Just cleaned out the girls wardrobes and WOW!

**macemesmum** · 09-14-2008, 03:45 AM

Wow I am absolutely gobsmacked, I just cleaned out my 5 and 7 year old daughters wardrobes and drawers as the draws were bowing ( and dh has just realised broken as they were too full and not good quality). I cannot believe the pile of clothes i have sitting in my study floor, it probably contains 10 pairs of shoes and maybe 200 items of clothes!!!! and there wardrobes are by no means sparse now they still have probably more clothes than they could wear in 2 months with a new outfit every day!! I've always prided myself on being frugal and most if not all the clothes were presents, or handmedowns or brought on holidays to US in Ross for less on clearance but still, I think there is probably over $1000 of clothes there, what a waste of money. Dh and i just looked at each in shock and we have decided on our trip to usa at christmas where we have in the past brought home to aus 8 suitcases with clothes etc (because the cost is under half what we pay in aus for these things) that the kids just dont need them, i found clothes that still fit that had tags on them from our last trip, so we decided to buy them 1 nice item of clothes when we are away maybe a disney jumper or something and only a few things (souveniers etc) and small to carry things. This not spending for 5 months has really changed my outlook, i was digusted when i saw all the clothes and realised they dont need new outfits no one has even seen them in half of what they own. I m going to try and go all next year buying no clothes for the kids except underwear, i will just ask mil for clothes for the kids for birthdays etc as she always sends over gorgeous things!!! wow what a bruised ego i have at the moment, I once thought i was a frugal king!!!

**Luv2BeFrugal** · 09-14-2008, 06:08 AM

Whew! That is a lot of clothes...but at least you found out before you spent $$ on more.

Is there any way you could put them (in small lots) on craigslist? Maybe make back a bit of that money?

Anyway...it was a good job cleaning things out!

**macemesmum** · 09-14-2008, 06:17 AM

I might take some of the them to a local market to sell them or sell some on ebay, I also have a friend who always wants to buy kids clothes from me, I will definitely get some money back for them

**Gibs** · 09-14-2008, 09:03 AM

wow, sometimes it is amazing what we have when we stop to look. My dd has a lot of clothing given to her from a few friends who have girls older then her, so I was also amazed at the amount of clothes that she has.

Glad that u are going to try to get some of your money back.

**Marie78** · 09-14-2008, 09:14 AM

Wow! I would love to have that many clothes (as an adult)....2 months of clothes that fit without wearing the same outfit twice. Kids are lucky, As an adult my weight fluctuates so often, I am lucky if I have one work week worth of clothes that fits at a time

!

I hope you can make some money on the clothes that don't fit or they don't wear. Maybe the money you make from the clothes can be the clothing budget to stay within next year for the family

.

**kita** · 09-14-2008, 11:13 AM

Not to rain on your parade...but you might think about how much the girls are going to grow in the next year or so. Then with the money you make from ebay/craigslist spend it at Ross or such in the US and plan a size or two up. Amy D used boxes to store her frugal bounty. When a box containing X size was full she knew she didn't have to BUY anymore clothes for her kids. Free would be great, though.

**peanut** · 09-14-2008, 11:25 AM

Now that's a lot of clothes! Man, good thing you found out before the trip and not afterwards! Hope you make lots of money of them for future use.

Jean

**frugalmom1** · 09-14-2008, 11:35 AM

Since you say the price of clothing is so high where you are, is it possible that you can donate some of the clothing to an organization so that other less fortunate children can have some nice things to wear?...just a thought.

**Wendy99** · 09-14-2008, 12:05 PM

We get a lot of hand me downs as well .. if the item is given to me, I will not sell it I will donate it, if I paid for the item I may think about selling it ... but during the last closet raid we just donated. If you do get a lot of hand me downs I wouldn't buy too much in advance for the next size up - you'll end up where you started. Good job sorting through all those clothes, I understand what a chore that can be!!

**santoria** · 09-14-2008, 04:02 PM

sounds like my house....

three girls, three sizes. My mom goes nuts buying them new clothes when she feels the need to shop - and I get handmedowns from a few friends - we do a group clothing exchange.

**lukesmama** · 09-14-2008, 04:10 PM

Right there with ya! Except I'm having trouble letting go of anything that belongs to my oldest, because his little brother is two sizes behind...so I'm saving things. Argh! (But 2yo's things that I don't love are easy to let go of.)

