Saving Money: Clothing

Clothes are CHEAP!

Umm. . . excuse me you might say?

It's true! They are! If you know how to do it. 

 I have come up with a system that I am truly proud of and it has saved me TONS of money! So if you would like to start saving money with my clothing system then follow along! 

1. Start with your closets! Go through your closet, your hubbie's closet, your kiddos closets. If it has not been worn in the past YEAR - take it out! I'm serious - unless they are maternity clothes which really shouldn't be IN your closet unless you are currently pregnant. Too big, too small, don't like to wear it, Aunt Bertie gave it to you, it doesn't matter! GET THEM OUT OF THERE! 
2. Find your shops. You need consignment shops and thrift shops and non-profit clothing shops. These things are EVERYWHERE! You kind of need to do some searching but the best way is by word of mouth - ask around at church or work or if you find one, ask the stores themselves for any other ones in the area - they don't have a problem sharing! If that fails, hop online and look in your area. If it's 40 miles away - that's OK! You can still use it!
3. Sort your unwanted clothing. (That's the stuff that should be in a pile from step 1). 

1. Keep clothes that your family will grow into - not SHRINK into - grow into. 
2. Consignment Clothing - check with the store's requirements, each one is different.
3. Other clothes that don't fit into these categories. 
4. Take as many clothes as you can to the consignment store and let them sort out your clothes and TAKE what they don't want. You'll be surprised what they won't want. I even used a consignment store that put all of their clothing under a BLACK LIGHT to check for stains! Craziness! Check at the consignment shop monthly to see if you have any credit or cash - depending on how they work it there. I usually take the cash because they are somewhat pricier for clothing. Depends on your store.
5. Go online and find a swap clothing site. I use www.ThredUp.com. List the clothes you have by their qualifications. This is actually pretty easy - but take note that with www.ThredUp.com - if you list clothing that is on their low supply list and it is "bought" you can earn money to go toward buying a box of your own!
6. Donate the rest. There are going to be clothes that are stained, gently used or worn but if you would still use them, someone else might too. Just be NICE! If it's trash - trash it or cut it up for rags for your hubbie to use in the garage!  My favorite places to donate clothing are pregnancy centers.  

Ok - that's my system for cycling your clothes - now on to the FUN PART!

GO SHOPPING! Use the money you have collected from the consignment shop(s) and go shopping. Right now, I use a non-profit shop that sells all clothing for 0.99 cents or less. It's AMAZING! Garage sales are a great way to find clothing too. In the past year, my clothing purchases have amounted to only about $250 out of pocket. This includes purchasing dress clothes for myself and my husband, shoes and socks and underwear. 

I did a search and found one site that stated that the average family spends $624 a year on ONE child's clothing! Ummm. . . WOW! I have to say that we don't spend that much for our whole family of five! sometimes you have to wonder where they get these figures but that's what was out there! If you have questions, feel free to ask! There were a LOT of details I left out for the sake of keeping this short - if there is a lot of interest, I may do a series - one post on each step. Let me know if you would be interested in more details! 

In HIS Grip, 
               
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