“The price of anything is the
amount of life you exchange for it”.
I think it was H D Thoreau who muttered those wise words. And it got me
thinking.
Thinking about how much life gets wasted on meaningless self-lobotomising activities.
If you add up the
hours you’ve spent watching mind-numbing TV, or waiting in for tradesmen, playing Angry Birds or
even sleeping, it would add up to years, even decades of your life.
OK, we’ve all got to sleep and personally I love my bed as much as the
next woman (or should I say man?). But I worked out that if I made a few small
changes to my life the impact could be enormous.
For example, did you know that:
If you get up 15 minutes earlier every day you will
gain ninety one extra
hours of waking life in one year. That’s days and days of extra time!
If you save £1 a day every day for two years, you'll be able to travel
anywhere in the world.
If you write one hundred words a day in two years you will have a
full-length novel.
If you show real interest in everyone you meet every
day, in two months you could have 60 new friends.
If you over-pay on your mortgage by £20 pounds a
month you’ll pay off your mortgage 20 months earlier - and save £5515 in interest alone. (based
on 100,000 mortgage over 25 years at 5% interest)
If you do one extra press-up every day you'll double your fitness level in 3 months.
If you photograph one small thing every day, after a year
you'll have boosted your levels of awareness - and have an awesome photojournal.
If you donate £1.25 a week to Oxfam you will buy 288 buckets of pure,
clean drinkable buckets of water a year for a family.
If you cut out one can of fizzy drink every day you'll lose 10 pounds in 6 months (without making any other changes).
If you cut out one hour of TV from your life you
would have an extra 7 hours free time a week, or the equivalent of two full days extra every month.
It all adds up doesn’t it? Small changes equal big difference. That’s exactly
the philosophy beind our Do Something Different behaviour change technique. People make one small change regularly and they tell us a big shift soon happens in their life.
Today I’ve been talking on the radio about me-time. I was supporting a
campaign by Palmolive to encourage women to claim back me-time. Unlike blokes,
not many women have a shed to retreat to. So the idea is that we can pamper
ourselves for 20 minutes a day in the shower (with their yummy Ayurituelsshower gels) and restore our health and well-being. Scented candles, nice
music, petals and a glass of fizz are optional extras of course. But think
about it, if you have a pampering experience for 20 minutes in the shower every day, you’ll
save the cost of going to a spa…
HAVE YOU ever changed one small thing and found it's added up to a big difference?
By Alice Payne, Queensland University of Technology
There’s a polyester mullet skirt gracing a derrière near you. It’s short at the front, long at the back, and it’s also known as the hi-lo skirt. Like fads that preceded it, the mullet skirt has a short fashion life, and although it will remain potentially wearable for years, it’s likely to soon be heading to the charity shop or to landfill.
The mullet skirt may not last more than a couple of months as a fad, but the fast-fashion trend has shown considerably more longevity. With Spanish brand Zara compressing lead times to as little as 13 days, and the UK’s Topshop releasing 300 new styles a week, fashion trends are being captured and sold far quicker than ever before.
Catwalk styles can become high street fashion within weeks. AAP
In Australia, although Zara and Topshop only arrived in 2011, many local retailers have been following an accelerated fashion cycle since the early 2000s. Valleygirl releases 65 new styles per week, Supre has daily deliveries, and the mid-market Witchery boasts 400 new styles per month.
Fast fashion has enabled a democratic engagement with the luxury of constant novelty, once only the domain of the very wealthy. Now high fashion trends are instantly accessible online, and the physical garments are for sale at prices which have never been lower.
However, the garment’s price tag does not acknowledge the environmental and social cost of overconsumption.
In the UK, some 30 kilograms of textile products, per person, per year go to landfill. What isn’t sent to landfill goes to charity. A single Smith Family sorting centre in New South Wales sorts 10000 tonnes of donated clothing each year. Much of this will be sent to developing countries, a trade that can be disruptive to local textile industries.
Cotton requires a large amount of water to grow – but often ends in landfill. AAP
The two most popular fibres for fashion apparel – cotton and polyester – each have considerable ecological impacts in production. Conventional cotton alone accounts for one quarter of global pesticide use, linked to poisonings and air and groundwater contamination. In addition, cotton requires a global average of 11,000 litres of water per kilogram, to produce.
With a world population of seven billion, and a projected nine billion by 2050, food security and water security will become increasingly pressing policy concerns. The volatility of cotton prices in 2010/11 is possibly a foretaste of this, with cotton prices rising to their highest level in the history of the New York Stock Exchange.
