Tuesday, April 16, 2019

Preparedness Beyond the Pantry? What's in Your Closet?


Today's post is a little different then the regular topic of stocking up your food pantry.  We are going beyond the pantry and talking about what's in your closet.  I want to first say that I know we all want to be frugal but so many of us just have the bare minimum in our closet. 

Oh, we have the get outside and work clothes, or the I'm going to stay inside any way, so who cares Pajamas.  Then something important come up and you can't find anything in your closet to wear. So you rush out the day before and spend too much money on a outfit and it takes away all your time.  You may even settle for an outfit that you don't really like and may never wear again just because you can't find that perfect outfit. We forget that if we don't make sure we have what's needed in our closet that in the end we might actually spend more!  

One part of my preparedness in my closet is to have a couple of nice dressy clothes that I can wear when the need arises.   If I'm careful I can find these clothing items at garage sales but I've also bought them new on sale. You can find great looking used clothes. Also if they are stored properly and they are classics, you can wear these for many years.  

Here are a few instances that being prepared will come in handy.  

1.   Funeral.   Your need clothes to have on hand for a funeral.  This is sad thing to think about, but you will need to have a nice dress or pants outfit if your a woman and a man needs to have dress pants, shirt, or a suit to help fit this need.   You do not want to go looking the day before the funeral to find a nice outfit (I have heard from many that that have had to do just that).  Believe me you don't need any more stress.  

I have a funeral dress that stays in my closet (pictured).  Really, I wear this dress every time I go to a funeral and no one is the wiser, unless of course I tell them.   Don't forget the accessories like keeping a nice pair of dress shoes and pantyhose ready to go too.  

2.  Date night.  No matter if the date is playing cards with your husband or wife when the kids go to bed or a nice dinner out, you will want to look nice.  Keep at least two pretty blouses and only wear them for date nights if your a woman and some a couple of nice looking shirts if you are a man.   Have at least two for each season.

Make sure to put them at the back of the closet and don't wear these unless you are going somewhere special.   Make sure to always have some nice jeans or slacks ready to go too.

3.  Weddings - If you color of funeral dress clothes is neutral then wear go ahead and wear your funeral dress clothes or wear one of the nice blouses and pants.  .

4.  Hospital visits.  You can wear your pretty date night blouses or shirts to visit someone in the hospital. 

5.  Vacations.  Sometimes we get so caught up in the planning where we are going, that we forget we are going to need to something nice to wear too.  Make vacation clothes shopping part of your planning and budget.  

Make sure to revisit your good clothes closet at least once or twice a year and check for repairs.  You may need to consider replacing them if you have changed a size or they are looking old.

So with just a few purchases you can have your closet prepared for any circumstances. 

Do you have what you need in your closet?


Be sure to sign up for my daily email list and never miss a post!  You can also follow me on Twitter, PinterestFacebook,and Bloglovin where I share my frugal list, gardening, recipes, Free Kindle books, and more



13 comments:

Cheryl Kimbley said...

I dress pretty much the same year round and it is nothing fancy. Jeans, capris, T-shirts or sweatshirts. T-shirts and cut off sweat are jammies - I hate gowns or anything around my legs at night.
I do have dark pants and blazers (from working days) that I use for funerals and a couple of dark dresses.

I have a couple a springy (light) blazers that can dress up jeans. A few pretty tops and a couple summer dresses.

My closet is VERY basic!

Vickie @Vickie's Kitchen and Garden said...

It's good to have a basic closet that's for sure. When I was a stay at home mom when the kids were little I was just like I described above. I would forget about the places you need to go and the clothes I needed to have for special occasions. All money would go right towards the children. I was a school bus driver later and just needed some jeans. So this is a good reminder for me as well! Have a great day Cheryl!

Melissa Henderson said...

I am going to check out my closet and make sure I am prepared. Thanks for the tips.

Little Penpen said...

This is good! I try to stay on top of having an outfit or two for going out. And I always try to keep a 'funeral outfit' around. We think a lot alike.

Unknown said...

Hi Vickie and I have what I call a spares wardrobe and keep spares of everything when I can get them on special at end of season sales and keep them in vacuum seal bags.

Each season I go through my wardrobe and see what fits and what doesn't or is worn out and cull or in the case of cotton use them for cleaning cloths. I have for instance in winter long cotton skirts, long sleeved dresses and long sleeved t-shirts in varying colours to match all my skirts as well as cotton tights and I can mix and match them for a bit of a change. I also have multiple dresses for summer in varying colours and also have 4 good winter jackets to match all my winter clothing and summer/spring cooler jackets to match everything in summer/spring.

Each season as I have spares of everything I will take out a certain amount of dresses, skirts, shorts, jeans and either long or short sleeved t-shirts and wear those until they literally wear out over a couple of seasons even after repairs. This way I always have clothing and backup good clothing in store for any occasion.

Then when these are worn out I simply delve into my stored vacuum bags of new clothing bought on special and replace them for the season with good wearable clothing that I never have paid full price for.

I sort of treat my wardrobe like a pantry with backup supplies always and as I use my backup supplies I will replace them with more items on special that I keep a note of. We also do this with my husbands wardrobe too.

The reason I do this is I have a larger than average women's shoulder size and I am tall and have problems with dresses being long enough on me. DH also has broad shoulders and has a larger than average build than most men too being ex military. This saves us clambering around trying to find something that fits us if we have a special occasion coming up.

A close friend of mine has a wardrobe of 48 skirts and 48 varying tops and around 10 warm and cool jackets and scarves. Each season she just rotates them and wears different coloured tops and jackets with each skirt and always looks beautiful.

I think I might approach things differently with wardrobe stocking but it works for us and everything we buy is always at a good price and fits us and we can shop at a leisurely pace.

Sewingcreations15 (Lorna).

Vickie @Vickie's Kitchen and Garden said...

Well Lorna I for one love your system and your friends. It saves both time and money! Your right we do need to be prepared in our closet just like the pantry.

Vickie @Vickie's Kitchen and Garden said...

It feels good not to have to worry about clothes doesn't it?

Vickie @Vickie's Kitchen and Garden said...

Your welcome...you always look very nice!

Lana said...

This is a very good reminder. We go to a jeans church so it is easy to just let dress clothes slip.

Vickie @Vickie's Kitchen and Garden said...

I could see how that would happen Lana. Dress clothes can be hard to keep up with. Have a good night.

Jenny said...

I'm planning to do a little thrift shopping this weekend to look for a few clothes for vacation. I hate shopping for clothes.

Debbie said...

I've recently gained more weight (that darned Fibromyalgia causes weight gain) and had to go shopping for a few more items that fit properly. I have wedding coming up (including one of our son's wedding) so I needed dresses for those. I found two really pretty dresses at Goodwill and one was even new with tags and the other looked like it had been worn once. I have also found brand new pajamas and Lularoe leggings there. I wear leggings a lot with a big oversized shirt because they are so soft and comfy and yet look really nice.

Vickie @Vickie's Kitchen and Garden said...

I hate shopping for clothes too! I wish you luck in your search Jenny.