No Debt Plan

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I’m not 100% comfortable sharing this with the universe, but what the heck!

I’ve got something to confess. In terms of pants I wear to work — business casual slacks — I do not have a closet full. I don’t even have enough to wear all week. That’s right… I own three pairs of work pants. Should I buy another pair or two? Sure, but three seems to be working just fine.

And no, I don’t go into work two days per week without pants on!

You see, I work in an office environment. I sit at a desk all day long except for lunch. Lunch usually consists of client meetings — perhaps 3-4 per week. Unless I go to lunch somewhere especially aromatic (Chinese or BBQ), or I spill something on myself, my pants aren’t exactly “dirty”. Thus, later in the week I will re-wear them without a wash.

This has saved us money and should continue to in the long run. First, I’ve saved on purchasing pants. The three pairs I own are what I consider ‘nice’, and I probably paid $30-50 for each. That’s $60 to $100 in savings up front. I also anticipate they will last longer than a pair of $20 pants. Secondly, we’ve saved on washing clothes more often. We do laundry every weekend, and just two or three full loads. If I had to wash my three pairs every three days, we would be increasing our waste by running non-full loads. This saves water and energy, as well as wear and tear on the pants from over-washing.

This isn’t something I am especially proud of, either. Maybe I should have a pair for every work day. For now, the system works. What do you think?