The launch of Spanish retailer Zara in Australia has seen lead times compressed to a mere 13 days. AAP
Australian fast-fashion retailers face additional short-term challenges. In 2011, bricks-and-mortar retail was at its lowest ebb in Australia since 1962, and across the fast fashion market, clothing was reduced up to 70%. Local labels are affected by the rising fibre prices (not only cotton but polyester of cotton quality) and rising Chinese manufacturing costs. The forthcoming carbon price may also lead to rises in the cost of freight and raw materials. In addition, a greater number of consumers are choosing to buy clothing online from cheaper overseas e-tailers.
Australian designers and retailers can adapt to these challenges through examining the garment life cycle to identify points of intervention. For example, more efficient use of resources would see disposable faddish items such as the mullet skirt collected at end-of-life for closed-loop recycling, in which its polyester can become feedstock for new textiles. (See Kate Fletcher and Matchilda Tham’s Lifetimes project, or Patagonia’s Common Threads program.)
Crucially, fast fashion is not merely fast material throughput of garments, but a sophisticated global image and information system which, to some degree, is weightless. As fashion is intangible, it is not necessarily tethered to the purchase of new clothing. An example is The Uniform Project, in which blogger Sheena Matheiken wore the same dress for a year, styled in 365 different ways. With this perspective, a fast-fashion company’s role may evolve into that of a service provider, not simply a retailer. These services may include styling advice, alterations, clothing libraries or collection of the garment at end-of-life.
In Australia, Supre and Sportsgirl have followed the lead of Topshop and American Apparel in offering a small selection of vintage clothing alongside their new stock.
There is no contradiction in fast-fashion retailers selling second-hand clothing, as the speed of trends mean that styles come in and out of fashion so frequently that some version of “vintage” style is always in style. Within the context of fast fashion as ‘post-brand’, second-hand styles simply become additional grist for the mill, as consumers will mix and remix the product (of whatever provenance) in their personal, restless search for novelty and individuality.
Fast-fashion principles also drive the success of online marketplaces such as eBay, in which second-hand clothing can be circulated again and again, revalourised by individual consumers. Similarly, the Salvos charity stores in Australia and Oxfam in the UK, now sell second-hand fashion online, grouped into ‘lookbooks’, complete with fashion shoots.
While the Rococo excess of a new frock a week may be unsustainable, a different fast fashion – one that relies less on overconsumption of new garments and more on the inventive reuse of existing materials – can emerge. Alice Payne does not work for, consult to, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has no relevant affiliations. This article was originally published at The Conversation.
Read the original article.
We are thrilled to have this guest blog from Jennifer Baumgarter, Psy.D.
Jennifer is author of You Are What You Wear: What your clothes reveal about you. Here she shows you how to manage your wardrobe wisely.
These are tough financial
times that we live in, but having a small budget does not mean that we need to
skimp on style. Contrary to popular belief, you can build a fabulous wardrobe
without compromising your credit! Here's how:
Assess and Clean the Slate: The best wardrobes are built on items that are already in your
closet. Before you shop, examine what you already have. Keep what works for
your lifestyle, age, body, and coloring, and
what actually makes you feel good. Remove anything that does not work with
other pieces in your closet, has not been worn, does not work with your
external self, and does not enhance the internal. The clothes that you choose
to sell or consign will give you the seed money for new pieces.
Find Your Look and Stick to It: Don’t walk out the door to shop until you know what your look
will be. Use the pieces that remain in your wardrobe as a guide. Determine what
your wardrobe classics are, not the
ones that you are told are classic. If you are still having trouble, take the
time to create a style file with magazine pictures or online images. You will
notice a pattern of items and looks that you prefer, and it is those that you
should shop for. Anything that doesn’t fit within your look, whether it be
colourful or monochromatic, classic or trendy, safari or nautical, should not be
purchased. This ensures that all items work together, and you will actually get
wear out of what you buy.
Less is More: Paradoxically,
the fewer pieces you have in your wardrobe the more options you have.
Spearheaded by Donna Karan in the 1980s, a capsule collection was composed of
the least amount of pieces that would create the most outfit options. When you
are on a budget you should focus on capsule pieces, such as a sheath dress,
jean, blazer, or trousers, that will work in all seasons, for different events,
throughout weight fluctuations, etc. These pieces must be multipurpose and
multifunctional…and machine washable! If you must change things up for the
season or trend, switch your shoes, jewellery, handbags, and other accessories
that are often less expensive items.
