But before you rush out and shop, ask yourself …. Often this is because your wishlist needs further refinement. Thoughtfully planning and curating your wardrobe helps you buy and keep the right amount of the right clothes, shoes, and accessories. How many outfits or pieces of clothing you need largely depends on your lifestyle. Moreover, it depends on how much variety you prefer. Someone who enjoys wearing a style uniform think jeans and T needs probably less to be happy than someone who loves playing around with various outfit combinations.

Or just because you do your laundry less often. The key is to love and regularly wear all the things you own. Your clothes should add value to your life and not gather dust in a forgotten corner of your closet. And there you have it — these are my tips on planning your outfits plus my thoughts on how many of them we really need.

Let me know what you think! I wrote this guide for all of you who want to be more strategic about their choices and build a wardrobe that perfectly suits their life and style. I very quickly learned that my little one had difficulty with being stimulated by changing clothes at bedtime, so pajamas quickly dropped off our clothing list for her. Hope My family and I can get even more help from our new found friends…..

We often refer to the clothes situation and the Clothes Demon… Seems he always wins.. Hopefully my wife will read along with me and we and Fix this situation once and for all. This article gives me so much encouragement!

I have 4 children We just have way too much everything and it is so far past manageable. Erin you sound like many of us. I once read about a woman missionary who loved her clothes but when she went on the mission field realized she had to get control of them. She bought 7 dresses all the same style but in different colors. She said it changed her world. She never gave clothes a second thought and it saved her so much time.

On Mon. She never had to worry over what to wear again. Of course that is the extreme for most of us but boy it would be nice to be able to do that and not think about clothes any more. My aunt was a manager at a large, well known corporation for years.

She actually retired from this corporation. She made a lot of money and felt like she had to spend a certain amount of money to dress the part. Apparently they had a lot of drama in the office with the women all competing to be the best dressed and constantly focusing on wardrobes.

Corporate passed down a dress code for the ladies: Black, gray or navy skirts no shorter than knee length or slacks, white blouses, jackets optional, black, gray or navy flats or pumps, small, minimal jewelry.

At first my aunt was really disappointed because she had such a wide variety of work clothes to choose from and could no longer wear most of it to the office. Then she went shopping for the new dress code approved items and said her life was changed. Her clothing expense dropped to about a quarter of the amount she had been spending…she and her husband went on a week long vacation with the money she saved in one year!

She felt a freedom from getting up in the mornings and knowing what she was going to wear without really thinking about it. Then, after about a year, she was able to start letting go. A few things she kept for special evenings out or church but since then she only needs one closet. Do you have that list too? My husband could use to cut down on his clothing. They eventually lose the weight again but it takes time, sometimes months.

So if a person is in that situation I think it is fine to have extra put aside for when that happens. Also it gets pretty cold in Minnesota, at times negitive 20 degees with a negitive 30 degree windchill so we need extra winter clothes too. Layering what you have can only go so far up here, then you need winter specific clothing. Thanks for what you do, I appreciate it. I had tons and tons of clothes from going up and down in sizes and having a baby recently and have a tiny, tiny closet.

I recently gave away several boxes of clothing by using the following test— if I could only do one load of laundry, what would I wash?

I did this for three pretend loads of laundry. I have learned now that babies can grow really fast and not to spend too much money on the smaller sized of clothes. My husband is the King of simplicity. His jeans tend to rip at the pocket, and he will wear the ripped jeans around the house until I finally throw them away and buy him a new pair. It only seems logical to me to put the sheets back on the bed immediately after drying them.

Why bother folding and putting them away? This also brings some fresh smells into the house. It also elimates having to have an extra set for each bed. Maybe you only need one extra pair in twin and one in double. I like the idea of YOUR putting their clothes away. When I watched my sisters kids for four months finding the perfectly folded and clean laundry at the bottom of the dirty clothes filled laundry basket made me see red.

Also when I have company I let them use my bed. So it is does save to put them right back on but seems as if I so often have things happen to prevent that. Like I said I always put my kids clothes away myself.

Even though at the moment it seems easier for them to do it it really in the long run is a big headache and I can keep better control of their clothes and really made my life easier. We need to teach our kids to do these things but at the same time we sometimes expect more from them then even some adults find hard to do.

I have three pairs of sheets per bed. Usually two in common rotation and one almost-gone pair. This is because that lets me have one in the washer, one in the dryer, and one on the bed if need be. Sometimes it has needed to be. This list is such a great help to me when I buy school clothes for our grandkids. However, I blew that pairs of shoes list right out of the water. Sherri, great idea on reorganizing and decluttering; All great tips! A couple of times a year our church ladies bring in gently used clothing.

