# Go a Year Without Buying New Clothes?



## milhouse (Nov 16, 2016)

I read an article a few years back where this girl went a year without buying new clothes. She was trying different angles on being frugal. It forced her to go through her closet and she found a number of articles of clothing that she loved but forgot about. She made it through the year but continued to be very conscientious about shopping for clothes & utilize what she had which was kind of the whole point of the exercise. 

I googled the topic and it's not an uncommon goal/challenge. It inspired me to try it and I gave it a go in 2015. I didn't force the wife in on it but she only spent $101 for the year. That said, the following year we did spike back up to around $700 combined which is a bit higher than historical for us, mainly due to replacing shoes which can be pricey. However, we're kind of trending back down to around $300 combined for this year. 

Anyone else try not buying new clothes for a year?


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## Ag Driver (Dec 13, 2012)

Deleted


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## humble_pie (Jun 7, 2009)

vintage clothes

vintage anything

the quality of anything manufactured prior to WW II is impeccable compared to what we get today. Some of those clothes were sewn to last 100 years.

same thing with furniture

.


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## heyjude (May 16, 2009)

I haven't purposefully tried to avoid buying clothes for a given year, but I believe I have done so a few times. It's easier to reduce, reuse, recycle when you are retired. Other than socks and underwear, I spend very little on clothes these days. For the first 3 years of retirement, I kept a detailed expense log. I had a category for clothes, and it was usually blank. My recent purchases have been a new bathing suit and golf gear (both on sale, if course!).


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## like_to_retire (Oct 9, 2016)

heyjude said:


> I haven't purposefully tried to avoid buying clothes for a given year, but I believe I have done so a few times. It's easier to reduce, reuse, recycle when you are retired. Other than socks and underwear, I spend very little on clothes these days. For the first 3 years of retirement, I kept a detailed expense log. I had a category for clothes, and it was usually blank. My recent purchases have been a new bathing suit and golf gear (both on sale, if course!).


Yeah, I've kept a detailed expense log spreadsheet for my 11 years of retirement. I find it helps quite a bit. You can really see where your funds are going. It's easy to download .csv files from my bank at the end of the month and drag entries into categories. Only takes a few minutes. My category for clothes hasn't changed much over those 11 years. It's still at $25 a month. Over time, that seems to work out. Some years end with zero spent, and others I may buy a parka for $1000, so it all evens out to about $25 a month/$300 year. Meh.

In retirement, mostly my wardrobe is T-Shirts and Jeans. That's it. Sometimes I wear socks on special occasions. I suspect the poor shmucks that have to work for a living need something a bit more refined, so my $25 monthly is likely a bit low.

ltr


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## ian (Jun 18, 2016)

I can easily do it. Spouse....no way!


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## Ag Driver (Dec 13, 2012)

humble_pie said:


> vintage clothes
> 
> vintage anything
> 
> ...


I have always looked for vintage furniture, but I had never thought of vintage clothing. I know some of my old merino wool hunting gear has lasted forever and looks like new. I'm debating on buying into "expensive" merino wool socks for every day use. "Darn Tough Socks" for example ... they're only 55%, but they are guaranteed for life. Down side being they're $20 USD a pair!


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## Joe Black (Aug 3, 2015)

My parents always made me change out of my "town" clothes when we came home to my "home" clothes (i.e. old). I still do that and it stretches the life of good clothes by years. So yes, I'm sure there are some years I've bought practically nothing.


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## DollaWine (Aug 4, 2015)

I (a man) have done it, especially as a college student. My spouse (a woman) probably wouldn't be able to. I like looking nice but I don't enjoy buying clothes, I always second-guess it. For me, "splurging" at the mall on clothes is spending $100.


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## nathan79 (Feb 21, 2011)

I accept the challenge. My last clothes purchase was June 20th -- two pair of jeans and four shirts.

I may have unwittingly done this before, or at least come close. I definitely find clothes shopping a stressful experience, so I usually put it off until I have nothing else to do.


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## Ag Driver (Dec 13, 2012)

Deleted


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## humble_pie (Jun 7, 2009)

Ag Driver said:


> I have always looked for vintage furniture, but I had never thought of vintage clothing. I know some of my old merino wool hunting gear has lasted forever and looks like new. I'm debating on buying into "expensive" merino wool socks for every day use. "Darn Tough Socks" for example ... they're only 55%, but they are guaranteed for life. Down side being they're $20 USD a pair!




there was a big discussion about Darn Tough socks a couple years ago. Former cmffer "brad" was buying them from vermont. People were saying that the factory really does guarantee their socks for life, if somehow a sock develops a hole, they'll promptly send the customer a new pair. No need to even return the offending sock as proof, just the customer's word was said to be enough.

brad reported that the DT shorter socks were fine but the mid-calf socks tended to fall down. This i suspect has something to do with the machine washability of the wool yarn, most of the Darn Tough socks are superwash yarn, meaning the fibers are micro-coated with plastic to help survive the washing machine.

the coating in turn affects the stretchability of the wool yarn. Regular wool socks are knit to be stretchy & snap-back clingy, while superwash yarns are less forgiving.

all that was a couple years ago. It's entirely possible the Darn Tough manufacturers have got the mid-calf sock stayup problem fixed by now, using a slightly different mix of yarn.

btw i think that $20 US - about $30 canadian - is fine for a young person who plans to use his lifetime Darn Tough sock guarantee. Think 40 years for a pair of DTs. Think 52 wearings & washings a year, about one a week. That's more than 2080 wash n wears throughout the sock's guaranteed lifetime. About a penny per wear.

ordinary socks that develop holes in 2 years (about 100 wash n wears) cost 5 times as much.

perhaps put it another way. Someone who invests USD $200 now in 10 pairs of Darn Tough will be set up for socks at no cost for the entire rest of his life.

will your retirement portfolio work so well for you?

