"PAGE 270 – THE USED-CLOTHING FILING SYSTEM
Except for sneakers, socks and some underwear, Amy has never purchased new clothing for any of her children. Remember that Amy has 6 children at the time of the writing of this book, so she has about 30 same sized boxes in her attic that have clothes stored in them.
The boxes are marked with the age of the child and the sex. So using her system 5YG – means 5 year old girl; 12YB – 12 year old boy; Trainage – obviously these are the potty training pants and underwear.
Amy collects clothes from relatives that are years older than her oldest child and she stores them away. She is given a lot of hand me downs, so she sorts them by age and sex for future use. When she buys yard sale clothes she will buy only a couple years older than the oldest child. She doesn’t buy too far in advanced because free hand me downs might come along in the meantime.
Also, she doesn’t wait to shop for clothes 6 months before she needs them as she might not be able to find what she needs.
Amy stores the clothes in same size boxes so she can gauge the amount of clothes she has. Amy’s goal is not to have too many clothes for one size, but a “just good enough amount.” Amy never turns down hand me downs from anyone. She sorts through them and keeps everything, just in case she will need them all. Amy doesn’t go through to repair or remove stains at this time as she may be given some clothes in the same size in better shape sometime in the future.
Amy will buy things very far in advance if she is at a yard sale and they have brand new shoes or a new coat on sale. She also tries to choose items that will be in style for a few years.
Book 3, Page 6 – THE KIDS’ CLOTHING INVENTORY
Amy spent about $50 annually to dress her six kids with an average of $8.33 per kid. This includes winter outerwear. Socks and underwear were purchased new. Many clothing items were given to their family by their relatives and many items were purchased used.
Amy kept an inventory sheet on each kid as to what clothes they wore and the sizes along with what clothes that child had in their closet to wear. So for one child she wrote down the number of winter shirts and the sizes. This was to ensure that gaps and surpluses don’t occur. For example, one child ran short on shoes so she knew that in the future she needed to make sure they had enough shoes for the year.
Since manufacturers differ in their sizes, Amy started to measure the clothing to make sure that she would be getting the correct sizes at garage sales. For example, she would measure inseams and also would measure shoes for the correct size. Then when an item was needed she would take a tape measure along with her to a garage sale and it was easy to measure and know that pants and shoes would fit her child.
I think this is a good idea from the standpoint of clothing does shrink after washing, so you may look at an article at a garage sale and think that you are buying the correct size only to find out the item had done some shrinking. Measuring ensures a good fit.
Amy kept a list of the sizes along with the measurements that went with that size so she could make sure the clothing would fit. For example size 2 in pants measures to be an 8 ½” waist (measured in the front) and 11 ½ inch inseam.
Even if you didn’t keep a list of the sizes, but only took an inventory of your children’s clothing you would be able to see if they needed any “new” clothing for a season. Then you would be able to go ahead and buy those items before they were needed as compared to going to a garage sale and buying everything “willy nilly”. Having a plan to buy only what is needed and nothing beyond that will save you money, even at garage sales. Also just because items are cheaper at a garage sale doesn’t mean that you buy your child 10 dresses, 15 pairs of pants and 25 shirts. Money is money so only buy what your child needs.
Having a clothing inventory for every member of the family would be a good idea too. Think of the money you will save by not going out and buying extra items when you aren’t sure if you really need them or not."
Except for sneakers, socks and some underwear, Amy has never purchased new clothing for any of her children. Remember that Amy has 6 children at the time of the writing of this book, so she has about 30 same sized boxes in her attic that have clothes stored in them.
The boxes are marked with the age of the child and the sex. So using her system 5YG – means 5 year old girl; 12YB – 12 year old boy; Trainage – obviously these are the potty training pants and underwear.
Amy collects clothes from relatives that are years older than her oldest child and she stores them away. She is given a lot of hand me downs, so she sorts them by age and sex for future use. When she buys yard sale clothes she will buy only a couple years older than the oldest child. She doesn’t buy too far in advanced because free hand me downs might come along in the meantime.
Also, she doesn’t wait to shop for clothes 6 months before she needs them as she might not be able to find what she needs.
Amy stores the clothes in same size boxes so she can gauge the amount of clothes she has. Amy’s goal is not to have too many clothes for one size, but a “just good enough amount.” Amy never turns down hand me downs from anyone. She sorts through them and keeps everything, just in case she will need them all. Amy doesn’t go through to repair or remove stains at this time as she may be given some clothes in the same size in better shape sometime in the future.
Amy will buy things very far in advance if she is at a yard sale and they have brand new shoes or a new coat on sale. She also tries to choose items that will be in style for a few years.
Book 3, Page 6 – THE KIDS’ CLOTHING INVENTORY
Amy spent about $50 annually to dress her six kids with an average of $8.33 per kid. This includes winter outerwear. Socks and underwear were purchased new. Many clothing items were given to their family by their relatives and many items were purchased used.
Amy kept an inventory sheet on each kid as to what clothes they wore and the sizes along with what clothes that child had in their closet to wear. So for one child she wrote down the number of winter shirts and the sizes. This was to ensure that gaps and surpluses don’t occur. For example, one child ran short on shoes so she knew that in the future she needed to make sure they had enough shoes for the year.
Since manufacturers differ in their sizes, Amy started to measure the clothing to make sure that she would be getting the correct sizes at garage sales. For example, she would measure inseams and also would measure shoes for the correct size. Then when an item was needed she would take a tape measure along with her to a garage sale and it was easy to measure and know that pants and shoes would fit her child.
I think this is a good idea from the standpoint of clothing does shrink after washing, so you may look at an article at a garage sale and think that you are buying the correct size only to find out the item had done some shrinking. Measuring ensures a good fit.
Amy kept a list of the sizes along with the measurements that went with that size so she could make sure the clothing would fit. For example size 2 in pants measures to be an 8 ½” waist (measured in the front) and 11 ½ inch inseam.
Even if you didn’t keep a list of the sizes, but only took an inventory of your children’s clothing you would be able to see if they needed any “new” clothing for a season. Then you would be able to go ahead and buy those items before they were needed as compared to going to a garage sale and buying everything “willy nilly”. Having a plan to buy only what is needed and nothing beyond that will save you money, even at garage sales. Also just because items are cheaper at a garage sale doesn’t mean that you buy your child 10 dresses, 15 pairs of pants and 25 shirts. Money is money so only buy what your child needs.
Having a clothing inventory for every member of the family would be a good idea too. Think of the money you will save by not going out and buying extra items when you aren’t sure if you really need them or not."
 |
| Here's my chart, my apologies for it's sideways presentation. |
I also use large ziploc bags for storage, since it takes up less space in our house. The only place I have to store kids clothes is under their bed, which fits the bags better than boxes do. As I get new clothes for gifts, etc. (on boy #3 now) I get rid of any that are worn out or that aren't worn much. This way the stack never gets too high.
Another thing that is helpful is to keep a box/bag of hand-me-downs that my own kids have outgrown so that I only have to sort and take out clothes seasonally. Then I sort whatever is in the "too small" box and put it in the appropriate bag at the season change instead of regularly. Otherwise I'd be digging in 4 "too big" bags and putting away in 4 "too small" bags on a continual basis.
