Meet, Kristen, AKA The Frugal Girl. She’s a homeschooling mom of 4 and loves all things frugal–espeically in the kitchen. It’s impossible not to like her :).
I first met Kristen when I wrote her asking to review my new clothing ebook, and she readily agreed, replying that she also just wrote a clothing ebook and offered a giveaway to my readers.
I was so excited to read her book, and love her great photography and new ideas. I was also very pleased that our books are TOTALLy different. There’s not much overlap at all and you need BOTH, for real.
Kristen’s book is an idea starter with step by step directions for taking used clothing and making it useful again. The book includes 2o illustrated projects that are sure to inspire you on to your own ideas and projects. Some ideas require sewing–but several do not. You’re going to love it.
This giveaway starts TODAY, October 11th and will run through Thursday, October 20th at 8pm. I’ll announce the winner in my newsletter and here on the blog.
It is super easy to enter this contest–simply leave a comment here or on facebook (on this post–and my facebook plug-in will grab it and attach it here.) I would love it if your comment had your own frugal clothing tip, but if you can’t think of one–you can write a mushy complimentary comment instead, bwa ha ha ha.
P.S. As a special limited time offer, use the coupon code halfoff for a $5 discount when ordering Centsable Style.
My only frugal clothing tip is to use it up! 🙂
Last Christmas I turned old sweaters into huge sock monkeys… they were a huge hit with the grandkids. I love you news letter – and all the great posts on here… what a great idea! Thanks!
I guess my frugal clothing tip would come from my mom. She always taught us as kids to look at the things in your closet before you went shopping for new. This put a fresh look of things in your mind and would help with matching colors. Also, buy things that could be used in more that one way. Like a sweater might be casual enough to wear with jeans but could also be dressed up with slacks or skirt; a plain shirt could be layered over or under something already in the closet at home making most clothing dual purpose…and making more outfits that haven’t been ‘seen before’. Learning what colors look best on yourself and sticking to that scheme helps to make a lot of items mix-n-matchable. Oh, and yes…pick me, pick me 😉
When my son put holes in his sweatpants, I cut them off for shorts. I then took the leftover ankle chunk to make a skirt for my daughter’s doll.
My hint would be “alter”..in our throw-away world alter anywhere you can! Add length with a ruffle or two and call it artsy even though it is practical 🙂 Hope to win..we have three females here- 2 teens and lots of clothes!! Blessings
We love to ‘reuse, refresh, repurpose’ just about anything! With a family of six children we have always had to make what we had on hand work. My teenage daughters are very clever at re-purposing t-shirts. They cut, tie to make really cute t-shirts that are hip and stylish. When I was growing up, my mother used to take some of her dresses and cut them down for me. We would love to win the book!
ooo! I would *love* to win this book! I’ve always been a thrifty shopper and buy most of my clothes at Ross or TJ Maxx.
But just this past weekend I repurposed a piece of clothing! A shirt (that actually was given to me) that I really loved, but was really too big, so I di some searching on the internet, then cut it right down the middle and turned it into a comfy, flowy cardigan!
Twice a year I like to shop end-of-season clearance sales at better department stores. Last week I purchased several articles of clothing which were marked down 65%. There was a special two-day, 50% off sale on these clearance clothes, making my final price 83 1/3% off!
My mom always taught me to turn old clothes into rags, I know micro-fiber cleaning rags are all the rage right now, but to save money, use your old clothes
I don’t have an Earth shattering good tip except for those of us needing maternity clothes. It is very easy to adapt a pair of your prepregnancy jeans into maternity. Google it & you’ll find many different articles that will save you tons! Also, there’s a new site called minefornine.com where you rent maternity clothes. It’s not always the most cost saving but is good if you need a one time formal dress.
Wow, what a fantastic idea. I have my mothers sewing book from WW2, I must take another look at it. I know you can make a ladies suit from a man’s suit and boys trousers from mens trousers (missing all the worn bits!). There are lots of other ideas but I can’t remember them all. It contains patterns for things. I think there was a way of letting out childrens clothes. Oh, you have me on a roll here, getting really excited – unusual for a Brit!
I love your newsletter and am thankful for the information you share. Bless you & your family!
