Friday, October 24th, 2008...8:17 pm
5 Ways to Be a Frugal Shopper [edited]
[Edited] There are easy ways for all of us to be a frugal shoppers. Here are five tips to consider:
1. Shop with a purpose so you don’t overspend or overbuy
If you want to be a frugal shopper, you’ve got to figure out ahead of time what you need an item for, how much use you will get out of it and why you think it’s worth it to spend money on it.
2. Try clothes on to avoid unnecessary returns
When my children were younger, needed naps and hated shopping, I would often shop for them knowing that I would be bringing clothing home for them to try on–and then returning them if something didn’t fit or didn’t feel right (they hate tags around the collars). I would keep the tags on the clothing and receipt at the ready–but not send the kids to school in those clothes–so that if something didn’t work, I could make a return without any trouble with getting my money back. I realize that driving back and forth to the store probably wasn’t the greenest thing to do, but it worked for my life back then. These days, though, I insist that they kids try everything on before they buy something. Now, that’s great in theory but even I slip up sometimes and buy something that I end up wanting to return. The dressing room really can be your budget’s best friend, though I think we’d all agree that those awful mirrors are for sure our worst enemy!
3. Frequent stores where you can find real bargains
If I am thinking about places to find bargains, my mind immediately goes to stores like Target and TJ Maxx. For my kids they get their best bargains at the teen-oriented consignment franchise Plato’s Closet.
4. Never pay full price
This notion of buying when things are on sale can apply to clothing purchases though we often think more about using this tip when buying groceries. Case in point: I’ll only buy cereal if it’s on sale and I have a coupon for money off. If I can get cereal down to about a buck a box, then I feel like I’ve accomplished something. With clothing I use this approach for stocking up on essentials, like socks and underwear. If I find them on an end cap in a store (where you can often find tons of great bargains on clearance, as this MommySavers.com website points out) marked at around $.99, I scoop them up. In fact, today I am wearing a pair of argyle socks that I purchased at the Gap, oh, 10 years ago for about $.99.
5. Don’t buy, swap
I know a ton of women who host clothing swaps in their home. This way they can spread the wealth around as far as clothing goes. Maybe they’ve lost weight (or gained weight) but don’t want to lose the investment they made in an outfit. So they invite their friends over and ask that they bring clothing they no longer want or no longer fit into, and then everyone tries stuff on. This would be the ultimate in frugal because you’re getting new (to you) clothing for free. Swaps also work great with children’s clothing. (Check out an earlier blog posting on getting something for almost nothing, which provides a guide to switching and swapping stuff online.)
Hi Leah–love your blog and have a suggestion. I read you using Google Reader and find clicking though to your actual site a…well…a nuisance. Consider surveying your readers re: who reads using a reader vs. who goes to the site…then apply those numbers to what you can measure (i.e., those who goes to the site). If you have 40% who go to your site and have 400 hits on the site, then maybe you can assume you have 1,000 readers. Please feel free to delete the comment, just wanted to offer a suggestion.
Keep up the good work!
My daughter bought a dress for Homecoming her freshman year (on clearance), then traded with a friend the following year. They wore the same size and didn’t want to spend money on a one-occasion dress. I was so proud!
Steve:
I appreciate your honesty and your taking the time to click through to post this comment. I had no idea that it’s a nuisance for some. I would like to make reading the blog as easy as possible, so I’m going to look into some kind of survey. That’s a terrific suggestion. Stay tuned. Thanks again.
Leah
Very well said. I work for a clothing store and have seen for myself that the people who don’t try on are the ones who will come back to return it. I’ve even seen some come in and exchange for a size, then come back the next day and exchange for another size, and come back a third day to do it again.
We do inspect all of our returns and anything that appears to be worn is marked as damaged and destroyed. In the long run, we have to raise prices to cover the loss.
Why don’t you find out how much in clothing the other candidates have spent?
Politicians and television personalities are required to have large wardrobes due to the nature of their work.
Really, this is a political jab on your part.
What about the jet fuel that BOTH campaigns are spending running around?
If anything, it suggests that Sarah Palin probably did not have the giant wardrobe the other candidates have. Why not find out how much Hillary spent on clothing for her campaign? I bet you are not interested in finding that out, are you?
I’ll also remind you that Sarah Palin is the least wealthy of the four people on the two campaigns right now.
Try to avoid venturing into politics like this. It is outside your area of expertise and makes you look like just you’re out for a cheap shot.
I will very surprised to see if my comment stands, or if you delete it. That is the proof that someone is a real blogger, or if they are just trying to create an echo chamber of their own opinions.
Constructive criticism seems to be the theme here, so I’ll add mine. Leah, I enjoy your blog. I found it when I googled something like “green family blog” a few months ago. I have, however, found myself wishing for some kind of internal search engine, which would allow me to quickly find your post about dishwashers vs. hand-washing dishes, for example. Instead I had to look at the previous titles and do a little guesswork.
Anonymous:
You make a valid point. Trust me–if Hillary Clinton was still in the race, I would have definitely made an apples-to-apples comparison with clothing expenditures–especially if she’d made a comment about how in the real world, she’s a frugal shopper. That was my point. To say that you’re frugal shopper at home is sort of moot when it comes out that some entity spend $150,000–more than I’ve ever earned in a year–on clothing alone.
