Money Management: Living on Less

Clothing tips

Buy any needed clothing on sale. End-of-season sales often offer some of the best savings.
Shop for clothing at yard sales to save considerably on slightly used items. This is especially true of children's clothing or maternity wear.
Start a swap program for children's clothing. Many children's garments are still in good shape when a child grows out of them. You can exchange items you have for items you need.
If you cannot start a swap program, take clothing to a consignment shop where they will give you money, or trade yours for others in stock.
Before buying any garment, check the fabric labels and care instructions. Avoid clothing that requires expensive care such as dry-cleaning.
Read and follow care instructions to make clothes last longer.
Spot clean clothes promptly, and save on cleaning by careful wear.
Remember, some clothes can be worn more than once without washing such as jeans, sweats and pajamas.
Encourage family members to hang up clothes after wearing to eliminate unnecessary laundry. The cost of doing a load of laundry is no longer a minor expense.
To get more life from each pair of shoes, do not wear the same pair all of the time. Resting shoes between wearings extends their overall life.
Keep clothes in good repair, that way a minor problem does not get worse.
If you buy a factory second, check the item for flaws. Some flaws you can live with, but some you cannot.
Hang laundry out to dry. The average cost of a load dried in an electric dryer is higher than the average cost of a load dried in a gas dryer.
Investigate whether using cloth diapers and laundering them yourself is a reasonable option.
Clean and polish dress shoes often to keep them in good condition. They will look good longer and will need replacing less often.
Store clothes properly to prevent damage from sun, moths, mildew or stretching.
Use a coin-operated dry cleaner for cost savings on items that must be dry cleaned.
Wear old clothes for messy jobs. Try to anticipate tasks that would cause damage to better clothing, and take the time to change.

GH3600, revised September 2008

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