We end up shopping for each other. Last time I found a shirt that I could wear to work; a jacket that they all said has my name on it; a skirt, but a gave the shirt to Linda; We each got the piece we wanted. At the end of the day, we can go back and claim whatever of ours is still there, or let it go to charity. I find that one of my barriers to giving things away is that I want it to go to a good home. I guess I want it to be loved like I loved it.

It helps me to part with things when I can see someone enjoy it. Especially the baby clothes! I wish my daughters-in-law enjoyed seeing their children in their husbands baby clothes more. Oh well… Maybe my daughter will enjoy that more! Why would of only one type of outfit be considered bare bone, especially if you are a stay at home?

My teen son 17 has a lot of clothes, but he only wears 4 different shirts, and 3 different pants over and over. My daughter 13 , otoh, thinks bare bones is like what you describe. She has enough clothes to go a month without repeating anything. This is for the average person. So just adjust. I see it is just women and children. If given free rein many of them would wear the same old comfortable thing every day. I understand. That is a true point. Love this site. It is a help. Just figure out how often you wash and what your guy does for work.

For example if he wears dockers each day probably 3 pair would be plenty if you wash twice a week. If he is in construction and comes home with filthy jeans each day and needs to wear a clean pair maybe he would need 4 pair where the guy who wears dockers could wear them twice sometimes.

Does that make sense? I only own three pairs of shoes. One pair of sneakers, one pair of Sunday loafers and a pair of white shells I almost never wear.

I guess I am an oddball. I think the amount of clothing your article refers to as bare bones is a bit excessive. Even a working woman can get by with a 9-piece wardrobe plus a few extra clothes for Saturdays, evenings, and work-outs at the gym or home garden. Of course, a sick toddler who throws up all the time will require more—unless you do laundry times a week. There are some who will need more and there are some who will have a lot less. You are to work out what is best for you and your own needs.

I have about half the amount of clothes which is the list now. At one time I had more and other times I have had way less. If you are financially stable, no debt, savings,giving to others etc. The point I was trying to make was watch where you are spending your money if you are in debt.

Do you really need that many clothes and can you save in that area. On the positive side, since I only work days a month as a small-town sub, I save on gas and clothing expenses. Ah, yes, the laundry quandry. I have three kids. Each one has Very Few Clothes. My daughter 14 has Nice Clothes but only a few and she is happy with that. My almost year old is very sensitive to clothing so he has about 5 pairs of super soft polyester pants or shorts at any given time plus 6 or 7 silky running tops.

My 5 year old is tiny so he is still wearing 3T and 4T shorts from years ago — maybe 4 pairs, plus a half-dozen t-shirts. That can be done cheaply when that is only 4 to 6 outfits. I briefly had two step-daughters and their clothes habits drove me crazy. They could make a mess even with those few outfits because they never put anything away. Simplifying this part of our lives has been extraordinarily liberating, both financially and by reducing the chore of managing laundry.

Angie it is a little hard without knowing more about your life style for example do you go to church each Sunday where he needs dress pants or is it more casual. Do you go out to dinner or over to friends where you dress more or less etc. The best I can do with out knowing more is usually a guy who has uniforms for work can get by with pairs of jeans 1 pair for work around the house in pairs of docker type pants tan pair, dark pair 1 pair of nice black or brown dress pants dress shirts polo shirts everyday t shirts 1 pair tennis shoes 1 pair dress shoes 1 pair semi dress shoes.

You can add or take away from this list of course. The main thing to think about is how often do you wash. If wash everyday you can get by with much less. A dress jacket is nice for a man to have for special occasions but not a must have. Plus your husband may love to have a couple of old sweat shirts or t shirts to wear around the house all the time and if that is the case he could get by with less nice t shirts or polos. You just need to adjust it but maybe this will give you a start.

This is perfect! About 15 years ago I had a stroke — at middle age. Because of it I had a hard time doing laundry, and a hard time tracking money. So when I ran out of clothes, I bought more. So I bought years worth of clothes over the span of a couple years.

So the temptation to be a clothes horse is gone. Now, I just put in the rag bag something that finally wears out, and if I finally have too few, I get more. Problem is, I need more black pants, no polyester, and all of them are those stupid hip huggers that were awful the last time they were in style too. I have to agree with you on the hip hugger pants. Makes you wonder what the designers are thinking sometimes or what we are thinking going along with what ever they say.

You throw in the tops which are too short and boy what a sight for sore eyes. I have noticed they might be getting the hint though because the tops at least are getting much longer this year and the pants a little higher.

