This is part 4 of a 5 part series on saving money on clothes. If you haven’t already read them, please check out part 1 on shopping in your own closet, part 2 on having a clothing swap and part 3 on shopping at thrift shops.

I’ll admit it. I love Winners. I love the crazy stuff you can find there, and I love the fact that it can change from day to day and you never know what you’ll find there. The most recent thing I found at Winners was something that purported to be an exercise suit – if you put it on while you exercised you’d burn way more calories. Frankly, I think it looked like the model had basically put a garbage bag on, but that’s just me.

I know I’m not alone in my love of Winners – there are 2 of them within a 10 minute walk from me at work, and both of them are packed over the lunch hour (and I’ll be honest – it’s mostly women). They do a pretty brisk business. I think on the whole their prices are pretty good (I picked up 3 skirts there last summer for a total of 80 dollars), but shopping at Winners is definitely not for the faint of heart. Things are sorted to a certain extent by size and by type, but it can be overwhelming to look through a rack of things tightly crammed in together. And frankly – some of the stuff they stock is quite hideous and I really don’t know who’d buy it.

Another option is Joe Fresh. I have yet to buy anything there (I was trending towards the larger sizes for a while, and I’m not sure if Joe Fresh stocks those), but I do recall admiring a co-workers skirt last year and she said it was Joe Fresh. So it’s on my to do list now that I’ve managed to shrink down a bit.

I gotta admit – I’m not huge on Wal-Mart or Zellers for clothes – although I did find a good bathing suit at Zellers last year and picked up a few belts there as well (although they are starting to umm..flake  bit).  I don’t have kids, so I can’t comment on whether they are a good place to shop for kid’s clothes, but I generally don’t like how their clothing looks, even if the prices are cheap.

Have I missed any good stores? What’s been your best discount department store purchase?

This is part 3 of a 5 part series on saving money on clothes. If you haven’t already read them, please check out part 1 on shopping in your own closet and part 2 on having a clothing swap.

I have to admit, I haven’t always been a big thrift shop person. I don’t know if it was pride or just laziness (generally, I only buy clothes when someone drags me out and forces me to). Or I just didn’t think of it. I’m really not sure. That all changed when Mr. Canuck Buck’s Aunt took me out shopping.

She *loves* thrift stores.  I swear the clerks actually recognize her when she shows up. She knows where to find the stuff that just came in, and how to quickly spot if anything has a serious flaw in it.

The first time I went shopping with her, I picked up 2 pairs of dress pants at no more than 10 dollars a pair. That’s a lot less than they would have cost me in the store new. And they were in perfectly good shape. No one has ever pointed at me and gone “Hey, nice thrift store pants!”  Not yet, anyways..I also picked up a lovely dress for my niece for less than 8 bucks.

The second time I needed a decent winter coat. I got a really nice one for 40 dollars. Now – that may seem high for a thrift store, but I’m happy to support a good cause (the Salvation Army in this case). And it’s a good, warm coat. Which is a must in a Canadian winter (although not at the moment – it’s crazy warm out!). I also picked up a few things for a friend’s new baby – one shirt still had the tags on it!

So, I highly recommend thrift stores. Your main choices in Canada are Goodwill, Value Village, and the Salvation Army. There are lots of ways to save extra at these places:

- The Salvation Army offers coupons and senior’s discount every day.

- Value Village offers a Super Savers Club

- Goodwill has special events. There’s a “Friday Fever” coming up this week!

What’s your best thrift store find? Mine isn’t that recent  – the best I ever got was a great “Catholic schoolgirl” outfit I wore many years ago for Halloween.

This is part 2 in a 5 part series on how to save money on clothes. If you haven’t already done so, please check out part 1 of 5: Saving money on clothes by “shopping” in your own closet.

If you can’t find anything in your own house you can use to expand your wardrobe without going shopping, maybe you can find it in someone else’s! Clothing swaps are a great way to get rid of things you no longer want or need, and hopefully take home some new items.

With luck, you’ll have a rich friend who is exactly your size, and gets rid of her clothes after wearing them a few times. In reality though, you may not know a lot of people who are your size. I’m fairly tall, so I’ve never been able to get clothes from any of my friends. I have, however, been able to get shoes from a few people who no longer wanted them, including some seriously awesome new high boots. The key to a successful clothing swap is to try to include as many people as possible – the more people that comes, the more likely you are to find someone with clothes you can use.

I just read an article about a “Fashion Week” clothing swap. If you’re someone who likes high end clothes, then this kind of thing can be fantastic! For every item you donate, you get a “chit” that’s redeemable for another item.

Have you ever participated in a clothing swap? What’s the best item you’ve ever gotten for free from someone else?