Frugal ways to survive a clothing disaster.
@happythoughts (4109)
United States
September 27, 2012 8:09pm CST
Here I am airing my dirty laundry, literally. We took all the dirty clothes in our house, all the clothes the kids stuffed under the bed, all the clothes that were tucked in the closet and all those random places people hide things. It filled my downstairs tub. That was a few weeks ago and we have since been putting our dirty clothes on top of it and doing laundry from this pile. I have been trying to get it all dealt with but karma caught up with me first. Out faucet had a slow leak that we had no ideas about. I found it this morning and realized that everything under the top layer or two of clothes was ruined. It got moldy. Long story shortened, we threw away 7 trash bags of laundry today that we just couldnt save. I just dont have the cash in my clothing budget to buy us all new clothes. We could have gotten rid of half and been okay but we didnt get to choose what was taken. It was all my socks, I am down to one pair. We lost a lot of sweaters since its summer now but winter is coming. My hubby lost all his Tshirts, lol, now he needs to wear polo style shirts everywhere (Im not complaining!).
Where do I get clothes for very cheap, and how can I adjust what I have to work?
12 responses
@wilsongoddard (7291)
• United States
28 Sep 12
Actually, the stuff may have been able to be saved with a bit of white vinegar and a good washing or two. That would have been my first step.
However, since you have now disposed of it, I would suggest going to your local thrift shop(s) to replace the pieces that are absolutely necessary. Men's clothing is a difficult one, though, when it comes to thrift shops; I've looked before, and what finds its way into the men's section usually isn't worthwhile. For that, you may need to hit a few yard sales--preferably fundraising ones, since nicer stuff is usually donated to those (I know this from personal experience both from the side of having donated and having purchased).
As for socks, you can easily purchase replacements through Amazon.com. Many websites (Swagbucks, MyPoints, etc.) offer Amazon gift cards; plus, you can always do work through Mturk and get that money credited to your account. So, ultimately, you may have to pay little or nothing out-of-pocket to replace those.
1 person likes this
@happythoughts (4109)
• United States
28 Sep 12
I didnt think about going on to amazon. That is a great idea. I have a few gift certificates saved up there that I could use to off set the cost. We had more clothes then we needed and I guess this is a good point to start over and re-evaluate.
@cutepenguin (6431)
• Canada
28 Sep 12
I guess it depends on what you did end up with.
Honestly, socks and underwear I have found to be very inexpensive if you buy them from Costco, depending if there is a Costco near you or if you or someone you know has a membership.
I've been trying to repurpose some of my old clothes and have found some sewing tutorials through pinterest or just by searching online. If you can sew a bit, these could help you. (most of the ones that I am doing involve upcycling tshirts, but there are others about making dresses and skirts).
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@happythoughts (4109)
• United States
28 Sep 12
Pinterest is a great idea. Even if we dont have a lot of T shirts left over they are fairly cheap. I wasnt looking forward to trying to replace some of my nicer shirts since they were the ones that cost the most. I would love to experiment on some cheap tees and see if I can make something cute out of them. It sould be great for my daughter as well who just hit that age where she wants to dress to impress. Thank you for the great idea. Im going to pinterest right now.
@coffeebreak (17798)
• United States
28 Sep 12
So sorry to hear about this. I wish you luck in dealing with it. I have found that the thrift stores is a great place to find clothes...and other things. Yard sales too are a good place. Also check your area for somthing called "Freecyle"...it is online and you list what you have to give away and anyone can claim it and come get it. I have never found anything I need, but have listed some stuff and the people have come got it. I don't know you whole story, but if you have that much clothes in "hidden" places and under beds..that means they aren't "used" or worn much..so maybe cut down on how much clothes you have! When I moved I gave away half my closet..reallizing I hadn't worn so much of it in a long time! Especially with kids..if they have that much clothes under the bed, but were still dressed to go to school just fine..then they just have to many clothes!
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@happythoughts (4109)
• United States
28 Sep 12
I do realize that we had a lot of extra things. For the most part these are the tings that got ruined. The things that we wore every week were in the closets hanging up. The hard part is that its going fast into fall and we lost a good part of our warmer clothes but we still have coats and a heater in our home so we will survive. I know I never should have let it all get that bad. I feel like a failier as a housekeeper that my kids were able to stash that much stuff.
@marguicha (215876)
• Chile
28 Sep 12
I`m very sorry that you had this problem. You must have had lots of clothes if you could fill a tub with the dirty one. Why don`t you first sort out what you have left and see how each garment goes with another? I remember that onvce, some years ago, my granddaughter told me she had "nothing" to wear. I told her why didn`t we play "Extreme makeover". She was happy to discover that what she had was a very good start to go to her parties then
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There are some things that will have to be bought again, but start with the essentials.
