I need to get with the times. All my clothes fit in a fairly small space now but I think I can cut it in almost half again. Looks like I have hit a nerve. I always find it interesting how people react to my posts. I find when people are confronted with doing something they feel guilty about they often get very defensive and strike out.
They then have to get money from the government or friends and family to help them pull them out. Things that I often have to indirectly pay for. I am just answering their questions. I am not going to tip toe around my answers and what I say to make you feel good. That is part of what has gotten us in our financial mess. We are too worried about them not liking us more then we are concerned about them and what they are doing to hurt themselves.
Just like you are now having to clean up your mess and are having to downsize. Having negative emotions does not get the job done. Interesting how you replied. She was being a little sarcastic with me Ave that is why I answered it the way I did. She was pretty much saying who made me the clothes god to tell her how many clothes I felt was appropriate for for her to have. That is why she ended with will I please forgive her. Dawn you pretty much wrote the story of my life and what the website is all about.
I do agree. Even when we did the clothes list that I posted I felt it was even more then really absolutely necessary but tried to make it a practical base for everyone to work from.
Yes Jill. The list was sort of a ground rule a starting place. I also thought some of it was more than enough.
I have 4 chrildren 1 boy is 9 and 3 girls 7,5,3 which two of my youngest girls wear the same shirts and keep my 5 year old clothing for my 3 year old.
But the thing is my 7 year old has a lot of clothing. Now my sons room is alittle small for his clothing that he out grows then he has his games and toys.
Just way to much stuff have to get read of and then you have toys in every room. I have 3 daughters 6, 3, and 1. Well, as luck would have it, we had our second daughter.
I was so excited to be able to start getting rid of clothes as she outgrew them. I had just started that process when surpise, surprise I was pregnant with daughter number 3. It was soooooo much easier, less stressful, and I believe cheaper for me to acquire her clothing as she needed it than to have to go through bins.
I did begin to keep clothing again starting with about 18 months, but am seriously thinking about selling, donating, etc. Brenna, I agree with you. I know you were talking about clothes but I think it is true for many things. Since I have been sick I am learning less is best in most cases. I also agree. I had two sons and they are 5 years and 5 months apart. I too kept everything after my first son because I knew we wanted another child.
I was excited when I found out we were having another boy and I could re-use everything…but my first son was born in Summer and my second in Winter. This worked very well for me. All in all easily budgeted for.
That is wonderful!!! Add shoes, underwear and a pair of PJs and they are good. My parents usually buy the boys an outfit at Christmas and birthdays. My parents have said they enjoy being able to treat their grandchildren since their children have been self-sufficient and handled their finances in way that they can make it on their own. Anyway, you are doing a great job with your clothes shopping for your little one. Keep up the good work! We should have a topic here on this site about frugal victories, excellent deals, etc.
Is this per season? We are about to make a major, across country, move and want to get rid of most of our clothes! I only want to bring the bare minimum. So, is the number of outfits per season, or all together? I forgot to add that on the 2nd daughter it depends on how far apart they are. Alisha, also you can cut back at least for at first, by taking summer tops and then one or two cardigan sweaters to wear over the top for the winter.
It also depends on where you are moving too and from. For example I brought all my cute sandals and shoes to Idaho when I moved but I ended up living in a pair of short mud shoes because I lived on a gravel road across from Tawra and we rarely went to town. It was almost always muddy. The same thing happened when I moved to Eastern Colorado but this time it was cowboy boots. I guess I said all of that to say cut back and only take the basics. Also I once talked to a moving company and the mistake most people make in moving is moving books.
They are very heavy and because most moving companies go by weight they are expensive to move. Just a heads up. Your lists have been soooooo helpful. Especially when people are constantly giving us clothes. I have had to start saying NO! I am ready to deal with the bare minimum. Most of the older children do their own laundry but it can still be too much.
It can be equally overwhelming to them as well. These lists are a great guideline and I plan to start weeding out. Thank you!! I finally had to get ruthless and grow a back bone, toss out the excess and start setting my foot down on what I allow people to bring into my tiny house. Yeah we get a ton of hand me downs. I have been hurting for 50 years but 15 years ago we got into politics.
