Ridiculous spending story on GMA today

[disneysteve]

Good Morning America just did a "recession rescue" story on buying clothes. They showed how you could save hundreds on an outfit by shopping the "discount" stores. Their "discounts" were insane: a $230 pair of pants for ONLY $80. $350 sunglasses for ONLY $150. $216 jeans for ONLY $120. Wow. What great bargains - NOT! Haven't these folks ever heard of JC Penny, Kohls, Sears, Target, Wal-Mart, Goodwill? I tried to post to the message board but it says I have an account and I don't remember my sign-in info.

[ActYourWage]

That is crazy. I bought a polo type shirt the other day at Goody's for 11.96 (no tax day) and I had to talk myself into buying that. How you ever seen the Progressive insurance commericals? There is one where this lady is shopping for some insurance and the sales rep shows her the savings comparison to other insurance companies and it was like 200-250 dollar savings. The lady shopping for the insurance said "wow, that's like a new pair of shoes" and the sales rep said "or a tripped out name tag". Come on now, it is ridiculous when media presents this type of coverage.

[FrugalFish]

It's almost so bad it's funny, isn't it?

One of those shows use to do a fashion segment where they'd have the expensive designer outfit and then the "affordable" knock-off outfit. The affordable outfits were generally more per outfit than I spend on clothes in a year. When something like this comes up, I wonder how much of the populous really spends that kind of money on clothing?

My DH prefers to wear Levi's, so I was shopping around last week for a good price (around $30/pair). We came across some $250 jeans online and he wanted to know who on earth spends that kind of money on jeans? To watch GMA and the Today show, it sometimes seems it's everybody but me

[simpleyme]

years ago I quit watching Oprah after she had a show that had a fashion show ,a model comes out wearing a plain white mens style shirt and Oprah proclaims "only 500 dollars? wow!" (at the time that was almost double my house payment )


I know most people hate walmart but my daughter asked if I would buy LEI pants for her for school I was sceptical but was pleased to find this line was at walmart for under 17 dollars a pair! I bought my daughter 3 pairs of pants ,5 shirts , 2 pairs of shoes ,gym clothes and some new makeup and left walmart only 120 dollars poorer!

[Snave]

This should go in the keeping up with the Joneses thread! I will say, however, that I did buy a pair of jeans once for about $150. I had cashed in some "points" that my company has that you can earn for different things. I got a gift certificate at a department store. I needed a new pair of jeans. Needless to say, the pair that actually fit and I liked were $150 designer jeans. Even with a "free" gift certificate, I was ticked off buying something so ridiculously priced. However, I love them and pretty much wear them all teh time. Fortunatley we found my size online on e-bay (with tags) and I got 2 more pair for $75 total. That was more reasonable.

[disneysteve]

This should go in the keeping up with the Joneses thread! I will say, however, that I did buy a pair of jeans once for about $150. I had cashed in some "points" that my company has that you can earn for different things. I got a gift certificate at a department store. I needed a new pair of jeans. Needless to say, the pair that actually fit and I liked were $150 designer jeans. Even with a "free" gift certificate, I was ticked off buying something so ridiculously priced. However, I love them and pretty much wear them all teh time. Fortunatley we found my size online on e-bay (with tags) and I got 2 more pair for $75 total. That was more reasonable.

I'm willing to bet if my wife was ever in that situation, she wouldn't even look at the $150 jeans. It just wouldn't be something she would consider buying even if it was free.

A few years ago, someone gave me a gift card to Lord and Taylor. It took me quite a while browsing in the mens department to find something that I was willing to buy even though I wasn't actually paying for the purchase. It's that darn frugal mindset. Sometimes it does get in the way.

[cptacek]

That is crazy. I bought a polo type shirt the other day at Goody's for 11.96 (no tax day) and I had to talk myself into buying that. How you ever seen the Progressive insurance commericals? There is one where this lady is shopping for some insurance and the sales rep shows her the savings comparison to other insurance companies and it was like 200-250 dollar savings. The lady shopping for the insurance said "wow, that's like a new pair of shoes" and the sales rep said "or a tripped out name tag". Come on now, it is ridiculous when media presents this type of coverage.

I KNOW! I've been meaning to put that in a post here at some point, but I wanted to get the exact numbers. I was thinking "do they mean a new pair of shoes per month? Who in the heck spends that much on shoes?"

