We've talked about clothing budgets before, but not about how you PLAN your clothing budget. So let's discuss! Some questions to consider:

• DO you plan your clothing budget, or just try to stop shopping when you feel like you've spent too much?
• have you had a clothing budget for limited times in your life, like maternity clothes or clothes for a big new job?
• do you differentiate clothes, shoes, and makeup in your budget plan?
• do you save your budget in a special place? (you know I love my automated savings!)
• if you purchase clothes for multiple people (e.g., partner, child, parent), does each one have a budget in your mind?
• how do you plan for big sale events like the Nordstrom Anniversary Sale and Amazon Prime Day sales?

{related: not sure what to do first/next in your personal finance journey? here's our money roadmap}

We've talked a lot about clothes and money over the years, including picking the most affordable work clothes, rounding up our favorite low-cost clothing basics, given tips on how to stop shopping and shop your closet, as well as discussing fashion math and thrifting for workwear.

My Clothing Budget Planning

To answer my own questions… I've always been such a creature of sales that I DON'T have a huge plan for clothing budget, and I've found it hard to track since a lot of my kids' clothes and my clothes will come from the same stores, or some stores sell a mixture of clothes with other household items and groceries, like Amazon and other big box stores.

I HAVE kept track over the years of money given to me by the women in my family — the small little birthday checks and so forth that, when added up, can be a big purchase. (This was how I bought my first designer bag!) I've also always loved the idea of going on a shopping vacation such as to New York or Paris and having a budget in mind for that.

Back when I started as a lawyer, I think I did have a budget (and a relatively high one, for me at least) to buy new suits and other workwear — it wasn't my entire summer associate savings, but the money definitely came from there.

{related: financial tips for new lawyers (or other women in their first high-paying jobs!)}

Even for maternity clothes I didn't really have a budget, I just tried to keep costs as low as possible. A girlfriend who was pregnant at the same time as me was buying much nicer maternity clothes, figuring that she wanted multiple children so she would wear them more — but the fashion math is so iffy on those because you don't know how many future children you'll have, or if you'll be the same size in those pregnancies…

I have had a general idea of what is a “good price” for various clothes over the years, though, and tend to stick with it…

In terms of clothing budget planning for others, I suppose I have it easy because I'm buying for my husband and sons, and not one of them truly cares about clothes…

Over to you, readers — I know a number of readers have mentioned over the years that they have explicit clothing budgets. How do you plan your clothing budget, how do you account for other people and for big sales/lucky finds, and how do you keep track and adjust from year to year?

Stock photo via Stencil.

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A few months ago, when I wrote a Coffee Break about a clothes hamper (after buying it for my son's room), I was struck by one reader's comment: “This hamper may have just solved an issue in my house! Definitely going to check it out.” While hampers aren't something we think about much day to day, switching to a nicer one can make life a tiny bit easier — or just rid your room of an eyesore.

We've previously talked about dry cleaning, washing workwear, and what to do with worn-but-not-dirty clothes — but never hampers, so we're rounding up a few today!

With clothes hampers, you've got tons of choices in terms of size, style, and structure (sections to separate clothing, for example), and wading through what's available online can involve WAY too much scrolling. Here's a cheat sheet of four great hampers.

4 Great Hampers for Your Home

The Container Store

It would seem wrong to do a hamper roundup without including The Container Store. This lightweight, smaller hamper is a good pick if you tend to do laundry frequently or don't have much room for something large. (Plus, having a smaller hamper can motivate you to wash your clothes more frequently … in theory!)

This hamper, which is one of the highest-rated at The Container Store, is woven from cotton and jute and has convenient built-in handles. It's sturdy enough to stand up but is collapsible in case you need to store it. The design and colors (pictured, plus cream/brown) are subtle enough to blend into your bedroom decor.

This hamper measures 16″ wide and 21″ high and is $39.99.

Brightroom from Target

Why aren't there more corner hampers? It's a question for the ages. Anyway, especially if you don't have many places in your bedroom or bathroom that would work for a typical hamper, a corner style like this can be a smart solution. This highly-rated hamper is lightweight and has a woven paper exterior.

If you have cats, this is probably not the hamper for you, as they'd probably gleefully make it a scratching post as soon as you bring it home.

This hamper measures 14″ x 14″ x 22″ and is $35. With the AR feature on Target's website, you can see what it looks like in your room to get a better idea of its size.

