases with very few that where discarded.

Buy more pre-loved clothes than new.
This one gets a big fat tick, and it's something I'm pretty happy about. 69% is much closer to where I want to be.

Reduce my overall spend again, I'll try for £600 and see if I can make it this year!
Yes! I came in £53.82 under budget. You can see everything I purchased here.

Alter / mend all items that need it.
The mending pile is smaller but still exists, so I have some work to do here.

Sell all the things that don't fit or I no longer wear. Anything not sold by the summer will be donated to charity.
This simply didn't happen. I did sell a few things on ebay during November and December and it has encouraged me to sell more, so maybe 2019 will be the year I get listing and start making some money back?

Reduce the percentage that I buy and then donate / sell / pass on.
Definitely. I still have 97% of the items I purchased this year. I'm really pleased with this, and unless any item is irreparably damaged I don't see anything leaving my wardrobe anytime soon.


My 2019 Resolutions
Pretty much the same as last year but to just keep on improving.

Reduce the number of clothes I buy overall. This is simply because I want to wear the clothes I have more often, adding new items, as much as I love doing so, makes it harder for me to really make the most of what I have. The lowest number of items purchased is 63 so I'd like to be below this.

Buy more pre-loved clothes than new. And only buy new if absolutely necessary. I'd love to be somewhere above 80% for 2019.

Stick within a £500 budget. That means spending £46 less than 2018, that's gotta be achievable, right?

Alter / mend all items that need it. Perhaps I can put this on my 'things to do at weekends' list?

Sell or donate all the things that don't fit or I no longer wear. Ebay or Instagram sales are beckoning...


Links to previous years - 2012   |  2013  |  2014  |  2015  |  2016  |  2017