@lismarc ,those long-lived jeans are kept well away from the barn - and gravel roads! My barn jeans ... they're a different and sorry looking story! There's not enough iron patching in the world to save some of them. But seriously, I read somewhere long ago that we tend to wash our jeans too often. Since my "good" jeans are reserved for work only, they don't get grimy or sweaty. Unless I spill something on them, they generally don't go into the wash more frequently than once every few weeks, or even once a month. That may be why I've been able to eek out so many years in just two pairs.
@Beekissed, what's your secret?
One of my other frugal practices is to never buy extras of anything if I can possible help it: coats, barn gloves, frying pans, brooms, you name it. Since I can only use or wear one of those things at a time,I don't see any point in collecting extras just for the sake of having them. Keeping duplication to a minimum also has the wonderful effect of reducing housework. It takes time to take care of stuff, whether you use it or not. It took me years (and a houseful of people for Thanksgiving) before I owned more than a four-place setting of dinner ware and dining utensils!! Friends still come to my house and marvel at the 'empty' rooms!Me: I love it. Spartan living is frugal living.
Same as yours. Work clothes are used for work and good clothes for good and jeans don't get washed very often when used for good because they are immediately removed when I return home and hung back up. I only wash them if they have any visible dirt or any odor.
Good clothes last a very long time and it's usually the work clothes that wear out from repeated washing, stains, rips and holes. My strategy is a little different from yours...I will buy two of something that I really like when it comes to boots, gloves, or sweat pants and use one set for "good" until they get some wear and tear on them, then send them to "work" status. In that manner I don't buy new clothes to work in and my "good" clothes are recycled, used up, worn out, and totally utilized until their eventual end. And because I have a second set of the same kind of items I like, I can pull them out and start using them for "good" and never miss a beat.
But that's just on limited items like gloves, shoes, boots or sweat suits~by the time these are relegated to "work" status the items I liked are often no more to be found in that store and I hate that! I wish the stores would keep track of their top selling items and keep that item in stock for years so that one could go back years later and buy another like it. Old country stores used to do that but these bigger chain stores do not.
I too am a fan of spartan living and it makes for a very peaceful existence. People think you have a clean house even when it's not because there is no clutter~and it makes it infinitely easier to keep a clean house when there is a lack of "stuff". All my clothing could fit into two duffel bags...that's shoes, coats, everything. I'm not a collector and I don't like to shop as there is nothing I need.
I reuse some clothing, towels, etc. many times before washing them and I make my own laundry soap, so it doesn't seem to leave any residue behind and seems to be more gentle on the clothing.
I keep things in good shape and I buy some things from Good Will, which often has better quality of clothing/purses/shoes than I could afford from the store. My purse finally wore out recently and I found one that looked as if it had never been used, leather, faux ostrich skin and brand name. I looked it up online and it was originally $45. I got it for $2.50. It will last me for a long, long time.
I don't like a lot of clutter in my life and I've found you can really keep track of where the money goes if you can stand in a room and see all that you own at a glance. I hardly ever buy big ticket items as new as I have found that's a huge waste of money. I've never even owned a new car and I don't buy one on payments any longer..big waste of money.
