Charity or second hand shops
Buy from charity shops in expensive towns or areas of the cities.
Check out the smaller charity shops as bigger chains
Check what you really need in clothes before shopping that way you won’t buy more of the same thing
Note your family’s size in a notebook & keep a tape measure with you.
Only buy if you need it, it fits, you like it or you’ll actually wear it.
You can buy fancy dress items cheaply
You can buy items to use for DIY or just use some of your old clothes you never wear.
Auction sites or car boot/garage sales you can sometimes bag a bargain.
You could repair old shoes with a cobbler who can rescue them often much cheaper than buyer new.
Check out whether you can use your clothes with something else in your wardrobe you hadn’t thought of.
Buy in January if you want Christmas dresses etc as they are often in the sale. Dress hire shops can often sell off last season’s dresses.
The same goes for items for skiing or snowboarding as you can often pick up these items just after winter at bargain prices.
Children’s clothes
Set up clothes swaps with friends who may have older children. Otherwise they may be prepared to just give you the clothes as their child may have outgrown them
You can always keep clothes if you’re expecting more children.
Charity shops & garage/car boot sales can again be a great source of hardly used children’s clothing and at a bargain price too!
There are often 2nd hand shops selling old clothes or prams/cots etc.
Knitting sites www.knitting.about.com or www.chicknits.com
LEARN TO SEW
You can take a sewing course at a local college
Free patterns are available at www.sewingpatterns.com & you can download it from there. Sewing machines can be picked up 2nd hand from car boot sales or off auction sites.
Ripped jeans can be turned into shorts
Baby socks can be turned into scratch mitts
Old socks use
Use for extra warmth in the winter.
Dusters, shoe polishers, car cleaning rags.
Cover shoes
Make them into puppets for your kids
Add pot pourri ,sew them up & stick them in your shoes.
Old tights & stockings
Store flower bulbs or onions
Plant ties
Swapping Parties
Meet with a group of friends or people to swap any unwanted stuff.
This can be from clothes, shoes to unwanted CDs or DVDs. The items are brought and piled up in the middle of the room (this way you won’t get embarrassed with your crazy items). The host/hostess lifts up one of the items and asks if there are any takers. If there are a few takes then they can be decided over later on.
You can make a night of it buy having nibbles & even some wine if you fancy.
Any unwanted items can then either be sold on auction sites, garage/car boot sales or more likely given to charity shops. (But make sure everyone agrees to this before the start of the night)
Wedding dresses
You could hire, make, borrow or even use an old family dress. However if you buy what can you do with the old dress.
Sell on an auction site
Keep it for your future daughter or relative
Have shortened to use as a cocktail dress or dye it and wear as evening gown