James and I are in the middle of a Total Money Makeover. Among the changes we've made to how we handle our money is our monthly "need" list. Basically, every month there are going to be some irregular expenses; we keep a running list of these needs and pick and choose what we're going to do each month. It helps us plan, and helps keep us on track for paying off our debt.
One of the things that's been on the "need" list for several months is summer clothes for Wendy. I wasn't exactly sure what she had, but I knew she needed some things. I hadn't made the time to sort through her closet or dresser to find the specific needs...until today.
(Let me interrupt myself to say that I have a BIG problem with impulsive shopping, almost to the point of an addiction. Sometimes are better than others. I do pretty well now with not buying things for myself, but my new weakness is Wendy's clothes. I mean, seriously, have you SEEN all the cute little girl clothes available??)
I sorted Wendy's "closet" today, removing all the stuff she's outgrown. That filled up a big laundry basket. Then I sorted her closet - sectioned out the dresses, sweaters, long sleeve shirts, short sleeve shirts, skirts, and sleeveless summer tops. Then I organized her dresser. I came to a conclusion.
Wendy doesn't need anything for summer.
Okay, so technically, she does still need two swimsuits, one for home and one for Grandma's. But other than that, she doesn't need a stitch of clothing for the summer. And she's not going to need much for the fall.
Here's what I found.
19 short-sleeve T-shirts (and a bunch of short-sleeve blouses)
13 pairs of shorts
23 dresses. 23. Dresses.
How many children do I think I have?? How in the world did I accumulate so much stuff? I vaguely remember getting things at ridiculously low prices at the beginning of fall, thinking, "Oh, this is great, this'll be for next summer." But 13 pairs of shorts? 19 T-shirts?
Yikes.
So strike that item off the need list, honey - I think we'll be just fine.
3 comments:
That's really funny! I, too, don't usually have a problem with impulsively buying things for myself. In fact, I usually feel fairly guilty about it and end up talking myself out of it! HOWEVER, I can already tell that this will change with the coming of a baby girl...
It is so hard to pass by the little girl clothes!!
We're very blessed to get lots of hand me downs from friends, but I still get tempted to buy my girls more clothes- even though they totally don't need ANYTHING! Something I've been doing to curb my clothes spending on them is taking it out of our grocery budget. We have just enough to get the groceries and gas we need for the week so if I impulse buy something for my kids it comes out of our grocery budget. It makes me think twice.
I don't know where you live, but we have a great thrift store where I live and my husband bought a bunch of nice clothes for my son last season (all name brands) for only $20. You really have to dig sometimes, but you can find some great things when you do. Doesn't sound like you need much for summer :).
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