The Virtues of Thrift, Part 4

Check your clearance. Clearance shopping can be something of a sport for some people (APB, I'm looking in you...) and about as much fun as a root canal for others. But if you have the inclination you can find excellent deals, especially at the end of a season when stores are trying to get rid of what's left to make way for the new stuff.

It also helps if you're an odd size. Logically, the more average sizes tend to be gone first, but if you happen to be very small or somewhat larger than average, you may find things left in your size after everything else is gone. Also, consider that many clothing lines tend to run small these days; you might think you're a large, but if extra large is all that's left, try it on anyway--it might be the size that fits you best.

It can be useful to get on email lists for stores whose clothing you like. That way you'll get first notice when sales or markdowns occur. Be aware, though, that the same item can be one price on the store's web site and a different price in the store. Sometimes you have to make the purchase whatever way you're getting the best deal.

Sometimes you'll see an item at the beginning of a season and decide you don't think it's worth the asking price, but if maybe a couple of months later you're back in the same store and that same item is now 50% or more off, the value equation changes somewhat.

I don't make a habit of buying a lot of clothing at Target, but I do find things there occasionally. And I usually take a spin through the clearance racks when I'm in the store, because you never know. A couple of months back I found a nice shirt on a Target clearance rack for $6.24, which was 75% off its original price. For about what I pay for lunch on a typical day, I would have been foolish not to buy it.