{related: the best products for closet organization}

Best Choice

Want to keep your clothes out of sight and out of mind? Here's a two-compartment hamper available in five neutral colors. With its metal frame (and 13-lb. weight) it's sturdier than many other hampers, and it has two built-in handles. No need to carry the whole thing around your home, though — it also contains two removable, machine-washable, linen liners.

The hamper's two sections can either help you pre-sort your laundry or provide separate spaces for you and a partner to toss your clothes. (Fellow cat owners, beware: This is definitely another “Yep, looks like a scratching post to me!” item.)

This hamper from Best Choice measures 12.75″ deep x 24″ wide x 24″ high and starts at $69.99 at Amazon. (Looking for a higher-end version? This seems to be a dupe for hampers like this $269 option from Pottery Barn.)

{related: how to make your clothing last longer}

Colonial Mills

Colonial Mills hampers are definitely worth a look if you're not into boxy styles. The Rhode Island company's hampers are made in the U.S.A. and have a softer look (and feel) than a lot of other options. (They also make baskets and rugs!) This wool-blend hamper is handmade and available in six solid colors, including light gray and teal. It also has handy, er, handles on the sides and lid.

The hamper is 16″ wide and “24” high and is $127 at Home Depot, which also has other Colonial Mills hampers available, including fun striped ones.

Check out Colonial Mills's website for many more hampers (and other items) and a 60%-off-everything sale.

Readers, do you have a favorite hamper? (Why are good ones so hard to find?)

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Wondering how to make your clothes last longer? This can be great from a budgetary perspective as well as an environmental one — so here are some tips on caring for your clothes to help them last longer, including laundry tips to extend the life of your wardrobe!

How to Make Your Clothes Last Longer

1. Give your clothing a new life by upcycling things you no longer wear. Dye a dress, cut up an old shirt for rags (I've done this with old tees made from thicker 100% cotton), turn a too-small item into a tote bag, and so on. Check out YouTube, Pinterest, and Reddit for inspiration.

2. Learn to mend your clothing. Again, YouTube tutorials are great for this if you don't have someone to show you in person. While it may not fly in a lot of offices, visible mending is a fun technique — Better Homes & Gardens has tips, and r/visiblemending has 200,000+ members sharing ideas and advice.

3. Use care techniques that are gentler on your clothes. This Cosmo article lists 25 tips on doing just that, from treating stains ASAP, to washing jeans inside out, to steaming clothes rather than ironing. (Here are our tips for ironing less!)

4. Remove pilling from sweaters rather than ditching them. You don't always have to get rid of clothes that are pilling — use a battery-operated fabric shaver, or a reusable or disposable razor. (Need tips to prevent pilling in the first place? Good Housekeeping has them.)

{related: how often do you wash your workwear and other clothes?}

Make Laundry Day Greener

1. Wash clothes at home rather than taking them to the dry cleaner (even some “dry clean only” clothing!), and in cases when it's feasible and not, you know, gross, consider washing clothing less often in general. (Also a thing, apparently: “washless clothes.” Hmmm.)

(The last time we discussed dry cleaning at home, readers really liked these products:)

2. Don't overuse detergent. This Real Simple article tells you how to know whether you're using the correct amount.

3. Reduce microplastics released from your laundry by adding a washing machine filter or special laundry bags/balls. Wirecutter delved into this a couple of years ago, and the National Park Service has tips for reducing laundry microfiber shedding.

Readers, what are your favorite ways to make your clothing last longer? Do you regularly do any of the above?

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How are you saving and investing your money right now? And what are you doing with existing investments (such as I-bonds) that are earning less than they were a year or two ago?

As Investopedia notes, the new composite rate is 4.28% isn't bad — but it definitely isn't the 10% from recent months.

For my $.02, we have probably too much in index funds at this point in our lives (85%+, maybe 90%+), and we always have too much in high-yield savings accounts (HYSAs), so I’ve been trying to diversify a bit with CDs and yes, some investments in 30-year treasury bonds. Our HYSAs are earning 4%, which is about what you can find in CDs now – but because HYSAs may change at any point I’m still putting money back into CDs when they come due.

We aren’t moving money out of the 30-year I-bonds because (given our lay of the land) the rates aren’t that bad, and the sums aren’t too huge a percentage… but every 6 months when there’s a new rate announced I’m trying to remember to monitor it, ha.

