Year-Long Clothing Budget: December Update and Final Tallies

It's year-long budget recap time again! As a quick refresher, this year I outlined my clothing budget to add closet basics to my wardrobe each month, putting together a list of items I need to help fill in the holes in my closet and assigning each item to a particular month of the year. I've capped each month's budget at $200 total. Here's what my calendar looks like:





For December, I was scheduled to buy skinny jeans and black booties, but what with the holidays, my upcoming surgery, and our pending move to Portland, it didn't seem like a good use of my resources to spend money on clothes right now. Those items went on my Christmas wishlist instead, so maybe I'll still get them!

Here are a few things I learned from my little year-long clothing budget challenge:

1. I allotted myself $1800 for the 9 months of the project and only spent $678 for all of the above items! I was able to take advantage of sales most months and also started consigning clothing and shopping at thrift stores/consignment shops more. It felt good to be recycling items that others have donated, plus it kept more money in my pocket for fun expensive things like hip surgery and moving to a new state! 
2. It was great for me to have more of a focus when shopping. I noticed that not only did I not spend as much as I had allotted for this project, but I also was more conscious about purchases outside of the budget project. 
3. This project coincided midway through with my adoption of a capsule wardrobe lifestyle. The two things worked well together--weeding out unwanted items from my closet to build my capsules allowed me to figure out where the holes in my closet were, many of which were filled by the budget project. 
4. Because the year-long list was comprised only of closet basics that I was previously missing, I've gotten a ton of use out of each item I bought.
5. That being said, I did have a few mishaps, like a couple of tops and a pair of booties, that were not up to snuff despite all my shopping research--so it's not a foolproof plan ;)
6. Overall, this budget project helped me to create a much more usable closet while keeping spending and shopping urges under control. 

Did anyone else try this budget project with me? What were your experiences?

Other posts in this series:
Year-Long Clothing Budget Update: November Purchases

Year-Long Clothing Budget Update: October Purchases

Year-Long Clothing Budget Update: August and September Purchases

Year-Long Clothing Budget Update: July Purchases

Year-Long Clothing Budget Update: June Purchases

Year-long Clothing Budget Update: May Purchases and a Weekly Wishlist!

Year-long Clothing Budget Update: April Purchases

Year-long Clothing Budget Update: March Purchases

Building a Wardrobe: Conclusions and My New Budget Plan