Shop Smart: Before you swipe that
card or take out that cash, answer one question as objectively as you can: Is
this item a need or a want? If it is a want, and you are concerned about your
budget, put the item back. If the item is a need, buy if you are able to afford
it. When buying during sales or in discount or second hand stores, where you
may be more tempted to buy inexpensive items, ask the same question. This also
holds true when shopping with friends or sales associates who might influence
you to buy items when you don’t truly need them. Treating oneself is important,
but if your financial situation does not allow for extravagances, buying out of
want is merely a waste of money that is better suited for a need.
Read more on Jennifer's blog on The Psychology of Dress here.
The average shopper will spend £673.56 on gifts this Christmas.
But how much of that will be spent on the wrong people?
I was thrilled to be asked by Warrington-based Golden Square Shopping Centre to come up with a 'gift formula' to help people decide how much to spend on everyone on their gift list this Christmas.
You can cap how much you spend.
Whether they’re having a cut-back Christmas or a festive blow-out.
After all this is the time of year when most people feel under pressure to spend more than they should. Many shoppers will be tempted to impulse buy, spend too much and risk going into debt – a real issue in the current economic climate.
Ian Cox, Marketing Manager at Golden Square said: “We realise that it may sound strange that a shopping centre is helping shoppers to cut back on their Christmas budget, but this season is the time of year that sees most people slip into debt."
The formula takes into account two key factors: your current financial situation as well as the closeness to the person you are spending for.
So what/s the magic formula?
Work out how much you should spend on everyone this Christmas:
Average spend - Financial situation X Closeness = CHRISTMAS SPEND
To work this out you:
1.Take the average amount you spend on most gifts.
Do this by taking the total amount you spend and divide it by the number of people you buy for (exclude your partner or anyone you spend a lot more on).
2.Reduce the amount to take account of your financial situation.
Unless we’ve won the lottery, we should all take off 5% for austerity/inflation or up to 20% if you’ve hit harder times.
3.Adjust that amount for closeness*.
Add half as much again for someone you are very close to. But consider spending just a quarter of that amount for anyone you are buying for out of obligation.
*The Closeness Scale
See where the person you are buying for fits on the scale below. Then adjust the amount that you spend.
I’m just buying this person a present out of habit/obligation.
I’m buying this person a present partly out of obligation
I’m buying them a present because we are close
I’m buying them a present because we are very close
Divide by 4
Divide by 2
Multiply by 1.2
Multiply by 1.5
So, for example, a person spending £300 on 10 people last year, reduced 5% for inflation and buying it for a person partly out of obligation, should spend just £14.25 on their gift.
In short:
Use the ‘gift giver’ formula to help bring real meaning to gift giving.
Remember to spend according to how close you are to the person, and keep within your financial means.
If that means not giving to those who have become an ‘obligation’, that makes sound economic sense.
You can read more about my psychological research into gift-giving (and gift failure) here.
And remember Sheconomics is stuffed full of tips to help you manage your budget.
Did you know women buy half their body weight in clothes every year? We're lucky enough to have a guest blog here from Kate Nightingale, Style Psychologist, with great tips on how to spend wisely when adding more weight to your wardrobe this summer! We've also added some extra cheap fashion tips at the end - for those on a strict budget.
Kate recommends:
Kate Nightingale, Style Psychologist
5 SUMMER STYLES FOR UNDER £200
You leave home in the morning and the sun is shining. You look up and feel the warmth of the sunshine on your face and almost instinctively start to smile. Yes, summer’s here!
You smile when seeing the sun but do you smile when dressing up in the morning? Do you think you need more money to achieve the right look? You really don’t need to spend a fortune. I've created 5 summer looks here all under £200, so you don’t have to feel guilty after spending your hard-earned money.
WHITE TAILORED
This trend is all about crisp and sharp lines. The clothes are simple and elegant in white with ecru and cream. A cool look for hot city days, though I wouldn’t advice this trend for lawyers, accountants and finance specialist. White, in these professions, still seems to be reserved for informal occasions.
Make this trend work with a white suit that you look good in, accessorised with a simple white top and sandals.
Kate has chosen Mango white Nastacia suit – jacket £89.90 and trousers £49.90, white cotton vest by H&M £5.99 and simple beige sandals by H&M £24.99.
The total for this look is £170.78.
FLORALS
A fun trend for summer! There are plenty of flowers around at this time of year, why not get some florals into your wardrobe too? A truly perennial trend that will come back every spring/summer season.
Here I've created an outfit that is simple, elegant and understated. You can wear floral trends on the beach easily, but this shows you how to make it work for the evening.
Kate has put together Monsoon fusion kew embroidered dress £85, Zara patent sandal with jewel and bow £59.99 with a Monsoon brooch gold clutch £35 and chandelier earrings £12.
The total for the outfit is £191.99.
