How does one save money on clothing? Especially when you have children who outgrow them so fast?
Hand-me-downs
Well, one easy way is to ask around for hand-me-downs. There are many families out there who do not blink an eye splurging on clothing for their little ones that get worn 2 to 3 times and are then put aside.
And because they have so many clothes to choose from, their clothes often show very little wear and tear. And most of these clothings are branded stuff. They would only be too glad to pass on these clothing.
Auctions
The other way is via auctions. Just make sure you ask all the questions before you place your bid and you should be fine.
Exceptions
There are however certain items I do not buy used. One of them is shoes. I have been indoctrinated from young that every child should wear new shoes so that it does not affect the growing child’s feet. Used shoes have the imprint of the previous owner in them and that obviously will not match your child’s food imprint. It will then affect their gait. Or so I have been told. So unless the shoes are relatively new, I would not buy them or accept them.
Look for quality vs quantity
Sometimes as we look to be frugal, we must also not be penny wise and pound foolish. It is much better to buy 2 pieces of quality clothing than 5 pieces of cheap stuff. By quality, I do not necesarily refer to branded or expensive items. You need to look at the workmanship and material used. Not all fabrics are the same. T-shirt materials often do not last as long or maintain their shape as well as cotton or denim fabrics.
Need vs Want
And the best way to save money on clothing is to not have so many pieces of them! Really – does a child need 10 sets of clothing? Do you? 🙂
Women are especially guilty of buying more pieces of clothing and accessories than we would realistically be able to wear. But we keep on buying them to keep up with the trends and then complain that our wardrobes are too cramped. I read that an average woman owns 40 pairs of shoes! Imagine the number of shoe cabinets I would need if I let my 4 daughters (so far) own 40 pairs of shoes each!
One tip
There is this tip I learnt that I would like to pass on to see if you really need all 50 tops and 8 pairs of jeans. Hang ALL your clothes with the hanger hook facing you. Everytime you wear a piece of clothing, hang the hanger back the correct way, with the hook facing inside. At the end of the month, or two months tops, look at the number of hangers that are still facing the wrong way. You can immediately see which outfits have been worn which ones to throw away/donate.
Let’s not be wasteful and buy things just because you don’t want to feel deprived. I understand the power of retail therapy 🙂 so let’s also have self-decipline, ok?
Sewing your own clothes
What about sewing your own clothes? Honestly, I have found that it costs more to sew your own since we tend to buy nicer fabric and accessories to go with it (buttons, ribbons, etc) 🙁 But one cannot deny the feeling of satisfaction and pride when one wears one’s handiwork or see your children in them so you will have to weigh the cost of this project.
Care of clothes
We also need to care for our clothing properly so that they can last. Drying your clothes with a dryer often wears it out faster since the heat will over time break down the fibres of the fabric. So we sun dry our clothing. And clothing are hung inside out so that the sun’s rays do not cause rapid fading. This way helps us cut down the use of electricity too!
Certain delicate items should be handwashed. But I don’t have the time to do that so I either do not buy clothing that need extra care or I put them into the netted laundry bags easily found in supermarkets. This prevents the clothing from being over stretched.
Always ask…
Clothing (including accessories and shoes) needs to be purged regularly just like the other items in the home. Remember, space like time is finite! Always ask yourself : do I need it or so I just want it.