I bought a couple nice outfits so we could travel to the conventions and things. Over the 15 years I have lost a lot of weight and gained a lot as the meds took effect. Now this next week we have been invited to meet our Prime Minister. Great reward for all our hard work. One problem I have nothing to wear.
Things are too big too much out of date. No stores in town to try and find something. My husband has also lost a lot of weight and this weekend he will try on his suits to see what will do. We will be in the city next friday and will have about an hour to try and find something for him. Possibly a new suit but at least dress pants to go with a shirt. I will try and find a nice blouse to go with grey dress pants. So when you purchase a wardrobe item include something you can mix and match with what you already have.
Maybe a simple dress that you can fancy up with a scarf or shawl or some jewelry. For those once in a life time outing. How excited you must be grandma in spite of your clothes problem.
That is too cool. Hope you have fun and can find something. You are right about the clothes. I keep a black sleeveless shift dress which I can dress up or down with jewelry etc. The cut is such it never goes out of date either even if I am tired of it. I am so glad I left my death bed and went out with my husband to wander. We stopped at the only true clothing store in town. I like to shop there once in a long while since the owner is a school mate of my son and I think she needs more business.
Long story short I found two dress with jackets combined and they both fit me and my husband likes them both. One is a chocolate brown to almost my ankles and the other is a rich burgundy with a paisley type jacket. He said get them both.
Was I ever glad I look at the price first. They were both on sale from over a hundred to twenty five. I can get skirts of different colours or different jackets or wear them with a shawl or plain. They are also easy to size down the dress part at least as I plan on losing another 30 lbs in the next while. So good to go for another couple years.
And I will look good to meet the prime minister. I love getting a deal. Basically that should be it. If you have summer and winter you need to buy for then add a couple of pairs of sweats, long sleeve shirts etc.
I love your basic list, but will change it to meet our needs. The rest of what they receive is given to them, and they sort out what they want and send the rest to goodwill along with stuff they have outgrown. This past year we had to pair it down to one outfit for school and a few jeans for home and church use, and a nice shirt to go with them.
Oh, sorry, but I do buy all socks and undergarments new at walmart or someplace where i can get them pretty cheap. I can hardly believe I am shopping almost exclusively at Good Will now. Like you both, Tawra and Jill, I have decided to sell my home. I need a few things to make it show well to buyers, so I have bought a couple of furniture pieces for just a few dollars. I know in this tough market a house has to stand out from the competition.
I took your tip, Tawra, and I go to Home Depot and Lowes to look for paint on sale-stuff that other people have returned. Question…what do you all think about buying underwear, pajamas, robes, socks, etc. I see many purses, shoes, etc.
Can personal wear be worse or not? Personally I buy just about everything at Goodwill. Socks and kids underwear, not a big deal, just bleach before washing. Barb things like purses or shoes I wipe with disinfectant or spray with Lysol. Our thrift shop uses disinfectant on most of their things like that before they put them on the shelves but I still take it home and disinfectant. I can get such cute and expensive things for nothing which I normally would never be able to afford. She then broke down and started buying at Walmart and after swearing she would never buy used she ended up having a passion for garage sales.
My point being you just start slowing and before you know it you will be comfortable with it all. I am not making little of your question because I too thought just like you for a long time and it took me quite awhile to get over my squeamishness and felt the same way. How funny you say about squeamishes. My husband broke his arm and was home 6 monthes with surgery etc, I had cervical cancer at29 with 2 young kids.
We had NO money for anything and Christmas was around the corner. I asked my friend, the owner of a kids 2nd hand store to let me in on some hot finds. One Christmas I bought all 14 of our nieces and nephews 2nd hand clothin for Christmas, washed and starched it. My brother found out and refused to allow his kids to wear it. He said it was disgusting. Anyway, about 10 years later, I found him and my sister in law in Goodwill and I asked the what in the world they were doing there.
They said they had been going their for quite some time since they ran into some medical issues. Then it was ok, but a few years earlier, no way. I wash everything in warm or hot and rinse in vinegar. It is a disinfectant as well. Thanks for your post! I got all my jeans at thrift stores except for one pair that I got at walmart,and all of my shirts,my 2 windbreakers,and 4 pairs of Nike tennis shoes.
