How to Save Money on Clothing

There are so many ways to save money and a lot of what you do depends on your own personal circumstances and how much money you have to play with. When my kids were younger, we had less money than we do now. Every year, at the end of the season, I would buy the next year's clothing the next size up on clearance and put it in their closet. Then, when that next season came around, my kids always had what they needed. This always worked for me. I never had a problem with the sizes being too small when I needed them. I also shopped at thrift sales and stores. Generally the clothing they had for around home like pajamas or clothes to just run around in, I bought used. I wanted them to have brand new clothing for the beginning of the school year though, so I would wait until the clearance sales got way down and then I would buy.

You may worry about how your kids will feel about this. All I can say is that my son never cared a lick where his clothes came from and my daughter, although she cares more, thinks I have a great thing going and feels I taught her well. She too, likes clothing and usually buys hers at the thrift store. Then, she comes home and brags to me about what a great deal she got. :) A girl after my own heart. I think you need to consider the values you are passing on to your kids about money. Do you use your money to your advantage or simply to impress others with what you can buy? The kids will watch and notice.

If you really just have no money to play with, thrift sales and thrift stores are the place to go in my opinion. Thrift stores often have half off days. If you limit yourself to the items with half off tags, you can do pretty well. If you pay full price, you could get it brand new on clearance sometimes for a similar price.

When I shop in the stores I never, ever look at regular priced clothing. I mean, that's actually boring to me. :) What fun is there in paying full price for something? I remember once in my 20's, I bought a dress that was not on sale. It was so memorable that I remember the dress to this day. I just simply never, ever pay full price for clothing and there is no need to. This is the only thing I bought for full price that I remember.

I like nice clothing. But what I like more is someone else paying for it, wearing it once and then me paying a fraction of the price for it.

When I go to the stores, I only shop off season clearance. Winter clothing is starting to clearance in my area. So, every time I go, I look. I will go to the mall for my once or twice a year trip when the clearance prices bottom out for the year and hopefully I will find a few things.

I got the shoes in the photo above today. These were regularly $22.97 and are now $5.00. I don't need a pair of tennis shoes. The last couple pair I got I got at garage sales, new looking, for a dollar or two. So, I hesitated about buying these. Sure they're a great deal, but they are 5 times what I paid for my last pair. :) But they are cute and so I will put them in my closet for when my other pairs wear out. Hopefully I wont' regret it.

Happy Savings!