I like nice things, but I hardly ever pay full price for them. One category that can be very spendy is clothes. I have a 10 year old daughter that is constantly growing. Of course I want her to look nice all the time, but I sure don't want to go broke in the process.
Here are some ways I've gotten really nice name brand clothes for very little or even free.
- go to garage sales in affluent neighborhoods. Their junk is usually my treasure.
- go to "reasonaly priced" consignment shops.
- go to Target. They actually have really nice well made clothes.
- get clothes from my sister-in-law who gets them from her sister and cousin who spends HUGE amounts on brand name clothes for their kids who never even wear them. Really, the clothes are new. Go figure!
- Shop after Christmas sales or Holiday sales for the best bargains on clothes.
How much do you think you spend on clothes in a month or year? What do you do to save money on clothes?
Nice clothes for cheap...
July 8th, 2008 at 02:30 pm
July 8th, 2008 at 02:47 pm 1215528426
Good points though. When the kids were younger I lived by the consignment shops. These days we have a very close Target which is both cheaper and more convenient.
My kids are close in age so everything we buy for one lasts for 2. Clothes is just not something we spend much on.
The adults in the household mostly shop thrift.
July 8th, 2008 at 02:49 pm 1215528567
It's kind of ironic I mostly relegate the kids to the Target stuff I wouldn't buy for myself. I prefer to shop thrift for myself for better quality. LOL. But I need my clothes to last MUCH longer.
I just find it funny people's perception on "used." They would never know if I hadn't of said. & in our household the used stuff is the higher quality.
July 8th, 2008 at 02:52 pm 1215528741
July 8th, 2008 at 03:22 pm 1215530554
It takes shopping around, mixed with a supply of hand-me-downs and some carefully chosen pieces to clothe my crowd, but I tend not to buy thrift, because I can't find the right things/enough, even with shopping ahead. I DO try, and get some things here and there, but end up needing some things retail. But, at that point, I shop carefully.
My teenage daughter likes American Eagle (unbelievably over priced!!--tank tops for $20-30! Can you imagine?!) BUT, she waits for things to go on sale and uses coupons they send out, and she gets tops $5-10 and bottoms around $10. She earns her own money for it, and she's learning to "work the system!"
I think Target clothes are very poorly made. For summer, some things are okay. Jeans seem to be okay. But I agree, I would never buy clothes for myself there!
I tend to buy lots of my things at outlets. There are absolutely bargains there if you look and wait. Again, I have an advantage of being fairly close. I got two beautiful skirts at Eddie Bauer last week for $6.99 each. I will get lots of wear out of them, and just because the price went down, the quality didn't!
July 8th, 2008 at 06:02 pm 1215540151
July 8th, 2008 at 07:03 pm 1215543818
July 9th, 2008 at 01:09 am 1215565755
We sat down and made a list of what a wardrobe should contain. I am hoping this will curb those spontaenous, frivolous and expensive transactions!
July 9th, 2008 at 04:36 am 1215578209
I use to work at a Banana Republic outlet... I was able to get what would normally cost a person... $200 full-price... for around $50. I got the inside scoop... markdowns Wednesday night. And at the end of every season... there would be an additional off clearance prices... usually 30%. And then I would get my employee discount off those prices. Voila... I saved all sorts of money. Since I've worked retail so long... I never pay full price for anything. I know that it will eventually get marked down. The thing about retail is that you need to know when to shop. The season start usually midway through the current season... example most stores are getting their fall line starting this month. So summer stuff is usually going on clearance now! I'll buy my basic summer stuff now... for next summer... like basic tanks and shorts. It's like buying Christmas cards right after Christmas for the next year.
Like Swimgirl said... Gap Outlet has huge bargains in the kids department if you are lucky to be near a Gap Outlet. Tanks and shorts go as low as $1.99 marked down. Denim jeans get marked down as low as $7.99... great for back-to-school shopping... if you buy a size up or two... since their kids jeans have the adjustable waist! Even basic t-shirts are usually always on sale.
And the thing about Gap, Banana Republic and Old Navy... they have a store Credit Card that has you earn reward points... every $200 you spend you get $10 back in rewards... 5% back. I have the Gap card and love it because not only do I buy cheap clothes... I get free clothes because of the cheap clothes I buy. And I never carry a balance on my Gap card so it's really 5% back. I also get 10% the first tuesday of the month... so that's when I try to do my shopping at Gap so I get an extra discount off my already discounted clothes.
I guess... I have special bond with Banana Republic/Gap... since I use to work there!
September 14th, 2009 at 11:13 am 1252926839
September 14th, 2009 at 11:16 am 1252927000