I do buy my socks, and underware at walmart but I am sure if something looks clean and you wash it first it would be totally safe to buy those too at the thrift shop. What you say makes such good common sense. Even when I think about brand new clothes, who knows how many people have handled them before they wind up hanging on a rack in a dept.
Glammor and glitz does not equal clean!! Good Will washes linens-you can tell because they smell so nice. Maybe the inside, too?? Got any good tricks for this?? After Christmas or other times I try to find gift boxes or bags on clearance or for very little.
I even get these at the thrift store but do find a lot just on clearance. It had a ton of bags and boxes. I am a container hoarder. I admit it.
If I get jewelry I save the boxes and then if I find jewelry for my granddaughters at the thrift store I will put them in my boxes. I also will also use cute containers I find at the thrift store. He gets a two for one gift that way and it makes what I put in the container look special. I found a set a of 10 stackable boxes like my granddaughter wanted and I will put a gift in the smallest box for her. The white tissue paper makes everything look really nice. Some times I spray a little scent or Christmas scent on a corner of the paper so they get an immediate pleasure from the smell before they even open the box.
Another thing I do is for example I found a scarf for someone at the thrift store. I will lay the two side by side in a box with tissue paper and because the gloves have the original tags on it is looks like they both are new. Once you start looking around for containers and boxes or bags you will be surprised at what you find.
We will be posting more articles on gift wrapping soon so keep your eyes peeled and hope this helps some. I worked for Nordstrom for several years and know the clothing business pretty well. Many people try on clothes before they buy them…. We were pretty cautious about putting clothing that was returned back on the selling floor that we felt was worn but things slip through the cracks.
I got over the stigma pretty quickly when I saw the condition of the clothes and the prices at re-sell shops or thrift stores. We often share clothes among family and friends so why not at a thrift store? I draw the line on underwear too…except I once bought a slip that I have worn for years and it is the best quality I had ever found. So you never know. Every well-run thrift store I have shopped in had clean items for sale. I also like buying used because I can tell the quality of the item.
I was so frustrated. I broke down and bought 4 brand new shirts last summer. After 2 wearings they all had faded and stretched and just looked bad. Not again! I really love your clever ideas. Putting a sweater in white tissue paper and in a box would sure make it look beautiful and new! The scented spray is a terrific tip,too.
I just thought about blocking sweaters…I remember my mom doing that. It sure made them look new again. I know when they were done and folded they looked fabulous and like right from a dept. Any tips on how to block things like sweaters? I bet it would make a Good Will item look pretty spiffy!
Barb usually you block natural fiber sweaters — cotton, wool etc. You normally do it on a damp sweater by laying it on a surface you can poke pins in. You lay if down and gently shape and stretch it to the shape you want. Here is a video on blocking I found for you to watch which explains in detail. Well, five months later, I finally accomplished weeding through and donating all the bins of clothing I was storing for our youngest daughter.
Better late than never,huh? Anyway, now that the clothes are out of the way, I can concentrate on organizing other areas of our home :- Hope you all have a wonderful day! Jill, Thanks so much! The video on blocking was terrific. It is amazing how an extra touch with an iron makes a garment look brand new.
I found your comment very interesting Barb. I love to iron. I even did it for years to earn money for the kids and I and at one point was doing ironing for 5 families besides my own. That was a lot of ironing. I do pillow cases, t shirts everything. I have also made sure that not only do my grandkids know what an iron is but they know how to use it.
Oddly enough they all seem to like using it. We even put a whole chapter in our laundry e book about how to iron, ironing boards, irons, the difference between starch, sizing and much more. It is one of many skills I think everyone should at least know how to do.
You may not do it all the time but it is needed once in awhile. My son just recently was telling how when he went to an employment service how over dressed he felt in his neatly ironed dress shirt and slacks compared to everyone else who had old t shirts and cut offs on. Oh dear. Sorry will get down off of my soap box. Anyway my son is now employed. I wonder if that means anything? About 30 years ago my chiropractor forbid me to iron even for short amounts of time.