What a shame. Others should stick to the time-proven classics. I guess if you look like Kate Moss maybe you can wear hip huggers. Tawra use to dress like that when she was younger too.

Some of the outfits she came up with just amazed. Thanks goodness she out grew it and now dresses very nice. I know you are not Catholic, but virtue is virtue, and we can agree as Christians on that. Even the Bible mentions Christian dress codes. Those two female Saints among others would rather die than commit sins against modesty and chastity, so the least Christian women of today can do is dress modestly.

I pity men of today that want to stay pure in their thoughts. On a cold winter night, right after I get home from work, I change into a nice pair of sweatpants and sweatshirt and then make dinner. My house is old and drafty and this outfit, plus socks and slippers is very comfortable. Then, of course, they are great for the ragbag once they are beyond wearing. What we are talking about is the problem of so many now put on sweats and never get out of them.

That may not be what they are thinking but that is the feeling they are giving off. I wonder what else I do that bothers people? No need to be upset Mary. When we write these articles we have certain people in mind who — in the case of this are those who tend to spend too much money buying clothes and hoarding clothes. There are always exceptions to the rules of course. We know that. Pajama pants are the warm weather alternative, but just as tacky and sloppy looking as sweats outside.

Women are the worst offenders in bad dressing. There are some men and boys that do, but I see many more examples of horrible dressing on women daily. Sometimes I wonder what happened to women??? I wear my jeans tight because I am shorter and baggy anything make me look like a rolly poly bear. Actually, a really good reason to clean out your closet is not only for more space and a more organized closet but also you can deduct what you donate to charity on your taxes! This book also protected me against interest and penalties associated with overstating the value of my donations.

I hope this helps someone out there trying to save money as well as organize their closet! I found the books website at www. That sounds like a good book but you can just print off a free copy of the used clothing tax guidelines at the Goodwill website. Add a tomatoe with curly hair for the head and there I am.

Not a flattering look for me and that is all I can find in stores. I used to love the look of wide pants and bucaneer tops. I was told that I looked great. Now if that would come back into style and I could lose the belly I would be a hot lady at Oh well the dream was nice while I wrote it.

Actually Tawra, I thought the same exact thing! The Money Book complies with the IRS guideling and is updated annually to reflect the current years fair market value. So, you get more back when using this book and you can be protected as well. Then on the computer I made myself a chart depicting my clothing as follows and placing a little colored block in front of each item.

I would have much more room in my closet and money in the bank! I know what you mean grizzly bear mom. I have done the same thing with different items — not realizing how many I really had until I laid them out and either wrote it down or counted them. That is why I keep telling everyone to actually count how much you have of something like boys cars or girls dolls because we just see a pile of them there not realizing we have of something and we really only need 5.

It is the fastest, cheapest and easiest way to find storage for your home. I put dots in to show the seperation because it show how many tops go with the bottoms: Navy skirt suit………. Ivory Shell Navy pant suit………. Lavendar Sweater Purple Suit …………. Raspberry T Teal Skirt Suit………. Raspberry Sweater Coral Jacket………….

Aqua Sweater Black Skirt…………. Royal Blue Sweater Brick Pant suit………. Light green Twin set Beige Skirt Suit …….. Purple ……………………. Indigo ……………………. Black Suplice Top ……………………. Black Tank. When I moved here to my new old house, I sorted and I mean sorted. I gave my self some lee way and went through 2 years and gave away 5 boxes of stuff, even parted with my beloved sweat pants. LOL I did keep a big pair that I wear over jeans to go out in the snow with the grands.

I really thought I was done but when I put away summer stuff and got out winter a couple of months ago, I was even able to go deeper and put out another really big box. Then at Christmas I got out the box of things that I wear at Holiday time and gave away a big stack of Christmasy sweaters. My daughter took them down the street where an extended family has had to move in together and the older lady actually teared up because she had always wanted a Christmas sweater and never could rationalize the expense at the time of year when she had gifts to buy.

I think I sent 3 sweaters and 3 embroideried shirts. I think a couple of them even were thrift shop buys so never were a big deal to me at all. I intend to go through my summer wardrobe again come spring. I am not a high fashion dresser at all but still…. I heard at Christmas that it is so hard to buy for me and I suppose it is when I can give away that much stuff and still there is more. Gayla I know just what you are talking about. I remember when I was expecting with my second baby I had no maturity clothes and I mean none.

We went to church at least 3 times a week or more and I had one shift dress which I was getting by with. Besides being embarrassed that I had to wear the same dress over and over, at 7 months along it was getting way too small.