COLOUR BLOCKING
A statement a trend for the woman who wants to be seen. The colours are bright and the combinations striking. An elegant and comfortable look for people working in fashion or media, though perhaps only the bravest city workers.
Kate has put together Zara double cloth pink skirt £25.99, red loose top £29.99, satin colour block sandal £39.99, patent red shoulder bag £39.99.
The total for the look is £135.96.
NAUTICAL
A trend that adapts easily to any body shape and occasion. It’s ideal for weekends but equally suitable for a summer day in the city.The basic colours are white, navy and red. The dominant patterns are stripes.
This is a weekend look that's casual but still elegant.
Kate has put together Mango white jeans £24.90, Esprit navy striped jumper £14.99, Kurt Geiger red patent pumps £75 and Ted Baker Ikon red handbag £24.50.
All together £139.39.
SEVENTIES
A decade of hippies and disco freaks. It’s full of floral and ethnic patterns, maxi dresses, platform shoes and big accessories. The colours are quite natural, browns, oranges, reds, yellows and greens. Make this look work by sticking with basic garments and investing in accessories. Or get the full look by investing in a pattered garment and adding lot of cheaper accessories.
Kate has combined H&M floral print maxi dress in dirty orange £29.99, Miss KG brown platform sandals £45 and some H&M accessories, ethnic bracelets £6.99, feather necklace £5.99 and faux crystal ring £3.99.
Definitely the cheapest trend at only £91.96.
Thank you to Kate, whose passion is helping women to express themselves through their own personal style.
Don't be tempted to buy more clothes if you're already in debt or have a bulging wardrobe and a cash crisis. Here are some Sheconomical tips for the cash-strapped fashionista....
Trousers getting worn out or too hort can be cut-down into summer shorts - wear with opaque tights on less-than sunny days
Whites, such as blouses and t-shirts, can be given a new lease of life by using a whitener in the wash (try Dylon Ultra Whitener)
A cheap length of bright ethnic fabric works well as a sarong, shawl or wrap-round top
Jaded or boring garments can be revived by dyeing them bright funky colours
Will the festive season knock the stuffing out of your budget this year? Is it going to be a blow-out Christmas, or will you be sipping Lambrini instead of Laurent-Perrier on the 25th?
According to new research UK shoppers are going to rein in their spending this Christmas, spending on average £26 less per head than last year.
It seems austerity messages have hit home and people are thinking about how to make their money go further. Does that sound familiar to you?
The CFEB’s survey says we’re more savvy this year than we were five years ago:
·Nearly twice as many of us (37%) now set a Christmas budget and intend to stick to it (up from 19% in 2005)
·6 out of ten people will post cards earlier to cash in on cheaper 2nd class postage rates (up from 40% in 2005)
·Twice as many of us (16%) are happy to source second-hand items as gifts (up from 8% in 2005)
·More than half of us (54%) say we’ll cut back on the food budget by buying supermarket’s own brands (up from 25% in 2005)
This is great news and should mean that Santa's the only one who'll be starting 2011 in the red. Although a worrying 34% of people say they will fund Christmas from their December pay packet. Then they've still got another long month to get through before the next pay day. And…er…no they haven’t done anything so far this year to help spread the cost.
So, while I'm not saying ho ho ho to those who intend to have a no frills, fully paid up Christmas I'm reminded of psychological research showing that intentions don't always translate into reality. Will those good intentions melt away when the jingle bells and seasonal smells of the festive stores seduce us into slipping extra boxes of baubles and novelty socks into the basket?
Will we be overcome with guilt at the paucity of the present pile and nip out for another singing fish at the last minute? Might we even risk buying things people don't need with money we don't have? It’s the unplanned, impulsive purchases that can trip us up and, as sheconomics research shows, women are especially likely to get overwhelmed by the urge to splurge.
Check out the cheery CFEB Christmas website www.moneymadeclear.org.uk/christmas
Luckily the Consumer Finance Education Body has some great tips on its Christmas website launched today. There is a Christmas cut-back calculator to work out where you can release cash from other expenses to cover the seasonal spend. Plus they’ve got lots more Christmas tips and really accessible, useful (and free) financial advice.
Check out their tips now and be a savvy spender this Christmas.
IF YOU'D LIKE TO HEAR MY PODCAST INTERVIEW ON THIS TOPIC GO TO
http://www.sheconomics.com/news.html
Have you got an old favourite lurking in your wardrobe? I know I have.
It’s a gorgeous but simple black Vivien Westwood dress. I must have worn it over a hundred times already, but I'm convinced I'll be toddling off to get my pension in it in years to come. Topped with a plastic rain bonnet of course.
