Style Aesthetic: How much did you spend on clothes this year?

I wanted to write a riveting data-filled post about how much I spent on clothing during 2011 and how I would try to curb my crazy spending ways. After all, I write about personal finance on a daily basis; why not on my own personal blog?

So I crunched the numbers: I tallied up each and every clothing and accessory purchase for the year (so far) and averaged it out by month. I thought for sure I'd find it an appalling number. I would be horrified with myself.

"Bethy!" I'd say (out loud). "How could you spend so much money on clothes?!" Then, I would have a small fainting spell before coming to and vowing to fast from shopping for a year.

You know what I actually found out? I spent an average of $140.38 each month on clothing and accessories. That's it. When you look at the 11-month total of $1,544.15, it seems like a lot. But $140.38 per month for someone who loves clothing as much as I do is surprising.

To give you a couple more fun numbers (because that's what I do!), my spendiest month was May, with $202.94 in clothing and accessories. I'm not sure what I bought that month, but I know that there were several trips to Old Navy and Gap and one big trip to Target involved.

My thriftiest month was March with $40.89 total spent on clothing and accessories. I must've been saving my cash for my trip back home that month.

So what does this all tell me? Not a whole lot, to be honest. Until I took a look at individual purchases. Basically, it follows along the same lines as what I wrote on my work blog last week: I buy clothing like I'm buying lots of cheap cheese. Instead of saving to indulge in one high-quality item (a.k.a. Manchego cheese or designer denim), I buy a lot of little things, just because they're on sale (like cheddar cheese or sale tops at the Gap). You get it? No? Well, read the blog post, then maybe you will.

Bottom line is that I keep forgetting what I really want as soon as I'm in front of a sale rack. The madness has got to stop. So maybe that's one thing I'll work on in the new year. Instead of setting myself a budget (I already have one of those), I'll set myself some savings goals. Now, what to save for first?

If you were me (let's pretend!), what would you save for?

P.S. Don't forget about the Blogiversary & Holiday Giveaway!