Whenever I have something that doesn’t fit right (too big), I get out my sewing machine and do simple tailoring. I have also gotten lots of ideas from Pinterest on how to refashion/reuse clothes.
Would love more ideas to reuse clothing in a way that is acceptable to my family (they are old enough to make their ideas known). I have spent the summer shortening some skirts and adding to others. : )
Oh! I love this idea. I do not like to get rid of perfectly good cloths just because of a little spot or because they are a bit outdated. I am so happy that there is someone who is creative and can tell me what to do with them!!! Thank you thank you!
when I have a spot or small hole…I just sew a cute button over it…it adds fun to an outfit too. My absolute favorite tip for years with stains…like oil base…I spray with cleaner then put baby powder on the spot and wash…keep repeating till spot is gone!!! It even works on old spots that have been dried!!!
My clothing tip is to buy classic pieces,crisp white blouses, black, navy, khaki slacks, you can always jazz them up with accessories. I learned this from my Grandmother!
I have 4 kids- 3 of them boys! I just went though their closet and have a pile of jeans that don’t fit them anymore but they have holes in the knees. I can’t give them to anyone looking like that! Still in a pile because I hate to just throw them away! You have got to have a tip for that! I was thinking of making Christmas stockings out of them using the back pocket on the front, or at the very least cutting it up into squares for a cozy quilt….
My own frugal tip is that I knit skirts and sweaters for my daughters! This takes care of my “crafting bug” as well as providing them with clothes and with my oldest, she picks out the colors and so gets to be part of it. (So many good ideas in the comments)
Love your website and newsletter. My frugal clothing idea actually comes from my 17 yo daughter. (wow, is she really 17 already?) Anyway, her idea is to take that giant t shirt that you love so much, but will only wear it to bed ’cause it is so HUGE, and make it over. She takes it apart, makes it skinnier, makes the sleeves more feminine-looking and puts it all back together! She did that the other day, and I thought she got a new shirt….I did not even recognize it!! We also do the remake your long, skinny skirts into shorter, more walking-friendly skirts with a godet made from the extra that we cut from the bottom. SEW FUN! 😉
I like the idea of dying clothes that are slightly worn or not the right color to come up with a brand new look. I have yet to try this, but my friend has done it with much success.
And….I would love to win this book!
I like to use a scarf to change the look of my clothes. You can take a scarf from summer to winter and change the look!
I need this book ALL I have are old clothes!
New zippers are expensive but if you need long, sturdy zippers the price increases even more. I have been making slip covers for a very old couch, loveseat and chair and saw that much of my savings was going to be eaten up with the cost of the zippers. And so………….when my local thrift store had a storewide 1/2 sale I shopped with my measuring tape around my neck. The zippers are different colors and different links, but who is going to see them anyway!
I’m always looking for ways to reuse/repurpose things! I’d love to win this!
Re-purposing is definitely part of my life! I’m always looking for ways to make old clothes appear fresh and stylish.
My tip for re-purposing is more like re-mixing clothes. I like to look for more traditional pieces (instead of the latest fashion must have) and then throw on a current accessory (ex. giant flower pin) to keep the look current. I haven’t yet been brave enough to try a true sewing re-purp0se project.
I’m going to check both books out now, thanks for the links! I’m always cutting up clothes, sewing patches or adding flowers to embellish clothing. My easiest tip is to cut the arms and legs off of winter pajamas to make summer pj’s for the kids.
Clothes are getting so pricey that it would be help to see how to make our clothes do more for us and our money!
I have made my old baby blankets into quilts as gifts. then you can cut out the old spit up stains and have an extra soft one of a kind gift!
I love the title and would love to win and put my sewing machine to work rehabilitating my wardrobe! I’m sure you have a lot of great ideas. Congratulations on your clean/fixed up home and show!
I love to re-create old style or immodest clothing into new clothes that still look trendy, modest and not too ‘homemade’ for my girls. I was inspired by the “dollar a day girl” who was um-employed and spent $1 a day and got an old outfit at a thrift store and turned it into something stylish.
