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MoneyWi$e: Avoiding Buyer's Remorse · Talking FACS

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  Welcome to Talking FACS, what you need to know about family,
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  food, finance, and fitness.
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  This nationally recognized, award-winning podcast is hosted by the University
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  of Kentucky Family and Consumer Sciences Extension Program.
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  Our educators share research knowledge with individuals, families,
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  and communities to improve quality of life.
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  How many times have you gotten home from a shopping trip only to find that you've
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  bought clothing that you didn't like or that doesn't actually fit well?
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  And then those jeans or that shirt will hang unworn in the closet as money wasted.
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  In fact, research estimates that the average U.S.
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  Consumer tosses 81 pounds of clothing a year, wearing an item only 7 to 10 times
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  before getting rid of it.
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  If your closet is full of clothes you don't wear, this is a good example of
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  the 80-20 rule, which simply means 80% of our output comes from 20% of input.
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  In other words, a lot of us only wear 20% of our clothes 80% of the time.
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  Does this sound familiar?
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  Wouldn't it be better if we could turn this around and wore about 80% of our
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  clothes almost all of the time.
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  I'm Mindy McCulley, Extension Specialist for Instructional Support with Family
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  and Consumer Sciences Extension, and you're listening to Talking FACS.
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  Today, we're going to talk about having a closet full of clothes that we don't
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  wear and how we can avoid the trap of buyer's remorse.
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  My guest today is Jeanne Badgett, our Senior Extension Associate for Clothing,
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  Textiles, and Household Equipment, and she is going to share a lot of experiences
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  that she has with clothing, including experiencing her own buyer's remorse for
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  some of those items in her closet. Welcome, Jeanne.
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  Hi, Mindy. Thanks for having me. So let's start by talking about what to do
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  when we do have a closet full of clothes that we simply do not wear.
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  Yes. Well, I would say if we have a closet full of clothes that we're not actively
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  wearing, then we may have some buyer's remorse, you know, wondering,
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  why did I buy this? Why is this thing in my closet?
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  Or sometimes the clothes in our closet may be too small, too big,
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  or it may need some mending or hemming.
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  We could probably come up with many excuses and reasons as to why we have a
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  closet full of clothing we don't wear.
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  But ideally, we should be able to and want to wear pretty much anything that
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  is currently in our closet.
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  Yeah, I'm thinking that if I pared down my closet to only those things that
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  I wore, there would be so much more room in my closet and I wouldn't complain
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  every time I walk into it about not having space for the things that I want to find.
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  So is it best to start by decluttering and donating items that we no longer wear?
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  Yes, exactly. So that is what we should do when we have a closet full of clothes
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  we don't wear. Start by decluttering and donating because it's no fun to look
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  in your closet and be frustrated by what you see.
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  So just try to pull out items in your closet that you no longer wear and let
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  them go. You can donate them or pass them on to someone else.
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  But then it's important to be intentional going forward when you do buy clothes
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  to be sure that you're purchasing things that fit well and are flattering for your body.
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  This really helps us feel confident and comfortable in our clothing.
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  If you take a minute and think about the clothes that you normally reach for
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  day after day, those are probably the clothes you feel good wearing most of the time.
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  I've also heard that it's a good idea to choose quality over quantity.
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  So if we have fewer clothing items that are well made, it's usually better than
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  having lots of clothes that are cheaply made and may fall apart after washing.
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  Yeah, yeah. Choosing quality clothing is a good choice. It's a good idea to
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  buy the best you can afford, but I realize that everybody has different budgets
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  and we may have a limited amount of money we can spend on clothing, and that's okay.
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  Or we may prefer the look and styles of clothing that may be of a lower quality, and that's fine too.
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  Do what works for you, and most importantly, wear what makes you feel good about yourself.
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  Okay. So let's say that I have decluttered my closet and I have pared it down
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  to only those things that I wear on a consistent basis.
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  So now I'm ready to go shopping for something new. What are some things that
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  I can do to prevent buying clothes that I'm not going to wear or that I really don't need?
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  Yeah. So exactly. How can we prevent that buyer's remorse with clothing?
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  Yeah. So the first thing I would say is don't buy clothing just because it's on sale.
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  I mean, it's tempting to buy something when you see it on sale,
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  when it's on sale and you think, oh, I bought this and I saved some money.