I counted 50 short sleeve shirts in my oldest's closet...before I stopped counting (or got to long sleeve stuff). But he's been in the same size for like a year now, so he's had time to collect a lot in that size. Not that it excuses it. It's definitely excessive.

I'm asking for clothes (next size up) for my kids for Christmas, my MIL told me today she wants to be practical this year (yeah!) so I'm going thru things to get together a list of where the holes are in their wardrobes, best as I can foresee anyway, for the next year. I hope to buy them no clothes in 2009.

Now me...I'm lucky to have one good-fitting outfit on any given day lately!

Anyway, good for you on cleaning things out! Doesn't that always feel so good to do?!

**macemesmum** · 09-14-2008, 08:12 PM

I agree I am lucky to have about 5 things i wear all the time!!! anything that was given to me I pass along to people at school with younger kids, most of the handmedowns we have are play clothes which have been worn by lots of kids so we juts keep passing them on, but the things my mil buys are often designer labels and been worn once or twice and i will try to sell some of these.

**LexTysMommy** · 09-14-2008, 08:24 PM

Wow that is alot of clothes. Glad you got it cleaned out!

With my dd i got clothes for baby shower, and a hand me down box. I sold those when she outgrew them, and used that money to buy 1 big lot of next size on ebay. Then sold those, etc. I am now to the point it wont make sense to sell them on ebay, as they get really worn ( jeans/pants ) I have bin of stuff I sold on craigslist for $$ that i used to buy dd new pair of shoes and 2 jeans. Now I wont buy just to buy. they have over 20 shirts 10 pants. when they outgrow that is the number I am sticking with. No more then that of each for each kid. much easier

**MomToTwoBoys** · 09-14-2008, 09:51 PM

Originally Posted by macemesmum

Wow I am absolutely gobsmacked, I just cleaned out my 5 and 7 year old daughters wardrobes and drawers as the draws were bowing ( and dh has just realised broken as they were too full and not good quality). I cannot believe the pile of clothes i have sitting in my study floor, it probably contains 10 pairs of shoes and maybe 200 items of clothes!!!! and there wardrobes are by no means sparse now they still have probably more clothes than they could wear in 2 months with a new outfit every day!! I've always prided myself on being frugal and most if not all the clothes were presents, or handmedowns or brought on holidays to US in Ross for less on clearance but still, I think there is probably over $1000 of clothes there, what a waste of money. Dh and i just looked at each in shock and we have decided on our trip to usa at christmas where we have in the past brought home to aus 8 suitcases with clothes etc (because the cost is under half what we pay in aus for these things) that the kids just dont need them, i found clothes that still fit that had tags on them from our last trip, so we decided to buy them 1 nice item of clothes when we are away maybe a disney jumper or something and only a few things (souveniers etc) and small to carry things. This not spending for 5 months has really changed my outlook, i was digusted when i saw all the clothes and realised they dont need new outfits no one has even seen them in half of what they own. I m going to try and go all next year buying no clothes for the kids except underwear, i will just ask mil for clothes for the kids for birthdays etc as she always sends over gorgeous things!!! wow what a bruised ego i have at the moment, I once thought i was a frugal king!!!

I wouldn't bring them to the USA when you come unless you're prepared to pay extra for all of those suitcases. You're liable to break even or not make much at all since they charge at least $15 per extra suitcase now.

I also went through all of my childrens' drawers today and got rid of the clothes they had grown out of. I had one 34L bag full from DS #1 and half of a 34L bag full from DS #2. I never buy my children more clothes than they'll go through in a week and even at Christmas, I ask for people to give them a couple outfits. I save the clothes from older DS if they're in good shape and give them to younger DS for handmedowns, but the handmedowns are primarily play clothes and/or things he can sleep in. Oldest DS goes up two sizes every year and youngest DS goes through one size in about 1.5 years. The only things we have extra for them are warm winter clothes because around here, they need it.

**macemesmum** · 09-14-2008, 10:28 PM

Yes I heard about the charge on luggage now that is crazy! our international leg dont charge us anything just the usa domestic leg of the trip. This year we are only taking 4 suitcases 1 each, we need the cold weather clothes as we are going to denver and we need some room as we are having christmas there and no doubt my dear mil will buy them some things for christmas which we will try and jam in their suitcases!