I had surgery on September 22, 2020 and I am already down 20+ lbs. My clothes are loose and it won't be long that I need to buy more clothes. How did you save money during the process of getting to your goal weight?

Edited October 12, 20205 yr by Kryssyo

I bought two pairs of jeans on ebay for about $40 for both -- bought them to fit tight, so they'd loosened up after wearing them during the day & so they'd fit for awhile.

You can go to Walmart & get tshirts (both long sleeve & short sleeve) for around $5.

I've read people also shop at Goodwill or thrift shops to get cheap clothes.

For workout gear - I went to TJ Maxx, Marshalls & Ross.

wear them as long as you can, and then pick up some items from second hand stores or the cheap sale racks at WalMart. You are going to drop at least a size every month, so spend as little as you can,

Fortunately for me, the hospital provides the scrubs I wear at work, so I never had to buy work clothes. Sure was fun to watch the sizes drop from XXL to SMALL!!!!!!!!!!

It's a great time to rethink your final wardrobe - like what color palette you would like. I often bought large clothes just because they fit - not necessarily because they went with anything else I had. It was so fun to get rid of the color catastrophe and choose pieces that complemented each other. Makes my closet smaller and much more coordinated.

Edited October 12, 20205 yr by AZhiker

Elastic clothing is still your friend up to a point, and belts, belts, belts. I finally lost so much that I had to get an entirely new wardrobe, but I hit up (like Lanie said) a thrift store and Walmart. I know it's stuff that won't last forever, but I need to not be walking around with my clothing falling off. lol

If you can buy size downs here and there, that's fine. The hardest thing I figured out was underwear- it gets bunchy and baggy and uncomfortable. I went out and bought three packs, each in a consecutively smaller size.

I bought most of my clothes at Goodwill or other secondhand stores. I was blowing through sizes every month or two, so I would have spent a fortune for clothes (and not gotten much use out of them) while I was in weight loss mode.

Being the borderline-hoarder that I am, I had kept all my “skinny clothes” from years ago. I slowly went through all of them all as i lost weight, and when I ran out, that’s when I started buying new clothes. Sadly, i only wore some of those new clothes for a few weeks, but I enjoyed shopping for them and getting to wear them (even for the little time i did) so it was worth it.

Oh, and I also started wearing some of the Kid’s hand-me-downs (actually i still do, lol).

I will suggest though to invest in some nice stretchy pairs of leggings, and wrap dresses/skirts as the usage of these tend to span a few more sizes vs, say a pair of jeans or a jacket. And get some belts!

Good luck! (and happy shopping!)

Like @ms.sss I’d kept a lot of my smaller sizes so I’d just shop in my own closets & storage. So I was pretty fortunate. Sadly, there were a couple of pieces I was looking forward to wearing again but missed my window of when they fitted me again. I only bought a couple of pieces during my weight loss period (had some events to go to) & looked for things that would look as good belted for when my weight dropped more. I’d look for elastic waist skirts (tube skirts are great as they can also be taken in very easily) & leggings. You’ll likely find you may drop a size every 1-2 months depending on your weight loss rate so you’re right not to want to spend a lot on clothes. But it is so exciting when you need to buy a smaller size.

I do recommend that when you need new underwear, you get properly fitted for your bras. My shape changed & I had to try a lot on to find a brand & a style that worked. I had to buy new ones three times. Each time the motivating push was pain: back pain & breast pain from wearing unsupportive bras. An expensive exercise but so worth it to feel comfortable. I kept my eye out for sales & would but two new ones.

On 10/12/2020 at 5:10 PM, Arabesque said:

Like @ms.sss I’d kept a lot of my smaller sizes so I’d just shop in my own closets & storage. So I was pretty fortunate. Sadly, there were a couple of pieces I was looking forward to wearing again but missed my window of when they fitted me again. I only bought a couple of pieces during my weight loss period (had some events to go to) & looked for things that would look as good belted for when my weight dropped more. I’d look for elastic waist skirts (tube skirts are great as they can also be taken in very easily) & leggings. You’ll likely find you may drop a size every 1-2 months depending on your weight loss rate so you’re right not to want to spend a lot on clothes. But it is so exciting when you need to buy a smaller size.

I do recommend that when you need new underwear, you get properly fitted for your bras. My shape changed & I had to try a lot on to find a brand & a style that worked. I had to buy new ones three times. Each time the motivating push was pain: back pain & breast pain from wearing unsupportive bras. An expensive exercise but so worth it to feel comfortable. I kept my eye out for sales & would but two new ones.

Seconding leggings. I been wearing a nike legging that has transcended through some lbs

Thank you ladies! You have passed along some great advice.

Goodwill. Also my doctor’s office had a clothing exchange every month at the time of our monthly support group meetings so we would all bring the clothes that no longer fit and take what does fit at the time of the meeting. Hardly bought any new items because of the rapid weight loss and you never know where you will end up in size.

May I ask what size you’re down too? You can try looking at places like goodwill. Right now I can get jeans at Walmart for $10 so that helps

I have kept most of my old clothes over the years and many different sizes, so I still have some things I can wear, even after losing 59 lbs. I did break down last week and bought some workout gear on Walmart.com, since I'm working from home and sweats are my daily uniform. I'm wearing XL shirts now and simply refuse to grab the XXL shirts, even if I only have a few to choose from.

I'm down 25pds and went from a sz 16 to 12. Thankfully I had saved old clothing from my "skinny" days. I spend most of my work days at home in leggings though so I don't think that my size in those will change for awhile.

I can't wear my size 8 jeans anymore!! They're too big. I had been getting away with wearing them at times but they're falling off of me now. I am in a size 4 but my size 6's still work too... FWIW, I wear American Eagle jeans only. Their sizes seems to be consistent across all different jean types. Size 4s are tight but loosen up & fit good..

I haven't lost any more weight, but I have lost an inch and a half in my waist.. an inch in my hips and an inch in my bust.

Im at this point too, and with all of the restrictions for trying on clothes, its tough! Happy to have read some ideas- need to find some sales.