Why does clothing have to be so expensive?
Back in our credit card years, I did not think twice about how much I was paying for our clothing. Now that we are budgeted and use cash only, I have learned to pay attention and I have realized that most of what is out there is not worth the price on the tag. (Our 6 year-old needs some summer shorts so bad but I just cannot bring myself to pay such high prices for them!)
That made me wonder if some of you might have the same struggle of stretching your clothes budget. Here are some ideas that I hope will help:
Buy clothes one year (or more) ahead by keeping an eye on the clearance rack.I started doing this about 6 months ago and have already scored some amazing values. Tons of shirts, pants, sweaters and more for prices at 75% or more. (I purchased a Merona Sweater for Bill at Target on clearance for 75% off and used a recent coupon for $4 off any Merona top to get it for $0.97!!) I do not even look at the 50% off racks anymore! For the children, I keep boxes with the size and child’s name in the top of the closet.
Take care of what you have. By following the wash instructions, you can make your clothes last longer. Treat stains immediately and stitch holes in socks while they are small. When storing seasonal clothes, make sure they are stain-free and clean. Also, do not stack red clothes with light colors as the colors might bleed.
Visit a yard sale. Look for a guest post soon on shopping at yard sales but for now let me say, you might be surprised at the great deals you can get on clothing at yard sales!
Buy classic styles.Polos are always in fashion as well as jeans and khakis.
Let everyone know that you accept hand-me-downs. Just for the record… WE ACCEPT HAND-ME-DOWNS! Girls sizes 6 and up. Boys sizes 24 months or 3T and up. I’m just saying… (Ha, ha, ha!)
For adults, buy the sizes that fit. It would be nice if we reached every weight loss goal that we set but when it comes to spending money on clothes, it is a much better idea to purchase for your current size.
Have some great tips on saving money on clothing? Please share them with us in the comments. The more we share, the more we save.
I have had the store tell me that just after Christmas and around 4th of July are when they do the deepest clearances. That’s usually when The Children’s Place does their extra 30% off the clearance. I also scope out the clearance sections at Kohl’s when I receive my extra 15-30% off coupons. Then if you get any Kohl’s cash it usually will get you one or two clearance items. I also like JC Penney when the clearance racks get thin. That’s when I can pick up multiple items for just (no pun intended) pennies. I recently stocked up on long sleeve items for my kids for less than $0.99 each. The better part of that was that I used a $10 off of $10 certificate so total for 12 items was about $2!