A cost per wear calculated at the till is a forecast. One calculated after two years is a fact, and the two are rarely close.
Count forward from today
Do not try to reconstruct past wears — the estimates are unreliable and the exercise is demoralising. Start every item at zero.
Log at the point of undressing
A tally works if it happens where clothes come off. Anything requiring you to go and find a spreadsheet will not last a fortnight.
Compare forecast to actual
The gap between what you expected to wear something and what you did is the single most useful number about how you shop.
A workable system
A workable system
- Record item, price and purchase date when you buy
- Set the wear count to zero
- Add a tally each time you wear it, at the point of undressing
- Recalculate at the end of each season
- Compare against the estimate you made at purchase
- Use the real numbers on the next similar decision