Frugal Money: Putting together a "Needs List"

With garage sale (GS) season coming, it's a good idea to put together your "Needs List" A needs list is just that-a list of stuff you need that you will probably be able to find cheaper at GS, Thrift Store (TS), or online auction venues such as ebay or ecrater.com. Now, before you can do this, it's also a good idea to know what you have in storage, especially for clothes.

I have roughly 15 of the big bins of clothes in storage. They range in size from 18 months to size 18 in kids. Nothing is in storage for those who have stopped growing-myself, Larry and Aimee. These just go into the closets. They may not get worn for awhile, but they are there when needed. So when a pair of pants gets a hole in it, they are put in a donation bag, and there is a replacement pair for them already in the closet.

Let me digress a second. Do NOT put your ragged clothes in the trash. Salvation Army, and probably other large charity thrift stores, can use torn or stained clothes. Unsalable items, called rag, are baled and sold to companies that make carpet padding. So while purchasing used clothes is definitely recycling, donating your rag will help these charities while also keeping "stuff" out of the landfill. I KNOW SA does it, not sure about the others. A smaller thrift, however, such as a church run one, doesn't have the resources for this. Here's how I sort my donations:

10% of what I buy for resale is donated to my local emergency clothes pantry. They GIVE clothes to people who need them. It's church run, so it's part of our family's tithe. They also get stuff that I come across that may not be saleable (bad size, frayed hem but doesn't fit one of our kiddoes, etc) but that is still perfectly usable. Rag, and stuff that won't get used here or that would sit for too long (prom dress, most career wear) goes up to SA. We go up to SA about once a month in April-October to drop that stuff off, and the clothes pantry gets seasonal donations as they don't have storage. In July they get back to school stuff, October is winter and March is spring/summer.

OK, back to your needs list. If you keep clothes in storage, you need some sort of inventory. Mine is pretty simple, I think, just a word doc formatted as a table with Size, Number and Description heads. So it would look something like 18 mos, 5, girls pants, for 5 pair of 18 mos. pants. I can also have two copies. One a large master list that goes into the household notebook, the other a smaller list that goes on the outside of a given bin, so that when I have to go through them due to growth instead of season change, I know which bins I can avoid.

If you have space considerations, decide how much of what you will save. You may only be able to store the next size up, or the next season, and that's OK. Every piece bought now, at a GS, TS or on clearance saves you buying it for full price when you need it. As I buy clothes, they go into a bin and are marked on the two inventory sheets. A few days ago a friend came buy with a huge bag of clothes. I went through them, pulled out what I can use now, separated the rag, rebagged what is too small to fit anyone so that I can share them with someone else, and then put the rest into a bin. A lot of them were winter size 18 mos. girls clothes, just what I should be needing for Aria this coming winter, so it was definitely a score, although now I need to buy more bins LOL.

Here's what I keep in storage
Aria (currently in 12-18 mos summer clothes) up to size 5
Roan (currently in 3T-4T tops and 2T bottoms) up to size 7
Nikki (currently in size 7) up to size 14
Saren (currently in size 14) anything I can get my hands on

So when I do my needs list, for those four kids, it is within those size boundaries. So when I find a great sale at the TS like I did last week, I know that Aria doesn't need anymore size 4 anything, so I can skip those.

Also on my needs list are what I need for those of us who've stopped growing. Like DH always needs Large TShirts. Aimee can always use size 12 jeans. So those are on the needs list as well.

I also have a household needs list. I need a blender, canning jars, bookshelves, etc. So I have a household needs list and a clothing needs list. It definitely helps to keep my shopping organized.
So, what happens when I buy something that a child ends up not wearing because they weren't the right size in the right season? I will tell you that it is very rare that I end up in that situation. Once kids get to be about 3, they will usually be in a size for about a year. Now, if you put the 3 year old in 4T pants, he may need a belt or some cuffing of the hem in the beginning, but you should be able to get use out of most of what you buy. Anything I didn't use either gets donated or sold at the clothing sales I do.

Now, because I have this needs list in play, even if I end up donating the clothes, I am not out a lot of money. I do probably 90% of my clothes shopping on clearance, on ebay, at TS or GS. Because I am buying ahead, I buy out of season clothes at much cheaper prices than I would pay for them used. I am able to choose items that show little wear (hopefully not even looking "used") because I don't need them right now, which is the key. Last month, I got about 40 pairs of denim shorts for the boys for an average price of $2.00 each, brand new on clearance. They were getting rid of last year's stuff before they put this year's stuff out. Now, some of those won't be worn for quite awhile, but I still ONLY paid $2.00 each, instead of $8.00 or $10.00 or more. I knew which sizes to buy, because of the needs list. Yesterday I picked up an organic shirt for Saren that he won't wear until probably next winter, for $3.00. Some days have bigger scores than others LOL. Last week I hit a TS and they were having an unannounced sale on kids clothes. Took home probably 50 pieces of clothing, plus some books, for $40. Not everything I got was on sale, but still, it was the TS, so I was getting a good price anyway. Once a week on ebay I go through my needs list and search for the items on it. If I can snipe a lot for a good price, I go for it. I once got a lot of baby clothes on ebay for one penny, plus shipping.

My clothing needs list is broken into three categories:

Immediate need, printed in red. Might have to buy this stuff new, at full price. For awhile, because Saren gained about 3 inches overnight, size 14 jeans were on there. I think I ended up buying 3 of his 10 pair at full price.

Priority, printed in black. Next size up that I don't have enough of. Again, Saren's size 16's are on there. That's the first place I go in the TS and clearance rack, and I'll bid those higher on ebay. Because boys are so rough on their clothes, those are harder to find, and his yearly clothes budget is higher to compensate for that.

Non-priority, printed in green. That is for the sizes that are a few sizes ahead that I will need, like size 10 for Nikki. If I find those at an incredible price, I get them. I may only get a few pieces of those per month, but that's OK, cause I can build it up slowly like that.

There are, of course, two clothes items that I will only buy new: socks and underwear. Now socks, given to me by trusted people, I will use, used, but undies, never. I still, however, will try to find these items on clearance for bigger savings.

Of course, it's always helpful to have a budget and buy price in mind, too. For example, my goal is to keep jeans under an average price of $5.00 each for Saren. So if I want him to have 10 pairs of jeans, and I score six of those for $1.00 at a church thrift, that leaves me $44.00 for 4 more pair. I can then spend more on those, and it doesn't hurt nearly as bad when I have to buy a few new, or pay higher prices at different thrifts or at ebay (always keep postage in mind when bidding on ebay).

Future frugal money posts will have grocery tips and more TS/GS/Ebay tips for you. I know, especially in this time of financial instability, to share what I know about living on a very tight budget! If you have any questions, just post a comment and I will answer in a future blog entry.

Have a great day!