Save Big Money on Clothing

I was recently reminded of another great money saving tip for those of you wanting to save money on clothing:

Shop the massively discounted close-out racks at Kohl's.

Generally, I'm not a big fan of Kohl's. First of all, they never have my size of tennis shoes available. Yes, they have styles I like, but never my size. I can't tell you how many times I've gone there, found a pair I liked, and then discovered that my size wasn't available. Aggravating! In fact, it was such an issue that I had decided not to shop there again for shoes. More on this later.

Second, they inflate the prices of their items, then "mark them down" to 50% off and the like. So you see a coat that you'd NEVER pay $100 for priced at $100 as the "original price" and then marked down to $50 (50% off) which is the price you'd find anyway on the coat if you shopped elsewhere. They try to make it seem like you're getting a great deal when you're not really. I'm not a huge fan of this sort of retailer.

That said, they were having a shoe sale and since it had been several months since I'd been in, I decided to stop by and see what they had. Then a miracle occurred -- they not only had a style I liked, but they had my size. Great!

While my wife was shopping, I wandered over to their close-out racks in the men's department. I sorted through the shirts to see if there was anything I might be interested in. After about 15 minutes, I had found two. Each shirt was a Chaps brand shirt that was "originally" priced at $45. Yeah, right. But, the shirts were worth $20-$25. Their price: $8 each. Oh yeah!

I've shopped the close-out racks at Kohl's before and found similar deals, but I'd forgotten how you can strike gold if you hit it right and are willing to dig a bit. I've made a mental note to stop back every month or so and check out those racks in particular. Doing so could have me stylin' for very little money. ;-)

Comments

[Megan Crow]

I do agree that Kohl's has great sales...but did try to stop shopping there because of the "disposable" clothing I was buying (wear it for one season while it's trendy then ditch it, I try to find more 'sustainable' clothing that will last me for several years), but besides that - we have bought my husband 3-4 pairs of shoes there (all on sale, from $15-30) and ALL of them fell apart. So we have quit buying him shoes there anymore. I can buy dress shoes there, because I don't wear them everyday so they don't get worn out - but all of his shoes (from sandals to dress shoes) have fallen apart that we've gotten there. I'm curious to see how long your's last.

[Zachary]

We don't have a Kohl's here in town, but I like discount shopping for clothes at Costco.

[Teri]

I find the opposite as far as lasting clothes - I have been looking for better quality clothing (no more Target) when I discovered the discount racks at Kohls. In general I stay away from places like Kohls but I found some great deals ($10 for "$50" items) on really high quality clothes. So I am pretty sold.

Plus they have really nice, clean, organized racks that are easy to sort through a lot of the time. Not like the usual mass of hodgepodge of close-outs that take a lot of time and effort to dig through to find the gems. Anyway I just scored a significant upgrade to my wardrobe since I hit it right.

[FMF]

Megan --

The shoes I buy there (when they have my size) are running shoes from Nike, New Balance, and the like, so they last a good amount of time. I've been satisfied with them when I can find them there.

[maggie]

We have done really well on shoes there. We stick to brands and buy ahead if they have good deals. I have 3 kids ( 2 are teens) and have been able to get Nikes and Reebok for around $10. This year we did well on coats to but that was a first. We bought a nike coat in my sons favorite color for less then $20, I have not been able to find good older boy's coats at the thrift store. Seems to be a kind of feast or famine thing though.

[Mary]

I Only shop at Thrift stores, used clothing, gifts, shoes, etc. VERY good bargains! Sometimes find Designer brands too!

[Carol]

I have never had that luck at Kohl's but my sister does in her area all the time. I like Freecycle myself, there's nothing better than free as far as I'm concerned. Most people are willing to give you the clothes that they can't wear anymore whether they be too big or too small for them. I know I just recently gave away a trash bag of new jeans away that were too big on me.