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After Perec

Every month I ‘splurge’ approximately 5% of my income. The theory, following Australia’s favourite financial advisor, is that small, regular indulgences lead to fortified discipline. Too few realise that hardcore diets are, for the majority of the population, destined to fail.

Another theory, mine, is that people are either $penders or savers. And in any given relationship it’s probably healthy to have one of each. I happen to be the saver. So when I say that I splurge 5% of my income every month, I mean that I set aside 5% of my income to accumulate until something fanciful, with varying degrees of necessity, takes my eye and I’m reminded that I should indulge.

Meanwhile, my personal wardrobe can be divided into five categories:

  1. A few items I adore and wear relentlessly
  2. Decent decisions well past their lifespan – moth-eaten, shrunken, stained
  3. More poor decisions than I’d like to admit – fit, colour, material
  4. Hand-me-downs, pure function
  5. Ill-suited gifts, rarely worn

On the one hand money accumulating and on the other a relatively undesirable wardrobe. Which gets me to the very banal idea that precipitated this post. What if I attempted to anticipate all the things I might ‘need’ in a year, and assigned my monthly savings accordingly, encouraging spending toward a wardrobe that works? Let’s play this out…

January, work attire
February, underwear and socks
March, summer shoes and swimwear
April, hair cut and colour
May, leisure clothes
June, makeup and perfume
July, work attire
August, hair cut and colour
September, leisure clothes
October, outerwear
November, winter shoes
December, hair cut and colour

Maybe a saver’s dream, or possibly just a poem after Perec.