Frugal Friday - No Cost Spring Wardrobe Challenge

Hi everyone,

Tomorrow is March 1st, so its time to start thinking about Spring! Its been cold here for the last couple of days, but warmer days will be here soon.

My birthday is in February and I always get a new outfit or two from a very generous and sweet older sister. She always gives me something for Spring and this year she gave me two gorgeous sweater sets from Christopher and Banks. Immediately I started thinking about what I needed to buy to go with them.

This got me to thinking about how many clothes most American women have in their closets. I have a fairly large closet that is full of the current season's clothing. When the seasons change, I move armloads of clothing to another storage closet. I usually do get rid of some things, and buy some new things during the change of seasons.

I feel sure that I could go without spending ANY or very little money this spring and summer if I would utilize the clothing I already have on hand.

This is how I could accomplish this:

1. Inventory my spring clothing. Make a list of the clothing I have that's still in good shape, in style, fits and that I love. I might just find a matching bottom in there to go with my new spring sweater sets!

2. Donate any remaining good clothing to a thrift shop and throw away those items that have outlived their usefulness.

3. Make a list of any "must have" items. There may be certain items of clothing that you really need to purchase. If you know what these are you can be on the lookout for them on sale at a retail store or at a thrift shop. Doing this now will prevent you from spending more than you need to later.

4. Make a commitment to wear what I already have! For example, I purchased several skirts last summer that I love. They are suitable for work or church. I can dress them up or dress them down with different shoes. I can wear them with a variety of tops. I also know I have several things that are year round, etc. I'm sure I could get along just fine without buying anything.

I would rather have a few nice outfits that I love than a closet full of odds and ends that are just "so so". I want to pare down my closet to the minimum amount of clothing that I need. This has been my goal ever since I read the book, "Disciplines of the Beautiful Woman" by Anne Ortlund. She states that "It is just wicked to cram and stuff our closets and drawers with things we seldom wear or don't need to wear! Continually get rid of them!"

If I do these things, not only would I save money, I would be moving toward a more simple life. Donating my extra clothing to needy ladies would be a small step toward making the world a better place.

A thought: If my closet and drawers are crammed full, is that greed?

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