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  But really, you'll get 100% off or you'll save 100% of your money if you don't buy it at all.
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  If you weren't planning on buying it, do you really need it?
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  That is true. Yes. Spending nothing saves you a whole lot more than spending
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  a little bit for something that you probably won't wear.
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  Yeah. Yeah. And the other thing that sometimes leads to buyer's remorse.
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  When we're out shopping and we see something, it's like, oh,
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  that's a good thing. I should get that just in case.
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  It's so great. Just in case I need something of this or that,
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  you want to make sure you have a place to wear the item you're going to buy
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  because otherwise it'll never get worn.
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  But it's fine to have one or two outfits to have just in case you have a funeral
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  or a job interview or a formal event. So it's certainly fine in that instance.
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  I think that results in, I'm sure more sometimes, is we buy things just because it's trendy.
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  You see things that are popular online or what other people are wearing,
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  so we'll go out and buy those things.
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  But then it may not really look good on our bodies, our body types.
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  So you'll get more wear out of classic styles.
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  But if you do buy something that is trendy, just make sure that the fit and
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  style right for you, because otherwise you're just going to regret buying it.
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  Well, and I think often those trendy styles might be what you talked about earlier,
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  that fashion that's going to quickly fall apart when you wash it.
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  Sometimes it's not always the best quality. Yeah.
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  Find something that you know is going to last. Yes, yeah, exactly.
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  Another one is retail therapy. Retail therapy is not a good reason to go shopping.
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  It's really best to shop when you can think clearly about your purchases instead
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  of being reactive or if you're in a bad mood.
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  Instead, just go rest, go for a walk, get some fresh air.
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  Don't go shopping just because you feel like you deserve something because most
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  likely you'll end up regretting that purchase.
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  Yes yeah yeah i know oh that reminds
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  me another one so how about buying something
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  for that someday body you know the like oh
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  i i know I'm going to lose 10 pounds uh so
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  you buy something maybe because it's on sale it's like oh that'll fit me in
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  six months when i lose that weight but no you should really just buy flattering
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  clothes that fit your body now not for when you lose the weight because really
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  you want to make clothing that makes you feel good about yourself today,
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  not that makes you feel bad for not being able to fit into it.
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  So avoid buying clothes for the someday body.
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  Also clothing that needs alterations. That's a big one too, because we might
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  be trying something on in the dressing room and think like, oh yeah,
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  this will fit if I hem it or add buttons or shorten the straps, those sorts of things.
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  But unless you're actually going to do those things,
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  things, don't invest in another project that's just going to sit in your closet
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  because you haven't made it fit with alterations.
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  Right. And I tell you, I've known someone who will buy anything and she'll figure
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  out some way to make it work.
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  And so if it means wearing rubber
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  bands on her shoes to make them stay on because she bought them too big,
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  and I have to admire her for her ingenuity, but I also think that she might
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  have a problem in just buying everything that she sees. Gotcha.
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  But yeah, but you know what? In that case, that's an example.
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  Let's say that friend, you know, they're putting the rubber bands in their shoes
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  or they're making modifications to wear something. At least they're wearing it.
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  The issue would be is if they bought it with the intention to do something and
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  they never do it and it just sits in the closet and then they start feeling like bad about that.
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  They have remorse over buying that.
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  That's true. which sometimes happens too if you buy clothes that are what we
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  call high maintenance or clothing
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  that needs to be dry cleaned or hand washed and you have to iron it.
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  I mean, there are lots of us that were born to iron. We were born to hand wash.
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  We were born to take things to the dry cleaner and that's fine.
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  And there's a place for some items in our wardrobe that maybe need a little
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  bit of extra care and maintenance to stay presentable.
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  But really just think about when you make those purchases, am I going to be
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  able to care for it? Am I going to be able to wear it?
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  You know, you don't want to regret buying it. You want to buy it and get use out of it.
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  But yes, will you take the time that is required to give it the proper care
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  that it needs? Yes, exactly. Exactly.
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  Perfectly. Yeah. So Jeannie, these are all great tips and I have to laugh because
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  probably have been caught in the trap of some of them, maybe once,
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  maybe twice, maybe more than that.
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  Yes, I have. I must say quickly, right now, my closet...
