Save Money Shopping for Clothes

Necessary, but expensive.  Here are some ideas to help save a lot money on your clothes shopping!

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Buy Now, Use Later 

The most simple way to buy your name brands is to target the end of season sales.  Most big name stores offer large doscounts to unload their season fashions.  At the end of summer is a great time to stock up on shorts, sandals, and summer shirts for next year just as the end of Winter is a great time to stock up on Winter clothes for next year.  You will find huge savings on boots, winter coats, scarves, and gloves as Spring begins to roll around. 

A suggestion for those trend conscious people, who want the latest styles and fashions is to use this method on the tried and true.  For example, you will always want summer time tan shorts, or the tried and true basic solid colr T-Shirt.  For the Winter, black gloves, boots, scarves are always standard style.  You can then brush up on the year’s latest fashion with a few simple items to compliment your off season purchases!

Use Cash

Another true way to save the most amount of money on clothes shopping is to pay only in cash.  Sounds simple, but if you  shop on credit, it is very easy to purchase more clothes then you can pay off all at once.    Even if you find the greatest sales items, you lose out paying interest on those credit cards.  Credit is too easy a trap.  Follow the basic rule for saving money;  if you can not pay in cash, then it is probably best to not buy at all if possible.

Find the Deals

Find the deals sounds like common sense, but many people are store loyal, shopping only at specific stores.

Those designer jeans may look great, but given their $100 price tag, will they look that much better or last any longer then the $40 jeans?  I am willing to bet that under most circumstances, the answer is a “no”.  I once treated myself to two pairs of designer jeans last year, spending close to $180 for both.  Some lessons are just too expensive!  After one year, one of them is coming apart and wearing out in certain seemed areas.  The other just do not feel “right” anymore.  

 Funny enough, my favorite pair of jeans that have not faded, feel the best, and do not show any signs of wear (in spite of being worn the most) are a pair of jeans I bought almost 5 years ago for $40. 

Conversely however, there is no erason to spend $4 on the flea market T Shirt that will fall apart after one wash, when instead you can buy one high quality  T Shirt for $20, that will last ages.  Personally, I have had several Champion T-Shirts for over 5 years and they have not faded, shrunk, torn or shown signs of wear. 

The lesson here is, if you want to save money, then shop for quality, not for some flashy label. 

Shopping Sales

Sales, Sales, Sales … seems these days everyone is offering a sale… or are they?  Many of these so called sales are marked up before the “sale”.  In other words, that item that was $50 last week, was price increased before today’s 20% sale.  Always do your homework.  If you see an item you like, understand your size and then look it up online.  There are many sites online that offer prices that beat most store sales.  For specific brands, check the brand site directly.  They often offer discounts that beat store prices and many also offercustomer loyalty programs.

A very good place to seek out the best sale prices is at discount stores, such as Marshals, TJ Maxx, etc.  These stores get named merchandise at big discounts, and then pass the savings on to the shopper. 

Clothing Rotation

Another interesting strategy is to check stores often.  After a while, you will see a pattern develop.   New inventory items have the highest prices and are usually located in the highest visible areas.  After a while, sometimes in as little as a week, those items get moved to another section.  Eventually the items are removed from the floor, but before they are removed, the price is dropped. 

Kids Clothes

It is understood that we all want our kids to look cute, but I do not think a 1,2 or 3 year old really cares about their fashion.  Because children grow so fast, it is against our budget consciousness to spend a lot on clothes for children.  They will soon grow out of them in no time at all anyway.  A great place to find bargains on childrens clothes is local thrift stores, home sales, etc.  An even better strategy is to store your kids’ clothes as they grow out of them.  They can then be used by relatives or yourself if you decide to have more children in the future. 

Summary

There are numerous ways to save money shopping for clothes, and I am sure we will be writing about many more strategies in the time to come.  The most important advice is to be informed and comparison shop.  A little homework will help you save money and allow you to Do It On A Budget !

Have any additional ideas or feedback?  We’d love to here from you!

Until later, Happy Shopping!