In these days where everything seems disposable and new items are in danger of going out of fashion before you get them home, some research from M&S* money is quaintly reassuring.
Apparently six million women hang on to their ‘LBD’ (little black dress) or its equivalent for an average of 12 years.
These are what the researchers found are women’s top old favourites, with one in ten items dating back to the 80’s!
1 Shoes
2 Jacket/coat
3 Top
4 Handbag
5 Jeans
Most people surveyed said they hung on to the item because it was of a quality that stood the test of time. I wonder how many of today’s ‘cheap’ fashion items will last 12 years, or even 12 washes?
It does highlight what a false economy those quick-fix low-price Primark-type purchases can be. Clearly cost-per-wear - not actual price ticket - is the critical factor to take into account when buying fashion.
*M&S Money (the trading name of Marks & Spencer Financial Services) was founded in 1985 as the financial services division of Marks and Spencer Group plc, making 2010 the company's 25th anniversary. The company is a top-ten credit card provider and the second-largest travel money retailer in the UK. M&S Money also offers a range of insurance cover, including home insurance and car insurance, as well as loans, savings and investment products.
Simonne's comment on this week's emergency budget:
Although it was a harsh Budget, overall some of the measures weren't as bad
as many were predicting. There's also a significant emphasis on cut back in
the public sector being propped up by concessions made to the private
sector, especially entrepreneurial businesses.
Click here to download our summary of the highlights....
Why does the Budget have to be as dull as dishwater?
One twitterer (is that a word?!) captured my sentiment in the following tweet:
"Alistair Darling has made as much of an impact as farting at thunder!".
There was lots to grab the headlines to keep most of the electorate sweet, unless you’re a cider drinking, chain- smoker buying a property worth over £1m!
From what I can see he played it really safe, not giving the Opposition any ammunition in the run-up to the election.
Anyhow, here’s a brief summary of some of the highlights:
·ISA allowances to increase in line with inflation from 2011 (maximum £10,200 from 6 April).
·0% stamp duty threshold to rise from £125K to £250K for first time buyers.
·Stamp duty to rise from 4% to 5% for properties above £1m.
·Child tax credit to rise by £4 per week for one and two year olds from 2012.
·Cider duty to increase by 10% above inflation, compared to 2% for other alcohol and 1% on tobacco.
·A £2.5bn one-off growth package for small businesses, paid for from existing spending and banker bonus tax.
·No change on the amount you can inherit without paying inheritance tax.
·No change to capital gains tax other than reducing the tax rate to 10% for the first £2m of gains for entrepreneurs.
·Aiming to improve financial inclusion, by making sure everyone can have a basic bank account.
·Support for under 24s out of work for more than six months.
Mortgage support for the unemployed for six more months.
Hope that was fun reading! Lots more available from the BBC website.
I wasn’t surprised to read that seven out of ten people report money as their main stressor, according to a US survey for the American Psychological Association. And the Christmas holiday is one of the most tense and taxing times for nearly half of all women.
How can you buffer yourself against seasonal stress and guarantee yourself a cool yule? Here are our Sheconomics tips:
·Invest in yourself. Put aside time for some self-pampering, long walks, old movies or a riveting novel. Don’t let other demands encroach on that precious me-time.
·Have realistic expectations. Let go of idealised notions about the festive season with you as wonder-woman in flashing reindeer ear-rings. Enlighten others about what to expect, then no-one’s disappointed.
·Focus on what matters. Know what you want from the holiday season, e.g. giving back, togetherness or reflection. Make it your holiday philosophy and don’t lose that focus.
·Stick to the budget. Set a limit on what you’ll spend on gifts and food. Scale back those sneaky extras/last-minute treats or try home-made instead.
·Rope in others. Whether it’s help with planning, shopping or cooking or the need to talk and get psychological support, don’t be afraid to ask others for hep when you’re feeling overwhelmed.
Got friends who are feeling stressed about finances? A copy of Sheconomics could be the perfect gift!
If only more of us just put aside a bit of time for financial planning, we could be a load better off.
Another brilliant idea they have is to rename pensions! If the very word 'pension' strikes fear to your soul can you come up with something better?
In Sheconomics we reckon on reframing your pension as 'a gift to your future self', but renaming is also an effective way into tricking your brain into associating it more with pleasure than pain -
what would the word be though?
To enter go to Axa's site - you could win a cash prize.
Here’s an easy way of staying in control of your money while you’re on the move. There’s a great tool you can download on your iPhone for free - called ExpenseIT. It allows you to keep track of spending against budgets you set for everything from food to frivolity.
We’ve had great feedback on it so far, but have a play with and let us know what you think... Simonne.
This article was originally published at 
