No new clothes for a year?

[MrsPete]

I don't think this is worthwhile -- at least not for me and my habits.

I'm thinking about a time when my kids were small and money was VERY TIGHT. Getting ahead on the mortgage, paying day care, and saving were all very important to us, and the kids needed things . . . I went about two years (possibly three) without really buying anything new for myself (add in post-baby weight, which also made me not want to buy . . . also, shopping with two small children isn't all that much fun). Suddenly realized that EVERYTHING I HAD was worn out. EVERYTHING looked raggedy, old, and substandard. All of my shoes were worn down at the heel. All of my pants were getting thin in the seat and/or had stains. All of my shirts and sweaters showed signs of excessive washing and were fading. Since I hadn't had a large wardrobe in the first place, everything was being worn frequently, and I found myself genuinely needing a great deal at one time. The upshot was that I had to spend a good bit of money on myself all at once.

Now I tend to buy myself 2-3 outfits and one pair of shoes every fall and every spring, and that keeps things "rotating". I always have something relatively new, in new colors and styles that I really like, and I have not again reached a point of desperation.

I'll add that this is a "your mileage may vary" type of thing. For a person who's a big shopper, who has a closet over-stuffed with things, a year without buying MIGHT NOT lead to everything being raggedy. For a person who has a shopping addiction and who buys new clothes literally every week or so, stopping cold turkey might be a good choice.

 

[mrsklamc]

It depends on whether by 'new' you mean 'retail,' or 'new to me.'

Edit: At this point, I really couldn't. At one point I could have, but I have been intentional about 'paring down' my possessions this year and only keeping things I need and love and, as far as clothing goes, things that fit well. So I have to change my answer to 'no.'

 

[MrsPete]

you should read this:

http://www.amazon.com/Not-Buying-Year-Without-Shopping/dp/0743269357


I couldn't do what she did but I think I could go a year without buying new clothes. I just don't want to badly enough, lol

I read an article about these people -- or maybe someone doing something similar -- a year or two ago. It was interesting. The people about whom I read had decided not to buy ANYTHING (except food) for one year. If I remember, they lived in a city with pubic transportation, so gas wasn't even a necessity for them. I remember that one of them did finally break down and buy one item: a travel coffee mug for the train (and that was only after trying to fix the old, broken one and trying to improvise something at home).

I'm with you though: I don't want to do it badly enough to commit to it. I'm saving steadily now, and I'm comfortable with my spending level.

I can, however, take one point from the concept: Even though I'm not a shopper, I have so much stuff around my house that is just sitting there un-used. I should try to use up some of my stash rather than buy new stuff.


Similar topic:

I read something -- I think it was on AOL news a couple days ago -- about a couple who decided to pare down their household goods to 100 items. I was intrigued because I'm certain I have way more than 100 items in the room where I'm sitting right now. I have more than 100 movies sitting under the TV, and I don't want to get rid of them. I have more than 100 books in my bookshelf. I wonder how they "counted". For example, my sewing box is sitting out right now. Is it one item? Or are the scissors one item, the pin cushion another item?

I did agree with some of their choices: For example, they'd decided to go car-free (or was it one car? Memory doesn't serve in this case), and they rent a car on the occasions that they need it. Our jobs don't allow us to do that, but we've done something simliar: We bought a compact car, which I love and which is cheap to operate . . . and the savings allows us to rent a big, comfortable van when we travel. It's less expensive than maintaining the larger car all year long.

They had positive results from their 100 thing lifestyle: The woman who wrote the book was able to downsize her job to something she enjoyed more, and although she was earning less, she was saving more. They're looking to move into something around the size of my backyard shed.

Interesting to read about, but I don't want to do that either.

 

[bookgirl]

Could your family do this? I'm thinking mine really could! Our closets and drawers are FULL of clothes and I just got new socks and unders for everyone for free with deals at Meijers. I'm pretty tempted to challenge myself and see what happens

I've already bought school clothes and shoes, everyone has good winter boots and gear, I am just always SO tempted by the great deals at the Gap, Lands End and Justice! We are saving for a trip to DW next Christmas and I was thinking if I could just not buy anything new until Back to School next year I would end up getting some fabulous deals on end of the year stuff to use on our trip and we might actually use up and wear out alot of the stuff we have.

As long as your kids have stopped growing, or you have plenty of prebought clothes or hand me downs in the right sizes, I don't see why not. I've never managed it..LOL but I probably could. The hardest part would be NOT buying for my nephews who have about 10 realatives to hit up for stuff, so we all eventually get a chance at buying them the coveted tournament shirt or some other thing they really don't need, (they are the onlies on one side and the youngest by 8 years on the other) we are totally wrapped around thier grubby little fingers.

 

[beansmom]

i don't know about a year but i just forced my gf into a 6-month no-clothes challenge.

Now she just challenged ME not to buy any groceries besides salad stuff and milk til we eat down a freezer. I don't know if I'm gonna make it. Ugh!

 

[pyrxtc]

I only buy some at the beginning of the year since I know it will be outgrown half way thru and I will have to shop again.

