Shopping For Fall And Winter Clothes On A Budget

Welcome back to part 2 of my 3-part series, Fall and Winter Wardrobe On A Budget. If you’re new here, go here and check out part 1, how to put together your “starter”, capsule fall and winter wardrobe. In part 2, you’ll get 10 tips for shopping for fall and winter clothes on a budget.

Now that you’ve got your wardrobe organized into categories and have a shopping list, you might be running to the door, eager to start shopping. Well, let’s slow down for a minute and start with a plan. A plan for shopping will save you time, money, and frustration.

Read on for my best tips for shopping for fall and winter clothes on a budget.

SHOPPING FOR FALL AND WINTER CLOTHES ON A BUDGET

Take your list of clothing needs and prioritize everything.
Decide what your monthly budget is.
With your budgeted amount and prioritized shopping list, decide what items you are shopping for this month. Try to focus on those items and ignore everything else. I have one exception to this rule (see #5).
Decide where you will shop for the items on your list. How do you decide this? First, I always go back to stores that I’ve had success with before, for getting the right fit. Fit is so important! Also, go to stores that have the types of styles you like and work for your lifestyle.
Look for sales and get coupons together for your favorite stores. Get preferred customer reward cards (not credit cards), and get on mailing lists of your favorite stores. You’ll know when a sale is starting, and you can check your list for things that might be on sale. Here’s the exception to tip #3: It’s ok to buy something lower on your priority list if it goes on sale.
Know what types of stores to shop at, depending on what you’re shopping for. Discount stores are good for basic casual tops and basic casual pants. Department stores have good sales and even have their own brands that are nice but less expensive. I also love outlet stores for shopping my favorite brands. Shop boutique stores if lots of options overwhelm you.
Know when to save and when to splurge. Save on basic, casual clothes for everyday wear, but splurge (a little) on nice, casual clothes for social outings, and even a little more for special occasion clothes.
Make your wardrobe look like more by spending a little money on accessories, such as scarves and jewelry. Jewelry is usually cheaper than clothes and you can use jewelry to make your outfits more interesting, without overspending. Even if you budgeted just $10 a month for accessories, you could add a few trendy accessories to your current wardrobe to make it look more up-to-date.
Throughout the season, you might want to rearrange your priority list to buy things when they go on sale, but that’s ok. That’s a smart way to get more for your money.
Throughout the season, your priorities might change. Each month, re-evaluate your shopping list and buy what you think you need the most and will make the biggest impact on your wardrobe.

Those are my 10 tips for shopping for fall and winter clothes on a budget. Are you ready to go shopping this weekend? What are your top shopping priorities? Let me know in the comments.