Keri:
When I’m on my blog, there is a white search box in the upper lefthand corner of the screen with a box next to it that says “search blog”. Are you not seeing something like that when you read the blog? That is the only search engine I know of on Blogger and what I use when I have to search my own blog because I can’t remember when I wrote about a certain topic. I hope that helps.
Your frugal shopping tips are very sensible and helpful. I’m glad there are bloggers like you who write these things down very well–sometimes we all have these thoughts in our heads, but it’s a different matter when you express yourself properly and get the message across!
Cheers! More power!
I would like to add, since the other reader obviously hasn’t been following the news, that it wasn’t revealed last week what Hillary Clinton spends on her wardrobe. Why? Because Clinton spends her OWN money – not tax payer money – which McCain/Palin has accepted in federally funded campaign money – on her wardrobe.
I think the subject of frugal shopping and spending $150,000 on clothes is very topical, Leah – Keep up the good work!
Actually, I think this reader who didn’t believe this to be a relevant post should catch up on the news. With all of the scandals involving Palin using her position as governor of Alaska to charge the state a per diem rate for sleeping in her own home and for spending state money to house her children, who usually weren’t invited on trips, in luxury hotels, Leah was pretty careful not to sound partisan when she wrote about the RNC using campaign money to spend $150,000 on her wardrobe.
Steve:
I took your advice and took out the message about clicking through on the feed. Thanks again for pointing out that inconvenience.
Leah
So this blog is basically a lefty echo chamber.
Shoulda known.
The left is terrified of people like Sarah Palin since she represents true reform.
The campaign is free to spend campaign dollars as they see fit.
They spend it on campaign advertising, and on travel. Therefore they can spend it on wardrobe if necessary.
I think it shows how not-rich and not-elite the Palins are, since unlike the other candidates they did not have a huge TV-ready wardrobe.
What a pitiful bunch of elitists you people are.
Anonymous 10/27/08 2:34 pm: I’m glad that you posted a comment, even if you don’t agree with what others have posted as their comments. What makes this country great is our freedom of expression, and I’m very thankful for that. I’m sure you are, too. Thanks for taking the time to post your opinions.
Leah
Leah,
Even if you did sound partisan, which I didn’t think you did, it’s your right as the blog owner. Liberal or not, we could all do well to find ways to live the more frugal life in these pitiful economic times. Whether the RNC chooses to spend or not to spend $150,000 on a wardrobe is its right, of course. But it’s not a frugal choice.
There are plenty of ways for a presidential candidate–man or woman–to find frugal outfits. Clearly, that wasn’t the intention of the RNC. I think Leah makes a good point here, partisan or not. And I, too, think it’s topical, as someone earlier pointed out.
If Palin wanted to appear frugal, she could have encouraged the RNC to spend a lot less on her clothing. You don’t have to spend a $150,000 to look like you did. Just do a little more digging for bargains.
Interesting blog, Leah. Thanks for bringing my attention to it.
All my best,
Jackie Dishner
http://www.thephoenixtraveler.com
I won’t say how I feel about Sarah Palin’s personal expenditures or the choice that the RNC made to purchase $150,000 worth of clothes and accessories for her family. However, the assertion that posters have made that it could have been done more frugally gave me a chuckle. It *could* have been done more frugally, sure, but do you think that the RNC staffers who were sent to the mall to scout for clothing had time to go searching through the sale racks and Penny’s for the perfect outfit when they knew they could find what they were looking for in a quarter of the time at Nordstrom’s?
This wasn’t Palin taking her own time to go for the thrill of the hung sort of bargain shopping tactics that most frugal shoppers employ. These were staffers who were charged with glamming Alaska’s First Family, pronto, and being told that money was no object. (After all, the DNC and RNC have pretty deep pockets!)
The thought of Palin taking time off the campaign trail to shop at Marshall’s or TJ Maxx cracks me up!
Leah,
I don’t think you are being partisan, just frugal.
I had a personal shopper at Saks Fifth Avenue when I was moving into a more “public” role and needed a nicer wardrobe. I did not spend more than I could afford. While needing to look my best, I didn’t break my bank, but I definitely spent more than I had ever done before. I still have a lot of the clothes 15 years later. Frugal? Maybe.
Certainly, politicians of either ilk need to look their best, agreed. But spending $150,000 in the course of a few months is anything but frugal, which is what this blog is about. (I would have thought $15,000 would be sufficient?)
I appreciate the tips Leah brought up and, even if I don’t run for political office, I will use them to be more frugal in my own shopping (if after 3 kids I can ever afford to buy clothing for myself again…).
Thanks, Leah, for a super post.
It is so funny to me that people are actually making an issue of this. This is a woman posed to become the next Vice President of our country, and people are aghast at the amount of money spent on her clothes? Celebrities spend well over this amount all the time, and our country worships them. Someone in a political position spends this money because she is practically representing our entire country, and she gets slammed. I understand the link to frugality, but give me a break – to think that people in these positions do not spend this kind of money is a joke. I would LOVE to see what all the men in this election race spend on their specially tailored suits… I would doubt those are purchased at the local consignment shop.
Leah, I’m kind of disappointed you jumped on this bandwagon…