How Much Do Your Clothes Cost Per Wearing?

Filed in archive General on May 24, 2007

I have never purchased a Tuxedo because I would rarely wear a tuxedo and thus it makes more sense to rent one on the rare occasions when needed. And, yes, I might consider other clothing purchases by saying to myself, "how often are you really going to wear that?" However, I have never calculated out the per-wear cost of any of the items I own or that I might purchase.

J.D. is different:

At first, I wasn't going to buy another pair. When I do the math, I figure I've paid four cents for every time I've worn them. What are the odds that I can find zip-off pants in my size for $6 again? A new pair costs $55. I'd need to wear them every summer for the next 25 years to get the same sort of value out of a them!

I was going to leave it at that, too, before I realized I was being ridiculous. I wear these pants all the time. Even if I only get five years of use from a new pair, I'll only be paying $10 a year, or about twenty cents a use.

By the way, the title of J.D.'s post is "Crossing the Line from Frugal to Cheap." However, his point seems to be that shying away from buying a new, more expensive pair of pants when he knows he'll get plenty of use out of them is where he's crossed the line---he seems completely oblivious to the fact that that calculating the per-use cost of the pants is where he's really lost it.

Am I right? Or is everyone but me crunching the numbers to calculate which articles of your clothing are most cost-effective?

J.D., I kid. You da man, and the rest of us are fighting for second place.