Art, a Vacation, & a Nice Wine

Until now, there has been no suggestion to change what one buys, just ways to save by how one buys. There are ways to save additionally by changing what one buys. A friend is a ‘gourmet’. He can COOK. One of his favorite sayings is, “Cooking is the art of experimenting, but baking is science.” The point for him is that he ‘creates’ works of art. The point for us is by experimenting, we can do more for less. Again, start small. For example, if one uses ‘name’ brand chicken broth as stock for a chicken and rice dish, can one REALLY taste a difference between name brand chicken broth and generic chicken broth? Substituting less expensive base ingredients may not significantly alter the taste of the finished dish. Experimenting to find out is worth it. One can save money this way. The question is, “Does the savings ‘justify’ the difference in taste if there is any?” Surprise yourself.

Here, clothing is an ‘Expendable Expense’. The reason for that is that clothing wears out and needs replacing. The ‘with what?’ of replacing clothes is important. Think of clothes shopping as packing for a vacation. What does one take on a vacation? Usually, it is durable, mix and match, multi-occasion wear. Shop for clothes the same way one packs. Many clothes are ‘fashionable’ not fads. There are clothes that do not ‘go out of style’, they may be seasonal, but not out of style. The ‘mix and match’ outfits provide one with many variations. A simple grey business suit with five or six pastel shirts, a couple of striped shirts, and an array of ties is good for years. If one wears a suit every day, but takes off the jacket at the office, buy two sets of pants with the suit at the same time. The pants get more wear and tear than the jacket, so having two pairs of suit pants means the suit lasts twice as long before replacement because the pants no longer match the good jacket.

There is a generally more ‘sensitive’ option. Shopping in thrift or second hand stores for clothes can be embarrassing. Get over it. What are the chances one is going to ‘see’ or ‘be seen’ by someone they know? If one is seen, then they get to share a secret. There are few people that are going to show up at work, or at church, or anywhere else and say, “Hey, so and so was shopping in the thrift store!” Someone will inevitably respond with, “How do you know?” So get over the embarrassment and face the fact. The fact is that one is biased and prejudiced about shopping in thrift stores! Mom is an ‘expert’ thrift store shopper. She invariably brings home something that still has the original ‘new’ store tags on it. It is more common than one might expect. About the only clothes I do not buy in thrift stores are underwear and socks. Again, it usually takes a little longer, but this is about saving money and good stewardship. Thrift store shopping for clothes is definitely the ‘deep end’. It is a big step for someone that does not already do so. It is well worth the savings. Whenever attending an event and ‘complimented’ on attire, one gets even ‘more’ satisfaction from the knowledge it cost a fraction of what others would expect.

There are three notes about clothes shopping.
1. Men, if one has not been TAUGHT how to shop for clothes, ask a woman acquaintance to go along. Preferably, take a spouse, sibling, or ‘good’ friend...not someone being romanced. (The clothes might be around longer than the romance.) Women are generally much better at clothes and fashions than men are. Just make sure that the female understands the goals.

2. Many of the ‘new’ and ‘like-new’ shirts in thrift stores have logos on them. Mom, recently couldn’t wait to show off her ‘brand-new’ 'Islands' shirt and the ‘like-new’ 'polo' shirt she purchased at a thrift shop. Her Islands shirt was nice beige, with ‘purplish’ blotches on it with the Island names. She innocently asked the location of the Island chain. The ‘Islands’ had names like Merlot, Cabernet, Rose and Sherry. She had no idea that they were the names of wines, and the ‘purplish’ blotches were representative of the wines. The ‘polo’ shirt she had gotten for my step-father was nice; she had no idea that its logo identified it as the ‘uniform’ of the bouncers of a strip club. The point is, take a few minutes on the internet to identify an unknown logo on a thrift store purchase. It was a $5 lesson instead of the cost of those shirts new.

3. This is just a suggestion. Men, learn to enjoy, pay attention to, and participate in clothes shopping with women. Go with them, let them try on everything they want to, learn to enjoy it. That does not mean to leave them in the ‘women’s' department, and go look at tools. A man can learn a lot about dressing and shopping for himself by doing so. There are additional benefits, but one truly has to enjoy shopping with women, before they ‘manifest’ themselves.


One can save a lot of money by ‘smart’ shopping for clothes. Buy clothes that are ‘fashionable’ without being faddish, save money. Choose ‘mix and match’ outfits, save money. Shop at thrift and bargain stores, save even more money.