.


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## WGZ (Feb 3, 2017)

Love cheap clothes that fit me good. My last 3 years of jeans:

I've had a $20 pair of jeans I scored at Winners that fits "just right" and comfortable at that, in fact, better than most designer high end brand name jeans I've tried on, and they've been great for nearly 3 years now.

Then $50 for a very nice pair of Buffalo David Bitton with 2% spandex jeans that have been great for 2 years and also bought 5 pairs of jeans @ $3 a pair (clearance sale at Gap) for work.


Shirts I buy at H&M, and they have a decent Euro fit/quality/style at $6 a shirt.


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## cedebe (Feb 1, 2012)

Ag Driver said:


> I just feel like I get ripped off buying clothes as they're too damn expensive! The thought of wasting money on clothes is stressful! hah


New clothes are grossly overpriced, even on sale for the most part. I buy pretty much everything online now via Ebay, Etsy, and Poshmark. High quality stuff... lots of European brands that tend to be made in the EU as opposed to Asia like the American brands. If you're a smart shopper, you'll pay a fraction of the regular price. Yeah, most of it is used, but the quality is excellent, as is the condition (otherwise I don't buy).


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## NorthKC (Apr 1, 2013)

I generally don't buy new clothes except for new shoes (your health depends on it!) or if my dress shirt is torn and I need to replace it. Shopping just stresses me out nowadays due to discrepancy in clothing sizes.


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## CalgaryPotato (Mar 7, 2015)

Wow you guys are way more gentle on your clothes then I am... I can't wear a pair of jeans for 3 years without wearing through them. Khakis for work are usually closer to 1.


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## Mookie (Feb 29, 2012)

Just join a nudist colony. Problem solved. :glee:


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## milhouse (Nov 16, 2016)

Mookie said:


> Just join a nudist colony. Problem solved. :glee:


But you're sunblock costs would go way up.


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## milhouse (Nov 16, 2016)

CalgaryPotato said:


> Wow you guys are way more gentle on your clothes then I am... I can't wear a pair of jeans for 3 years without wearing through them. Khakis for work are usually closer to 1.


My shorts actually take the biggest beating. They barely last a year before I have to stitch up some seams or a hole. 
Socks take a beating too but I buy a bunch at a time so they have a bit of rotation / have enough spares.


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## NorthKC (Apr 1, 2013)

CalgaryPotato said:


> Wow you guys are way more gentle on your clothes then I am... I can't wear a pair of jeans for 3 years without wearing through them. Khakis for work are usually closer to 1.


Quality clothes is key as well as stretching out your washing days. If you can go two weeks without needing to wash your pants, it goes a long way. Also, no dryer. That just beats the crap out of your clothes. I actually did a comparison of two same shirts. One was line dried and another using the dryer. The shirt that was line dried still looked brand new while the one in the dryer had several see through spots.

Most of my jeans last 3-4 years but then I wear them almost every day.


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## humble_pie (Jun 7, 2009)

NorthKC said:


> Quality clothes is key as well as stretching out your washing days. If you can go two weeks without needing to wash your pants, it goes a long way. Also, no dryer. That just beats the crap out of your clothes. I actually did a comparison of two same shirts. One was line dried and another using the dryer. The shirt that was line dried still looked brand new while the one in the dryer had several see through spots.



what frugal soul in this frugal thread would admit to owning a dryer .each:

i've never owned a clothes dryer in my life
on principle
nothing beats the fresh smell of clean sun-dried laundry coming off the clothesline

speaking of frugal, one has to perfect the art of line-drying so that items never have to be ironed, not even shirts


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## CalgaryPotato (Mar 7, 2015)

NorthKC said:


> Quality clothes is key as well as stretching out your washing days. If you can go two weeks without needing to wash your pants, it goes a long way. Also, no dryer. That just beats the crap out of your clothes. I actually did a comparison of two same shirts. One was line dried and another using the dryer. The shirt that was line dried still looked brand new while the one in the dryer had several see through spots.
> 
> Most of my jeans last 3-4 years but then I wear them almost every day.


I can barely make it through a day without food, grass, dirt and everything on my clothes. How do you go 2 weeks? 

And no way I could live without my dryer. But then again I have to do like 2 loads of laundry a day, my kids take after me.


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## nathan79 (Feb 21, 2011)

One thing to consider is that most condo stratas have outlawed line-drying. Some landlords may also frown up on it.

In any case it is pretty uncommon to see here on the west coast -- probably due to the damp climate we experience for 9 months of the year. I've only known a couple of people in my life who used a clothesline, but that was a long time ago.


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## NorthKC (Apr 1, 2013)

CalgaryPotato said:


> I can barely make it through a day without food, grass, dirt and everything on my clothes. How do you go 2 weeks?
> 
> And no way I could live without my dryer. But then again I have to do like 2 loads of laundry a day, my kids take after me.


Disclaimer: I have no kids. I'm sure 2 weeks is a luxury that will pass as soon as I have kids! If it's hacking around pants, then I'll definitely push it. lol


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## nathan79 (Feb 21, 2011)

I haven't yet washed a pair of jeans I bought on June 20th, which is pretty impressive for me considering I work on cars and do other stuff outdoors. I don't always remember to change into a crappy pair. I've probably worn them 10-15 times. They are more than ready for a wash.

I was reading that you should only wash jeans a couple of times a year, because apparently frequent washing messes up the natural fading over time. I don't know who could get away with that -- it might be doable if you're an inner city hipster who has an office job.


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