 

[wdwfan16]

I would not do this. What is the point? If you buy stuff when an you need it and get a good deal why no buy it then rather than wait for all of you stuff to get shabby and then have to get something right then?

 

[Priorityonecb]

Me? I technically could. Dh? Probably not. Dd's? No way. We don't go crazy and look for sales when we can so I really don't see the need. The dd's alone have many things during the year when they needed a certain article of clothing for recitals, concerts, shows, sports etc.

 

[luvmy3]

I could and dh could but there is no way that the kids could. I own pretty simple classic pieces so I could get away with not buying anything for a whole year. I can't think of any piece of clothing that I would absolutely need in the next year, I can think of a ton I would want but I could go without buying them.

 

[WheelCEO]

I was just talking today about how I havnt purchased a new pair of shoes in 3 yrs and no new clothes in 2 yrs. financially, I could easily afford it.. but I just have no need

 

[foltzy]

I have. I haven't bougth myself anything since last year and that was all clearance stuff for our trip to Disney World (I hate clothes shopping). My husband could. My 3 and 5 year old, no. They are growing like weeds all the time.

 

[swilshire]

We just bought all the boys socks and underwear last week, so we could definitely do it unless DS11 has another growth spurt and outgrows all his pants. He has enough hand-me-down shirts to be fine there.

We have to buy clothes for DD's wedding next July, but other than that, we have plenty.

Sheila

 

[LoveBWVVBR]

Possibly, although DH and I could both use some new clothes. The kids are pretty set from clearance deals that I found at the end of the season last year, though. The baby may need a coat, but that's about it. We live in FL, so I don't bother with back-to-school clothes. It's still plenty hot out, so they can still wear their summer clothes for months yet.

 

[RooRach0906]

For my DD no.. mostly because she is 13 weeks old and does not even have 5 outfits for fall and some of those are short sleeves. Plus you never know how babies are gonna grow. For DH and I definately and I will until May because that is when our trip is and I am planning on trying to lose at least 20 lbs by then.
We actually did this before our last trip last Sept.

 

[DawnM]

Well, my boys grow too fast!

We do shop thrift stores and get hand me downs, so I could cut the budget for sure, but no clothing at all, no.

For DH and me....probably.

Dawn

 

[neatokimmo]

I could do it. I have clothes for DD, who wears a 3T now all the way up to size 6. She wears an 8/9 shoe and I have 15 or so pairs of crocs/mocs waiting for her in the next three sizes. I shop $1 consignment sales and yard sales for clothes and got all those crocs from $5 at cabellas to $10 at big lots.

I only work in the office 2 days a week now and have plenty of PJs for the other 5 days

So ya, I could do it. But I won't because I can't stand passing up like new gap clothes at yard sales for a buck. Its a wicked addiction I tell ya.

 

[sbpebbles]

Could I do this? Yes. Do I want to do this? No. While I try to live in moderation, I think buying new things once in a while is a nice treat. I know I could do without a lot of stuff, but my quality of life would be different.>>>

I get you, there are things I'm not willing to do to save for the sake of saving. I want my quality of life to include a super awesome 2 week vacation next Christmas so I'm looking at possibilities.

I don't know if I could do without new/used clothes for the kids for 1 year; they keep growing. My DD5 wears 8/10 clothing right now. My DS4 isn't as tall, but he's getting taller every day. However, I do hit the Goodwill hard; my DD is the lucky recepient of 15 Gymborree clothes for $32 from there. >>

I love Goodwill And do some shopping there too. My favorite place to go was Saint Vinnies Dig and Save but I haven't been up to Madison for over a year. I used to get tons of great kids clothes and then sell a lot on consignment to fund my other clothes purchases.

Thank you for posting about St Vinnies Dig and Save, I did a search to find out more about it, since I try to buy the kids stuff at thrift stores....Personally I would LOVE to go a year without buying anything new, I use freecycle a lot and get clothes that way..I might have to try a few months at a time first though, granted I still have clothes from high school, which was almost 10 yrs ago so i KNOW i have plenty and i have been purging a lot of stuff..thanks for a neat idea!

 

[allison443]

I would not do this. What is the point? If you buy stuff when an you need it and get a good deal why no buy it then rather than wait for all of you stuff to get shabby and then have to get something right then?

I agree...what is the point? Doesn't it make more sense to have a frugal clothes buying strategy in general all year round, every year, i.e. buy things on clearance, end of season, etc. rather than a one year moratorium? Also, if your kid loses his mittens you aren't supposed to buy new mittens? Your dd was invited to a dance but can't buy a new dress? I guess I'm missing something.

 

[cluvsdisney]

I couldn't go a year without buying any clothes. I don't shop a lot but I update my wardrobe with a few pieces 2-3 times per year.

 

[Beezle2]

I think that we probably could. I wouldn't do it though. I love shopping too much.

That will be my problem also. I love getting a good deal. And I always resale and get most of my money back. Well, I'm 1 day closer anyway