I started a blog on wordpress a very long time ago and have just been too busy to add anything to it lately. If anyone is interested in how to turn pants outfits into dresses for your girls… check out my link: https://modernmodestonabudget.wordpress.com/
How fun! And what terrific books! We’ve been doing this for a long time now. My oldest daughter is a pro at refashioning and I’m hoping to see a knitting book out of her at some point in the future. We have taken to unraveling quality sweaters and re-knitting them into other pieces – it is the only way we could afford to knit large items. Plus, we’ve had success dying recycled wool with Koolaid of all things. It’s fun to see what kind of subtle tones you can mix with these packets of superbright colors!
The ladies in my church clean out our closets once and year and pass them around so everyone can make new outfits or change an existing outfit. Anything left over we donate to a women’s abuse shelter we support.
I love to reuse and repurpose. I would love to win your book.
I love your books and information that is so easy to access. Most of all, I love sharing your ideas for saving, reusing, recycling with the young women in my Bible Study. Even the older “girls” in the group profit from your well written information! Lastly, your cheerful tone reminds me of my mother’s attitude as she restyled my clothes from year to year. Only as an adult did I learn that several of my friends envied my extensive wardrobe as a teen. Thanks for your spin on a lifestyle that never goes out of style.
I love Salvation Army for kids clothes. My daughter has had a gymboree wardrobe for 1.50 a piece. She also is thrilled when summer comes and she gets “new” cut off shorts. This winter I am thinking of extending the life of some of her short sleeved shirts by adding long sleeves from shirts she’s outgrown.
I wish I had something similiar for myself.
I am new at all of this, so I have no tips. I really need the book pick me PLLLLLEEASEE!!!
We do a lot of consignment shopping and sometimes you find something really cheap that has potential. This will definitly help
Thank you for this opportunity!
First I must say how much I enjoyed reading about the Grocery Shrink story (and reading it to my family and friends). I think my favorite part was where you ate dandelions and lambs quarters from the yard, and exchanged singing lessons for food! I think we need more inspiration to make it in hard times – whenever and wherever we encounter them.
As far as a clothes – recycle idea…here’s a favorite idea (though my mother gets the credit for the actual reconstruction of this). I picked up a girls’ (somewhere in the size range of 11-14 I think) short white tiered skirt . It was just about the right length for a long tiered skirt for my little 3 year old cousin. We took in the sides and she had a new skirt!
Sounds like two great books! I will have to check them out. Thank you!
I’m in deep need of this inspiration….clothing is so expensive and I’ve been yardsaling a lot lately and some of the clothing just need a little touch up to be next to perfect!
I don’t really have any frugal tips other than we accept “hand-me-downs” and we “hand-over” in return. I would like to know more ideas for how to re-purpose our clothing and get more use out of them. Oh, I did take 2 of my son’s outgrown t-shirts from my favorite football team and turn them into pillows…does that count? 😉
I am pretty new to your newsletter and would love to be chosen as a winner of this giveaway.
My father was a dry cleaner by trade and I learned a great deal about clothing care.
One rule of thumb is never store your clothes in the cleaning bags….especially if you are storing them in a non air conditioned area because plastic sweats.
If you get a stain, be sure to get it out before storing your clothes. The bugs and “critters” go after food stains as their meal. If you do this, you save the clothes from looking like swiss cheese when you take them out of storage.
I love this site, it is alot of fun to read and apply the tips and info received. My best tip on clothing is to go to the Salvation army in my moms home town on Fridays, they have half off sale throughout the day. I have gotten myself and my girls outfitted in nice, gently worn clothes for little to nothing.
I would love to win this book. I have friends who are repurposing old sweaters into lovely, warm pants for children and old cotton items into home made cloth diapers. I am not quite that imaginative, though, so this would be a great tool for me.
I love to knit for my daughter, but yarn can be really expensive. I like to find used sweaters that are maybe not in style, but are still in good condition. I take them apart and knit new sweaters for my daughter.
I like to have a list of what is really needed and keep it in my purse to prevent buying duplicates.
I love to get your emails about frugal tips – it has helped me with the way I have to live right now
Whenever my kids stain their clothing, we use either a Tide Pen to get it out or to draw designs on the outfit, or we will tie dye the clothing to cover the stain!
I would love to win the book! I really enjoy your website and am trying very hard to become a frugal wife and mother of two. I feel very inspired after reading about others who have tried and succeeded in what I’m trying to accomplish.