(We use Ally, Vanguard, and Schwab primarily, but more out of habit than anything. I find it easiest to do CDs in Ally instead of through my other online brokers – that way if they come due and I’m not paying attention, the money isn’t going to a settlement fund earning a low interest rate.)

Readers, how about you? How are you saving and investing your money right now? And what are you doing with existing investments (such as I-bonds) that are earning less than they were a year or two ago?

Stock photo via Stencil.

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While we've published past posts sharing individual experiences with plastic surgery such as rhinoplasty and breast reductions, as well as non-invasive procedures like Botox, microblading (a guest poster), and laser hair removal (Kat and two friends, plus an open thread), we've never had a general open thread about plastic surgery. Let's do one today! What are your thoughts about plastic surgery in general? Is a particular one popular among your friends? Have you had, or considered, plastic surgery? If you've had plastic surgery, how have you handled it at the office in terms of time away / changed appearance?

The pandemic undoubtedly led to a huge uptick in plastic surgery procedures, in part because staring at ourselves on Zoom for hours typically didn't spark an ego boost (even with the distractions of those fun Zoom backgrounds we were using). Working from home made recovery from plastic surgery easier and potentially more discreet, too.

In 2022, the American Society of Plastic Surgeons released a report with these stats:

Member surgeons nationwide and found more than three-quarters of cosmetic-focused plastic surgery practices are seeing more business than before the pandemic, with nearly 30 percent reporting their business has at least doubled.

Doubled!

Here's one more excerpt:

The survey also found that women between the ages of 31 and 45 were by far the most likely to request popular procedures such as breast augmentations, liposuction and tummy tucks. … [M]illennials are not only savvy about their options, but are also more open about their choice to seek plastic surgery than older generations.

In the comments on last year's “aging intentionally” post, which was more about “minor” procedures such as Dysport/Botox (young women getting “preventative Botox” is a whole other story!), and on other posts, readers have discussed their myriad thoughts on plastic surgery.

Let's consolidate that discussion today — and here are some questions to kick it off:

1. What do you think about plastic surgery in general — for you, and for others? (That could be either for women / feminine-presenting people specifically, or for any gender.)

2. Do you notice a specific age/generation of your friends (and others) deciding to get plastic surgery? Does a specific surgery seem particularly popular among them?

3. Have you had, or considered, plastic surgery? What kind, how many procedures, and what were the results?

4. If you've had plastic surgery, how have you handled it at the office in terms of time away / changed appearance?

The post Open Thread: What Are Your Thoughts on Plastic Surgery? appeared first on Corporette.com.

If you want to cut down on laundry and dry cleaning — to save time or money, or reduce your everyday environmental impact — you're not going to be tossing your entire outfit into the hamper every day. So what are your best tips on what to do with clothes that are worn but not dirty?

We thought this would be an interesting topic for an open thread, so let's chat about it today! What do you do with your semi-dirty/half-dirty clothes that still look and smell clean, readers? Are there certain items you always wash after every wear?

{related: how often do you wash your workwear and other clothes?}

When to Wash Your Clothes: Advice from the Experts

Guidelines for how often to wash clothes are often surprising (and some seem silly), and the advice varies. Wash bras after three to four wears, says Real Simple (hahaha). Vogue UK instructs us to wash our sweaters once a season. Wash jeans after every three wears, Good Housekeeping advises, while the CEO of Levi's famously said to solely spot-clean denim — no washing machine needed. Hmm. We've all got our own preferences!

What to Do With Clothes That Are Worn But Not Dirty

No matter what you think of rules like this, when you have an item of clothing that's worn but not dirty, where do you put it? Here are some options:

1. A clothes/blanket ladder: This wood-look ladder from Amazon has a handy basket at the bottom and is under $30, while this $66 one from West Elm is made from powder-coated steel.

2. A chair — or, in my case, a blanket chest where cashmere sweaters worn once can “air out” for a bit

{related: “dry clean only” clothes and how to wash them}

3. A valet or rack: This stainless steel valet with a bamboo base is under $50 at Amazon, while Pottery Barn has a recycled-wood/recycled-metal rack with a shelf for $229.

4. A spot with cedar or lavender sachets: Amazon has a pack containing 10 of each for under $20 total. You can hang them on hangers from the little ribbons on top or put them in a drawer to keep things fresh.

5. A designated drawer or closet area

{related: everything you need to know about dry cleaning women's suits}

Readers, do tell: What's your routine for worn-but-not-dirty clothes?

Stock photo via Stencil.

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