How Much Do People Spend on Clothes?

From the Consumer Expenditure Survey data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics we can dig in and find how much the average household actually spends on clothing.

In 2007 the figures for what the average household spent on apparel were:
Apparel, men and boys = $435
Apparel, women and girls = $749
Apparel, children under 2 = $93
Footwear= $327

Added up thats $1,604 per year. The average household has 2.5 people so this comes to $641 per person on average spent on shoes and clothing.

The figure for clothing spent on children under 2 seems a bit high. Keep in mind this is the average and most households do not even have a child under the age of 2. I'm wondering if the figure includes the amount spent on diapers. I wouldn't be surprised if it did. That would account for it being that high on average.

But keep in mind this is the average amount and its skewed high with the higher spending people. Typical spending is better represented by people who have middle income level. So I'll look at the spending of people who make the middle 20% income level.

The 3rd quintile spends:
Apparel, men and boys = $356
Apparel, women and girls = $673
Apparel, children under 2 = $83
Footwear= $322

Thats $1,434 total for the middle income households. With 2.5 people per household that is $573 per person annually spent on apparel and footwear for middle income earners.

Best of blog posts for week of June 12th

Bargaineering takes a look at the Cash For Clunkers Program

Trent at The Simple Dollar talks about Gift Registries: Tactics and Good Taste

JD at Get Rich Slowly has advice on Eating Organic on a Frugal Budget

Good Ebates deals on major name stores

I'm increasingly liking Ebates.

Here are some major stores / brands that have decent rebates from Ebates:

4% at Target
4% at Sears
4% at JCPenny
5% at Home Depot
8% from Starbucks Stores
6% at Petco

To find other online vendors that have offers from Ebates go to the site and click on the 'Stores' tab. Or you can just use their search box to find a specific store name.

These discounts only apply to online purchases and you have to go through Ebates to get them. But if you would have bought something through one of these sites otherwise then why not save yourself an extra 4-8%?!

For more on Ebates see my previous article on them.

Home Energy Cost Cutting Project : Air seal & Duct seal testing

Previously I laid out my plan to improve our homes heating energy usage. Last time I reported how the initial home energy audit went.

The latest step in the project was completed this week. We had an independent tester come to the home and test the air seal and duct seal. They found all the points in the home that had air leaks and measured the overall air tightness of the home. They used a big blower that fit in the door and then pulled air through the home to find the drafts. This data helps them figure out exactly what needs to be fixed in the home. The testing cost us a little over $100.

They had several recommendations, in priority first work they could do:
Air sealing
Duct sealing
Insulate attic to R39
Insulate ducts
Insulate floor to R30
Fix vents
Other recommended work:
Put an insulating blanket around water heater
Potentially get a heat pump

They also gave us an estimate on getting all the air sealing, duct sealing and insulating done as well as fixing our vents. The total estimate came to about $6000 and we'd be eligible for rebates and tax credits totaling about half of that, leaving us with a total out of pocket cost of around $3000.

Next step will be to get a couple more quotes on the insulation work and see what the range of figures we get are.

The first energy review and the full testing we did this week agreed on what should be done to the home. At this point getting all the recommended work done seems like a good idea. Air sealing, duct sealing, insulating attic, insulating ducts, insulating floor and installing a heat pump are all recommended improvements that should reduce our heating costs.

Basically what remains to be done at this point:
Get quotes for the work
Decide how much we want to spend
Get the work done

Next step will be to get more quotes on the insulation work.