We had a week coming up where we had to go to church every night. I did some mighty praying. Boy was I glad she decided to clean out her closet. That is why now if I keep mounds of anything thinking I may use it some day I give my self a good shake and get rid of it because I know good and well there is someone who would be putting it to much better use then I am.

Besides by the time I do get around to wearing them again the chances are they will be out dated anyway. I recently had a startling revelation about butt cracks showing.

LOL It really has to do with how your body is built. I have one little grand that is built like her daddy and they carry their weight on the front, with a bigger tummy. The rest of us have big butts. She would even lose her diaper and little slacks as a toddler. She will be outside playing with the other kids and has to be reminded to pull up her pants and she just hates it.

As they hand their clothing down update the number on the item. Also, buy mostly inter gender clothing. Girls can hand down red, blue, green and yellow shirts to their brothers. Because boys may feel embarassed at wearing girlie things consider buying only boy pants as long as you can get away with it. When I cleaned out my basement, I found that I had saved some tops of my sons when they were in the year old range. And then it dawned on me; my sons might be thinking about college and which branch of the armed services they want to join, but my younger sister has a daughter who is dinosaur mad….

She can wear her nice stuff at home. I am a retired, year-old widow, living only on a meager Social Security income. I live in an apartment bldg. I have 2 sets of sheets, but often launder and remake the bed with the same linens.

Just wanted to pass along my methods of survival. I love your newsletter and recipes! I think an answer to have your butt crack NOT show, is to wear underwear. If women would wear real underwear, instead of thongs, bikini, or none at all, when their low cut jeans slip down when they sit, you will only see the underwear, which is an improvement over a bare butt in public.

Or wear a longer top. I think having underwear showing is only marginally better than the skin. I wear more dresses then. I read this post about a year ago but at the time my heart was set on getting rid of my storage bill. And I did now my heart is set on downsizing my house. My mother showed me that I had an over abundance of clothes. Which simply makes it harder to clean.

Now that I am placing all of my abundance into boxes for a yard sale. I am starting to see the light that it is becoming easier to clean the house! Which I have been praying about for a long time! Now I ask myself, would I buy that if it were not on sale. A penny not spent is a penny earned.

Also once my t-shirts become too faded to wear out to the gym, I start using them for bed, too. Been having a look at a couple of subjects on your site. I am married to a man who says we cannot afford to tithe; I have previously done so, but now give less.

I enjoy spending money but overdo it and get into the red. Which brings the subject of clothes and shoes. I own far too many, have a good clear out then begin filling my wardrobe again Compulsive Spending Disorder. Thank you for the good advice on both subjects. I just blogged today the 10 somewhat creative ways of keeping up with your laundry! I was just thinking how many clothes do they really need? Thanks for the list! This was very helpful!! Mt family of five, 9 months, 28 months, 7 years all boys!

We have an absolute laundry overload that depresses me every time I see it. We also hold onto clothes for when we lose or gain weight. Just by making a few simple tweaks to your wardrobe, you could:. Go through your closet and remove any of the following items. This includes prom dresses, first date outfits, wedding dresses, etc. It sounds counter-intuitive to remove items from your closet when you are trying to have a closet that works, but as you can see from the survey above…often times we keep clothes for the wrong reasons.

Organize your closet by classification rather than by outfit. For example, group all of your clothes like this: t-shirts, tank tops, blouses, sweaters, skirts jeans, pants, leggings, jackets, dresses, pajamas, socks, etc. The reason for grouping your clothes by classification rather than by outfit is to allow you to look at your clothes as pieces that can mix and match rather than by outfits that can only be worn one way.

How many times have you stood in your closet and thought, if I only had a red t-shirt for this blazer and jeans. I want you to have a closet full of clothes you love to wear every day! If you have a question or comment about how to improve your wardrobe, please let me know.

Closet Organizing Tips. It is too expensive to throw out. I will repurpose it soon. I will shed some pounds to fit into it again. And the list goes on. But asking myself these questions really helped me out:. If the answer to most of these question is no, there is no point in letting those clothes hog your closet space.

Your house is not a junkyard for unused and unwanted items. Deciding what to keep and what to discard is a hard decision but these tips will help you make it. Take all the clothes out of your closet. Each and everything including those tattered handbags you stopped using years ago. Make a list of what you own for each category. Jeans, tops, blouses, jackets, sweaters, etc. Write the numbers down. Look at every item. Touch it, feel it, wear it, assess it.

This will help you get a sense of all the useful items you own and the ones that need to go. To make more responsible decisions, split these unwanted clothes into three piles. Depending upon the condition of the items, throw them in the relevant piles.