If you love to look good, but have been looking at all the latest fashion catalogues and your clothing budget has been leaving you feeling dismayed, there are ways to circumvent your frustration and love what you wear, and feel good about it.
Being on a low income and desiring fashionable clothing can be without stress when you consider these viable options outside the regular (more expensive) clothing stores at the mall.
Learning to Sew Offers You a Creative Outlet While You Clothe Your Family
Learning to sew can be a pleasurable pastime and at the same time provide opportunities to clothe yourself and your family. Burda Style has great free resources for learning the basics of sewing. A sewing machine can be picked up fairly inexpensively at a discount chain, and put on lay-away.
A basic sewing kit - other than a sewing machine - includes some good quality dressmaking scissors (don’t use them to cut anything other than fabric or they will go blunt and be difficult to use); some pins, needles, threads, a measuring tape and tailors chalk. A plastic container to keep them in will help you keep them at a convenient location.
To make sewing especially budget friendly look for fabrics in the remnants pile (good for trimming and making baby clothes), the sales rack, and obtain patterns when they are on sale, and also have a look for fabric and patterns from thrift stores.
Thrift Stores Offer Clothing for Everybody’s Taste
Seek out in your local community a variety of thrift stores where you can go to source clothing for your family. You can find men’s clothes, women’s clothes, children’s and babies’ clothing for very little money, and the profits go back to supporting charities.
Those who love to seek out surprising finds and have a love of vintage clothing will appreciate seeking through thrift stores, because the ranges there are always quite surprising and unique.
Discount Chains Offer Credit Free Ways to Purchase Clothing
Some discount chains offer layaway (or lay-by) to purchase clothing. A small fee may be payable to cover the cost of administration and storage of the layaway. You are able then to pay it off a bit at a time over a set maximum number of weeks. Layaway is returning as a favourable credit card free way of buying items, and many are utilising it.
You can purchase inexpensive clothing from discount chains, especially during sales. At the end of the season, many stores will heavily discount clothing to clear it out – it is an effective way of purchasing clothing for yourself for next season, or in the next size up for your children.
Factory Outlet Stores Offer Heavily Discounted Brand Name Clothing
Factory outlets offer a way of buying brand name clothing at very inexpensive prices. Factories will have outlet stores that they send clothing to. These stores have items that are seconds – they have very minor flaws or imperfections – or they may be end of season stock that they are seeking to clear stock of. Clothing that is usually very expensive can be picked up at huge discounts, at times up to 60 to 80 per cent off. This will vary between brands and retailers.
Freecycle Offers Opportunities for Free Clothing
The philosophy of Freecycle is to encourage people to offer their goods for no cost to others through an email list or online forum, so that others who are seeking that particular item may source it. The goods that are given are those that would have otherwise been disposed of, but still in reasonable enough condition for another person to use, and not such that the other person will have to dispose of it.
Freecycle groups are locally moderated and may have certain conditions imposed, such as having to offer an item first before requesting an item. It is a reasonable way of receiving clothing for free, and also a way of recycling clothing or other goods that you no longer need, that others may still use.
Clothing Swaps Let You Trade Your Fashions With Your Friends Online and Offline
Some groups of people are getting together and having clothing swap parties. Groups of friends get together; those attending the party bring some items that they wish to trade, and it is offered into a common pool of clothing. It offers an opportunity to socialise and trade fashion without a blow to the budget.
Online websites such as Swap My Style also offer cost effective ways of upgrading your wardrobe through swapping your clothing, shoes and handbags with others.
Groups of people in different locales are getting together to swap clothing or offer it for sale via social media sites such as Clothing Swap on facebook.
Summary
Clothing yourself and those in your household does not have to be stressful or leave you wondering how you are going to make ends meet. You can enjoy the retail therapy thrill of new clothing without making a dent in your wallet, or swiping the credit card and then feeling guilty about the purchases you make.
Fashion can be functional, frugal, and above all fun – you can be creative with your finds, how you source your clothing, and give yourself variety for where you source your clothing. Above all, enjoy your savings while you clothe you and your family in style.
Lori Woodward - Lori is a freelance journalist who seeks to help people enjoy life through informative and entertaining practical information.
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