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  I'd say just like that 80-20 rule, probably it's about 30% of the clothes that
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  I'm wearing most of the time.
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  So really, can I get rid of that 70%? Probably I could get rid of at least 60% of it.
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  But yeah, that's for another podcast.
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  That's right. We'll talk about decluttering another day. Yeah.
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  So when we do realize that we have an item we bought that is something that
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  regret, what do we do now?
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  Okay. Yeah, that's a good question. So that's one reason why it's good to know
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  the return policy before you purchase clothes.
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  Think about, well, how long do I have? Sometimes it's just a few days or seven
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  days, 30 days, and some things may be final sales, so they can't be returned.
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  Or if they are able to be returned, it might be for a store credit only.
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  So definitely make sure you're aware of that because there are times when you're
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  not sure about something, you'll go ahead and buy it with the intention that
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  you probably will return it, but you just want to make sure.
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  And that's okay, but just make sure you follow through because assuming you
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  can take an item back that you regret purchasing, do it, return it,
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  take it back to the store for a refund.
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  And if you shopped online, don't let too much time pass because there are time
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  limits and just follow through so you don't get stuck with something that you do regret.
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  Well, and I recently took something back because I had bought a shirt to go
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  with something specific.
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  And when I got home, it did not exactly match what I had bought it for.
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  And the color in my head was not the exact proper color.
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  Yeah. So I took it back because I thought, I'm not going to keep this.
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  I probably won't wear it with something else.
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  And the clerk said, is there something wrong with it? I said,
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  no, it just didn't match what I bought it to go with. And she said, and you brought it back?
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  And she said, I would have just kept it. And I said,
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  I'm trying to be very intentional about what I purchase these days.
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  And I still need something to go with that
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  other item that I had received as a gift. So it wasn't like I bought something that didn't match.
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  I said, so I'm going to have to find something at some point.
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  So I don't want to have this shirt that I don't need.
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  Yeah, that's interesting that you're saying that because I think a lot of us
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  will do that. I mean, we'll just say it's not really worth it to return it.
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  I mean, sometimes it might cost more money to take it back in time and gas because
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  if you don't want to have all those clothes in your closet that you regret buying
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  or you're not wearing, that's why. try to take it back.
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  But I mean, occasionally though, you might realize after you've had it for a
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  long time, like, oh wait, I don't want this.
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  And maybe the return window has expired or you forget you don't have the receipt
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  anymore or you cut the tags right away and then you go to put it on and you change your mind.
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  And that does happen. If you want to try to take it back, I would say try to
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  take it back to the store and just be honest.
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  Tell them, hey, I've had this for a while, But by loss of receipt.
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  Would you still take it back?
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  Because sometimes as long as
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  it's unworn, and usually if it's got the tags on it, they can return it.
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  You may not get as much money back, and you'll get that money back in a store credit.
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  But at least you no longer have the item in your closet. And then you have at
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  least some money that you can purchase something that you will wear for someone.
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  Yeah, exactly. Yeah, so it's not always a you're stuck with it situation.
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  There might be some way to get out of the buyer's remorse and deal with your issues.
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  So if you can't return it, you know, there's always the opportunity to give
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  it to somebody else or donate it or consign it because somebody might want that
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  piece of clothing somewhere.
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  Yeah, yeah, exactly. Because that's what I would really hope people would get
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  from this listening to us is that it's okay to let go of clothing that you regret purchasing,
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  or you no longer wear or no longer fit you, even if you spent good money on
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  it, because the money is already spent.
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  So keeping too many unworn items in your closet, really, it just makes it
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  harder for you to locate the clothes you do love to wear.
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  So, I mean, that's it in a nutshell.
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  I have many times gone to find something I really wanted to wear.
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  It's like, it must be in the laundry or something. I can't find it.
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  And not only to find it a couple of days later, and it was just squeezed in
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  between two other things and hanging in the closet.
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  Yeah, yeah, exactly, exactly, yeah.
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  Jeanne, I love these tips. And I can't promise that I am going to always follow
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  your advice, but I'm going to do my best to try to follow your advice.
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  And I hope that our listeners will as well.
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  Yes, no problem. Because I also don't always follow my own advice.
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  So, you know, it's all good.
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  So thank you so much for having me on today. I really appreciate the opportunity
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  to share this information with everybody. Thank you. That's great.
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