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There are some things that will have to be bought again, but start with the essentials.@happythoughts (4109)
• United States
28 Sep 12
lol. I know we had to much, but I do wish I could have sorted the clothes on my own terms instead of letting karma do it for me. I have learned to never let the clothes get piled up again no matter how chaotic life gets on us. I have a load of laundry in right now ;). This summer our dryer broke and we went two weeks likne drying everything on a tiny rack. I got so behind at this point and never caught back up. I guess now I am caught up and we are trying to be creative. I know what to tell santa to bring this year.
@randylovesdar (4932)
• United States
28 Sep 12
I would look at garage sales and thrift stores. I have gone into these places and have had some great luck. I am sorry that everything had gotten moldy. Do you know of anybody who has kids that are close to your age who might have some clothes that their children have outgrown? That might be a big help as well.
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@happythoughts (4109)
• United States
28 Sep 12
I need to go to thrift stores more in general. Why pay full price for something I need when there is for sure someone else out there that no longer needs one. My kids were in need of new clothes anyway but I had hoped to hold out a bit longer. I think we are all going to go to the thrift store tonight right after we hit Walmart for new socks and underware ;).
@Belle_of_the_Ball (896)
• Philippines
28 Sep 12
What a disaster! Have you tried going to thrift stores? You may get nice clothes at cheaper price.
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@happythoughts (4109)
• United States
28 Sep 12
I really havent tried anything yet. We are still sorting through the pieces we are trying to save. I think that we managed to save my hubbys coat that we were just getting ready for winter time. That there is a huge relief. Coats are so expensive. I will be searching thrift stores this weekend, but I will be more selective about how many clothes we get stuffed back in to our tiny home.
@Lindalinda (4111)
• Canada
28 Sep 12
Hi,
I am really puzzled why you chose to pile up so much laundry. If your kids are old enough you could add to their list of chores to do their own load of laundry or if you don't have a washing machine in your house make one trip a week to the laundromat.
Anyway to solve your present dilemma.
1. wash your remaining pair of socks every night and hang it up to dry.
2. Do you have "Freecyle" where you live? This is a website where people give away all kinds of free stuff.
3. The Salvation Army used clothes store
4. St. Vincent de Paul used store.
5. Garage Sales, especially for T-shirts
6. Goodwill Stores
@Lindalinda (4111)
• Canada
2 Oct 12
Oh well, it happened and is what it is. I guess in the meantime you have acquired some clothes to help you out. Another thing I wanted to suggest to you is to put a wicker basket at the foot of each bed so all the dirty clothes are immediately stored and don't find their way under the beds into nooks and crannies and places where you find them weeks later. I think I mentioned my son has a very small house also and two young children. My daughter-in-law uses this method now especially since my son was always very careless with the laundry. It seems to work out better for them since laundry is always piling up. This way it is no longer all ovethe place. Try it.
@happythoughts (4109)
• United States
28 Sep 12
In trying to save money we were line drying our clothes. We live in an HOA that wont let us dry our clothes outside. I was keeping up on the essentials and that was about it. I know its not the ideal way to live. Its one of the things I am not proud of but its what happened. I guess it wont happen ever again.
@kingparker (9673)
• United States
28 Sep 12
Sorry to hear about your clothing disaster. I don't have much suggestion, but you can always shop for cheap clothes from local thrift stores, or if you won't mind, craigslist has some cheap clothing for online sale, you can always call them up to see if you can strike a bargain from them. That is my suggestion, hopefully that you can solve your clothing disaster, and you can get some nice clothes.
@happythoughts (4109)
• United States
28 Sep 12
I have never used Craigslist before. I dont really know much about it at all but Im not against most anything. Im sure we will survive. There are people out there with less then what we have left and I never should have let my laundry get piled up like that. Lesson learned.
@natliegleb (5175)
• India
28 Sep 12
that is kind of feeling shame and covering the humiliation ,basically its all about making up really well and trying to show off rather than flirting with clothes
@Kashidanga1971 (1354)
• Bangladesh
28 Sep 12
Hi sis happy, We would believe that thrift stores etc are for the people of third world countries like us. The United States is the richest country in the world and you are thinking of things like thrift stores. Looks like very odd and sad to me. Stay well.
@Kashidanga1971 (1354)
• Bangladesh
28 Sep 12
Hi sis happy, We would believe that thrift stores etc are for the people of third world countries like us. The United States is the richest country in the world and you are thinking of things like thrift stores. Looks like very odd and sad to me. Stay well.
@Kashidanga1971 (1354)
• Bangladesh
28 Sep 12
Hi sis happy, We would believe that thrift stores etc are for the people of third world countries like us. The United States is the richest country in the world and you are thinking of things like thrift stores. Looks like very odd and sad to me. Stay well.
