CLOTHES! Aaahhhhhh

I have had zero luck at thrift stores! But I'm guessing it's because I live in a small town. But I've had some luck at Wal-mart and I shop the clearance at stores like Kohl's or JCPenny's - or just the sales racks with coupons. I've lost 111 pounds and haven't bought a lot of clothes because I too have a lot of clothes in my closet in different sizes. Mainly I've had to buy new pants. Shirts-wise I've managed to mainly shop in my closet a lot.

I live by 3 options for clothes now: 1) Goodwill, 2) Facebook online garage sale pages, and 3) Old Navy sales. I've lost 8 pants sizes this year and my entire wardrobe has turned over multiple times. Let your bargain hunting commence!

Goodwill and other thrift stores were what I used after stupidly buying a lot of new stuff and promptly shrinking out of it - some of it before I could even wear it! Ugh! Don't make my mistake

This can get very expensive if you're not careful. During my rapid losing state, I was dropping a size every 6 weeks. Start scoping out all of the thrift and consignment stores within an hour of where you live. I was able to consign my nicer clothes to fund the next size down and was happy to take over someone else's discarded clothes for a while. I could replace my entire wardrobe for around $100. The only new clothes I purchased were undergarments.

I have saved a ton of money by shopping Kohl's and Old Navy clearance. I also use Kohl's coupons, Kohl's cash, and Yes2You rewards. It's almost a game to save the most money! I've gotten lucky and found jeans for $6 or $8 at Kohl's. Occasionally, I've bought things in a smaller size knowing I would fit into them eventually if they were a really good price, and I have always been able to wear those things. I also didn't buy too many things in each size. I end up wearing things often, but then I shrink out of them quickly and have to buy new things. I never spend more than $10 on a single item, unless it is something I specifically need for work or an event. Clearance racks and coupons have been good to me!

I live in SoCal and we had a VERY HOT summer, and we're still getting warm days and humid nights, so shorts are essential. My only pair of shorts is so big now, but I still need to wear them from time to time, so I just use a belt to make them last longer. I've gone from a size 18/20 to a 14, so you can imagine how big the legs and waist are on me, but the belt helps. Knowing how to sew has really helped as well, so some of my clothes just get altered as I get smaller, which save me lots of money

Thrift shops and eBay, I refuse to pay full price for anything... but I was like that pre-op too. I tend to find a pair of jeans or a shirt that fits me well, than go in search of a few duplicates of the same style so I have backups for when I do laundry. I don't have to worry about nice clothes for work, since I groom dogs and wear shapeless nylon stuff anyways. Nice clothing is more of a challenge, but luckily I have a friend that runs a consignment business for higher end business clothing so I am able to swap in my suit separates for smaller items of comparable quality every time I need to change sizes.

I love Goodwill and Salvation Army. A new work wardrobe in your new sizes will run $50 or so. Then, when you're ready to get all new clothes in another month or so, you won't be out that much money.

The ones in this area are okay, but there's a couple about an hour's drive away from me that usually have a lot of name-brands in good shape. Even now, when I've stopped losing, I still like to hit them about every other month. When I can get a pair of Ralph Lauren Polo khakis for $4 that look brand new, why bother actually buying new?

As I got closer to my ultimate goal, I started getting more things on clearance also. Stores like Kohl's seem to be constantly moving their merchandise out, and you can get some really good deals, especially as you get into the "smaller" sizes.

goodwill

My weight loss center has clothing swaps...leave what you don't need, take what you do need. They do this every quarter or so. If yours doesn't have one, maybe you can ask about starting one.