I have now started to re read another of my frugal living books. This one is by Trent Hamm, founder of the Simple Dollar. The title is 365 Ways to Live Cheap. I don't like the word cheap so instead I am thinking of it as ways to live thriftily.
I love the way he says to buy "modular" clothing. Things that go together and can be worn with lots of other items in your wardrobe.
He says to avoid buying clothing that needs to be washed by themselves. The only things I own along this line now are my bras and I mostly wash those by hand (well at least in the summer, when they can drip dry on the lines outside, winter I do them on delicate in the washer and more than one at a time).
I would love to be able to hit some thrift and second hand stores in upscale neighbourhoods. I have a few friends that live in bigger cities that get wonderful outfits and great gifts when they visit these. Right now most of the "good" stuff disappears very quickly from the two second hand stores here in my small city.
Wearing my old clothing (things that are a bit worn, but still decent) around the house and out in the yard saves on my newer clothing. I patch knees in Harvey's jeans and do the same with mine. I have also been known to cut the sleeves off of long sleeved dress shirts when a bony elbow makes its way through the fabric (ask Kris, he is now the proud owner of three new short sleeved dress shirts for work). This is another one of the authors suggestions. Very much along the line of wearing something out.
By the time I am ready to let an item of clothing go it is ready for the rag bag, or in some cases it will be cut apart to make fabric to be used to make quilts, or perhaps as trim on another garment. I even use pieces as patches!!!
So far this book has some very practical ways of changing to a thrifty, frugal lifestyle one step at a time. I am only up to number 99 and while most of the ideas are things I already do, and some are things I have tried and will not do again, I have found a couple to add to my routine to see if I can make them become habit.
The first one I am adding is using things I already have in the house to remove stains. I always seem to buy Shout and I really don't think it works that well. I have nothing to lose by giving this a try.
I am also going to try and use the microwave (as well as my smaller plug in appliances) rather than the oven more. If it saves on power, it will save us money in the long run.
Everybody have a wonderful evening.
God bless.
I haven't done much clothes shopping for a while now and my wardrobe is feeling a bit drab. I'm so used to wearing black jeans every day and want to inject a bit more colour and interest into my wardrobe next year.
ReplyDeleteI keep looking out for things at the CS, but unfortunately I need to drop 2-3 dress sizes to get into most of it. Very occasionally I find something that fits, but it's quite rare.
We do get good donations though, so it's very interesting to see all of the different good quality brands, whose shops I would never go into to buy anything. I really enjoy that aspect of the work.
I make a good stain treatment solution using equal parts water, vinegar, ammonia and Wisk. Mix in a re-purposed spray bottle. I usually apply just before laundering, but also find it works well if applied immediately and allowed to dry before laundering.
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