[cptacek]

Good Morning America just did a "recession rescue" story on buying clothes. They showed how you could save hundreds on an outfit by shopping the "discount" stores. Their "discounts" were insane: a $230 pair of pants for ONLY $80. $350 sunglasses for ONLY $150. $216 jeans for ONLY $120. Wow. What great bargains - NOT! Haven't these folks ever heard of JC Penny, Kohls, Sears, Target, Wal-Mart, Goodwill? I tried to post to the message board but it says I have an account and I don't remember my sign-in info.

My sister tells a story that when she was in high school, one of the girls thought she was "all that". Someone wore an outfit to school and that girl said, as an insult, "that is so, like, JC Penney's!" My sister and her friends just laughed in their Walmart outfits.

[LivingAlmostLarge]

I don't know but pretty much everyone we know spends that much on clothes. They shop at the trendy stores and have no problems blowing that much on one piece of clothing. They do however mostly make 6 figures+ individually men and women, so I think it's okay.

I still like my casual cheaper clothes. I think it depends on the person. My best friend at the height of the mortgage boom was making $200-300k/year. She LOVE shopping, is a total clothes horse, but couldn't stand the idea of spending that much. So she went outlet shopping, online shopping, used clothes stores/consignment stores, and Ross, Marshalls, Target, etc.

She just loved clothes but not expensive stuff unless it was seriously marked down. So while she loved it she wanted it cheap. And she wanted lots. AND no one ever knew which stuff came second hand or ross and which came from bebe! LOL. She mixed and matched everything! It was fantastic.

[mwgr5]

Sometimes it is suprising what people see as bargins. It is painful for me to spend that much money on clothing, but many people do and have different priorities.

[Gruntina]

Lol! I guess I feel a little better after reading this. I really needed some shirts as I was wearing a couple of them every week. While that is not bad, i work with a close knit team and it does get noticable. I can also afford to buy more clothes as well. I went shopping yesterday and knew it was a pratical purchase. I bought 5 shirts for 40 dollars including the 8.25% sales tax and that is more than what I usually spend on clothes in general. I do like shopping at Goodwill but not for basic shirts for some reasons. Then again I live in CA where clothing stores can be more competive and have more choices on styles with lower prices.

I guess my splurge is no where near the extravagant sales that were on the show.

But I can see how some might think I am poor online because of my clothing budget. I honestly feel like people that I see has no idea that I spend that little. I do not talk about money to them nor tell them where I shop. I get compliments at work even and it is a high tech corporate.

[meatloafkend]

I have to say, I get upset when I hear talk show hosts talk about what a great deal a $50 sweater is. Um, all of us here in the "real world" think $50 is a bit pricey when just buying a sweater for everyday use. Thanks though! When we're buying presents for our friends, um, we spend less than $50. In most cases, it's only $25, so don't tell me about the great deal I can get on a $60 handbag. No thanks!

[zetta]

Good Morning America and women's magazines spout the high prices because that's what their advertisers want them to do. The show is just as much of a commercial as the commercials are. Together, the producers and advertisers want to create expectations in the audience that they ought to spend, spend, spend.

I really liked "What Not to Wear" during the first season, because the person getting the makeover would buy things at a normal store like Old Navy. Then the producers must've gotten involved, because now all the shopping is done in Manhattan and they are buying ridiculous things like $150 jeans.

[rob62521]

I hear you on What Not to Wear. I think Stacey told someone, well, it's not your money, it was given to you, so let's spend it.

I usually buy stuff on sale or marked down, but once in awhile I will splurge and buy something a little more expensive. However, that is usually something I plan on keeping for a few years and that isn't trendy. I have a few suits and pantsuits like that. But my every day clothes are usually bargained priced. My husband recently bought a pair of jeans that was on sale at a men's clothing shop. They retailed for $175, but were marked down to $48. He was skeptical about paying even the $48, but he loves the jeans and is so glad he got them. Not that he's going to buy another pair for the original price and he's not wearing these for working in the yard.

[ThriftoRama]

I know. I hate when I see those types of "budget" shopping stories in magazines and on televisions. It's ridiculous.

But, I can tell you because I used to work at a magazine that did those storie. Go much cheaper and you lose advertising dollars because you are considered "low-brow." Nobody wants to advertise to low-brow. So keep that in mind next time you see a story like that.