About 15 years later I got rid of my big heavy iron. Then we started traveling out of town and had to have dress clothes so my son bought me a light weight travel iron. Never used it because motel rooms supply irons and ironing boards. He took it for 4 years at university.
Just recently my husband has started putting pictures onto pillow cases and a few T shirts. Took me a day to find where I had stashed the travel iron. But they do come in handy once in a while I guess.
Still love my chiro after all these years. I think it says a lot, Jill. Clothes DO make the man! Even inexpensive clothing looks so much sharper ironed.
Those that iron jeans and slacks always make a great impression-just like your son found out. He stood out from the crowd. I think it says something about a person when their clothing is pressed. Btw-I blocked a cotton sweater I got a Good Will today following your link.
It was from Talbots so it is lovely quality. It looks beautiful now:. The thing I find scary about identifying tools for things we do is when you walk into a museum and find something there that you learned on.
Tredle machines, the toaster with the sides that flip down, a wringer washer. Sure makes you feel old. They were also fun to use, real hands on type things. It depends on the job you are trying to get what type of clothes you should wear. My husband and one son are welders by trade. If they showed up at an interview in good clothes they would be laughed out of the shop. They have to wear grubbies since they will have to show how well they weld.
Interviewers do that kindly to being told they will have to wait until the interviewee goes home to get clothes or he needs a place to change into the appropriate clothes. Clean but work clothes are the best bet. My other son never wanted to work in dirty places so he went in dress shirts and jeans or dress pants. It of course depends on your own personal life style so you may have to sit down and just do some figuring. I have gotten along with only a black skirt for years and dresses.
Of course if your color palette is different from mine you may want to add a navy instead of brown etc. If you work and have to wear dresses every day or you attend an extra amount of church services where dresses need to be worn then you may have to add extra. It depends on when they wear them. I would say no more than tops. Like Tawra said I would say 4 if they have to wear a dress once or twice a week. I might let them have a few more tops like 5 everyday tops and 3 nicer dressier tops.
Most people do laundry every day or at least twice a week so you can usually keep things washed up. Now the reality is you have little girls. I know what should do - which is not buy it - but somehow my good intentions never last long. How many clothes children need will vary from family to family, how much laundry do you do and if they wear a school uniform.
What one family considers a reasonable amount might be far too much for another. I have written this short blog post to look carefully at what I think is the ideal amount of clothing for a younger child and what, in reality, my children have. It is what I think my children should have. She is also a different shape to her sister at the same age.
Sock and underpants are an essential. I have a whole drawer dedicated to underwear and so do my children. But most get left at the bottom of the drawer and are never worn.
My elder two children have around 10 pairs of pants and 10 pairs of socks and I am happy that that is plenty. My youngest seems to still have twice that but as they all fit and are in good condition it seems silly to give them away just yet. At the last count my youngest child nearly 5 years old had 15 white school polo t-shirts. If you have her choose her outfit the night before, you can head off one huge time-sucking morning meltdown maker: the harried search for a favorite shirt — that's then found at the bottom of the hamper.
Ah, the winter-coat struggle. Your child isn't cold inside, so why the heck would he want to put on that bulky, sweaty jacket and cover his perfectly warm-enough outfit? But he will feel different when he gets outside. Unless it's truly freezing, don't sweat the situation, says Dr. Just carry his coat and let him go out as is. Levine says. Babies and kids dress selection should be done with extreme care.
Low quality and low priced dress might affect health condition of babies. By Amy Levin-Epstein June 11, Save Pin FB More. Little Girl with Mismatching Outfit. Credit: Sasha Gulish. Parents Magazine. You made a good point that the more clothes my child has, the less I would have to wash clothes right away. I can imagine that when I have a kid someday, he or she will be getting dirty all the time when playing outside.
I was wondering if this is enough clothes for someone my age. Your email address will not be published. Start Here! About Why Pulling Curls? Get Updates. Skip to primary navigation Skip to main content Skip to primary sidebar Skip to footer Let's make parenting easier! Sign Me Up! What does an ear infection feel like?
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