How do people afford to be trendy?!

[ChilliHeeler1]

How do people (who aren’t already really well off obviously) afford clothes? Treats? I live in the same battered old trainers, jeans and have a selection of a few jumpers I’ve had for years. One coat. My kids are turned out beautifully but I really don’t have the money for nice stuff for me and it’s getting me down! I feel so embarrassed and am always watching other mums on the school run thinking how do they afford to just causally buy new trainers/new boots/new this that and whatever and have social lives etc, I’m so fed up of being just about able to manage the bills and there being sod all left ☹️
does everyone just put it on credit card? Karma? What do people do?!

Could you sell your DC’s old stuff on Vinted and treat yourself to some new clothes?

I've built up my clothing collection over years. Stuff comes back around. Especially winter clothing - let's face it, a jumper is a jumper. If I wear a jumper, leather jacket, well-fitting jeans and Docs you can't really tell what year I'm in!

Charity shops. Just got a red wool winter coat for £14 and a long grey Zara one for £20, bnwt.

I expect there are lots of people racking up credit card bills or klarna debt, but I agree Vinted is brilliant. I like a particular brand whose dresses are £60, I just bought one for £14 posted. I mostly search for brands I like, if you’re just scrolling black jumpers then it’s a bit hard work!

Vinted for the kids as well as me. Good high street brands that I know fit - whistles, Reiss, cos, jigsaw. Cashmere jumpers from any brand, around £20 ish. There’s often little price difference between those kind of brands and supermarket ones on vinted once you’ve accounted for the fees etc. I buy some duds (anyone want a beautiful cos jumper that turned out ginormous?) but a lot more hits than misses.

I make tea rather than buying coffees, take packed lunches to work, we usually do house swaps for holidays (which is quite a lot of admin but works brilliantly for us).

We are above average earners but after paying childcare and mortgage, this is a good way to enjoy more treats, clothes, holidays etc than I would otherwise afford.

Vinted!

I mostly look at clothes places for my vibe then I know what to search, tend to have to buy new jeans though as I am short and a few pairs I have got off there are way too long

Also on vinted it kind of algorithms to recommend things you will like after a while! Makes it easier than always searching

Charity shops!!! And you get the added high of finding something so special, I got a £300 coat, like new, for £6.50 on Sunday. Two pull and bear jumpers for £3.50 each, a DKNY long line puffer coat like new for £10.
Tip of the iceberg of my finds, I very rarely buy new now.

They earn more than you or they know how to make their money go further. As you can see, loads of people here use Vinted to buy high end stuffs for bargain prices. I use Vinted as well for myself and the kids, I get lots of good things. I don’t buy in a hurry so I can take my time looking for the best deal on what I want to buy as well.

I buy everything I wear on eBay. I find it easier to search by brand and then filter for what I want. I never buy new now, even the sales are too expensive compared to eBay prices. I would also mix up the kids clothes a bit.

How old are your kids OP? I wouldn't spend any more money on children's clothes than I had to - all mine came from Asda or Primark. They'll be asking for brand names soon enough. And you can get some nice stuff from Asda / Primark for yourself.

Partly, change your focus to quality and stylish rather than trendy. I buy almost everything in charity shops and they're great for almost unworn kids clothes. Vinted is good but only if you know what you want to search for. The trick with charity shops is to not to be looking anything specific or urgent but to be looking for things for upcoming needs if that makes sense. If you work near one, drive past one or shop near one, just keep doing a 10 minute pop in.

The amount you save will then allow you to buy some of the trendy stuff the kids can't do without or whatever.

Klarna or next account so I can pay it up

Vinted.

And few clothes .... Just flexible and work in different seasons etc.

What do you do for work? Can you increase your earnings?

On vinted to avoid the jumble sale stuff, just select the top two categories (new with tags and excellent condition) then search under quality brands e.g. whistles, jigsaw, sezane. I'm slowly upgrading my wardrobe to these brands especially shoes to Russell and Bromley! I'd never pay £300 for shoes but on vinted you can get R&B shoes almost unworn from £30 -£70. It's a brilliant way to shop to minimise waste and avoid over consuming. Buy once and buy well, better quality stuff will always look more 'put together'.

EBay and sales.

Examples of things I’ve bought:

Work bag - £450 new, £80 off eBay (this was far more than I would normally pay but I’d been looking at the bag new but not buying due to the expense so it was a genuine saving)

Hobbs coat - £300 new, £35 off eBay.

Cashmere sweaters: £90 or so new, £15 - £20 off eBay.

I buy most of my suits off eBay as well - it saves me a fortune.

How old are your kids and how much do you spend on their clothes?

I buy the majority of my stuff from Vinted, charity shops and my local Facebook selling site. With Vinted, you can be very specific with your searches, so brand, style, colour, size. Or I'll do a general search if there's something I fancy but I'm not entirely sure what I want, so "flat Mary Jane's size 6".

Because they buy absolute fucking SHITE off of Shein. A 2 or 3 wears type of garment which can then be thrown - either because they've gone out of fashion again, or (usually) because the quality is so crap they break.
I've lost count of the amount of times I've told someone I like their outfit- it is ALWAYS from Shein.
That type of "fast fashion" makes me so inexplicably angry. However, I'm too poor to buy quality items, so I just wear stuff that's very old!!

Vinted

Probably any one of of earn more, have debt, just prioritise this over others or buy second hand. Also, stylish clothes doesn’t always equal expensive but usually equals well made/quality. As a PP said l, focus on classic not trendy as it lasts longer.

I buy loads second hand also on sale. I know the brands I like, they are a bit on the expensive side but classic that last years. Wait for sales to stock up (summer clothes in winter and vice versa), and then also source those brands from Vinted / eBay. It takes time and effort though… but once you know brands / styles / sizes it becomes easier.

I hardly ever buy new, always second hand. DS16 is the same, he loves Vinted. He's spent most of his life in second hand clothing. There was a period in his life when his size was hard to come by and I had to buy new, but I've always bought on places like eBay. I also don't follow fashion, I'm definitely not trendy 😂, but I'm well presented, clean and ironed. That's all that matters really.

Vinted Or end of season sales
Make use of every filter on Vinted to narrow down your options.
I have had some huge bargains New with tags
Even if you put aside £20 per month, you need to buy things for yourself
You matter too

Vinted, Primark and look at current trends because it’s likely that you have all this years already in your wardrobe. Also, brands aren’t fashion forward at the moment

The funny thing about this is sometimes once you can afford to buy loads of stuff.... You stop wanting to.

When i was young and skint i was forever 'wanting' new stuff, new trends etc. Now im older, earn well and am way more secure moneywise, i don't crave it! I could honestly go and drop a thousand pounds at the shops tomorrow if i fancied a spending spree but somehow im not that fussed.
Always want what we can't have