Comments on: Ka-Blog on the Good Question.

By: DJM

DJM — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 19:17:14 +0000

Thanks for your reply. For everyday kids clothes, I think my threshold is closer to $5.00 per item. We’ll occasionally buy new for special occasions and holidays. And I guess I don’t mind spending $20 or $30 for a good pair of shoes. Your Macy’s bargains are right up my alley.

And you’re right, thrift store shopping is time consuming. We generally go once or twice per month. And as a stay at home dad who doesn’t really care about fashion, I do most of my clothes shopping there as well. (I’ve had great luck with Abercrombie shirts and Carhartt pants.) I guess we’re willing to make the trade of time for money. And there’s a time commitment involved in bargain shopping at regular retail outlets as well.

By: Kara McGuire

Kara McGuire — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 18:55:14 +0000

DJM: I have purchased used clothes, but I find it hit or miss and time consuming. The kids clothes I recently bought were on steep discount. Sleepers and full outfits for $3.50 from Macy’s, for example. Spent an average of $5 per item at Gymboree. In my experience those are equal to thrift store prices. How about you?

I have a threshold. I won’t spend more than $7 on a kids item of clothing unless I’m desperate. Shoes I like to keep under $12 but will pay $20 depending on brand, etc.

By: DJM

DJM — Fri, 09 Jan 2009 14:57:27 +0000

Yes, I’m all about the thrift…

Speaking of which, I was reading KaBlog on Twitter and couldn’t help but notice a fair amount of kid clothing purchases. With a two year old and a six month old at home, our family has regularly shopped thrift stores for kid clothes. We’ve had great success, filling their closets with clothes from Hanna Andersson, The Gap, etc. Have you considered buying used clothes?

By: Peter

Peter — Wed, 07 Jan 2009 18:02:28 +0000

Your $1000 as an absolute minimum is a good guideline. If you are laid off and go to collect unemployment benefits, you will have to serve a waiting week (a week for which you are not paid) before you can get benefits. If you are living paycheck to paycheck, it is hard to absorb the loss of a week of pay and then get only half of what you had been earning.

By: robin marty

robin marty — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 15:21:49 +0000

We’ve scaled back to frugal, which I think is a step above thrifty. Frugal is going back to basic cable. Thrify is getting rid of it all together. Frugal is only buying books with the amazon credits we get from the points on our credit card. Thrifty is getting the cashback checks instead and borrowing our books from the library. Frugal is going to once upon a child to get new pjs for the baby, and thrifty is cutting out the feet when she outgrows them and making her wear them anyways with a pair of socks. Frugal is a nice place to be right now because it helps with savings, keeps us from feeling too burdened, and lets us have another level to drop should a crisis actually hit.

By: David

David — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 03:15:43 +0000

This move to thrift is simply a reversion to the mean - we have been thrifty in odd ways for years - but it’s simply been very un-cool until recently.

If people had been doing this all along then they’d have the cash now to buy investments, do some home improvements on the cheap and so on.

By: kevin from minneapolis

kevin from minneapolis — Tue, 06 Jan 2009 01:10:24 +0000

I helped him pick that name!

By: Jason DeRusha

Jason DeRusha — Mon, 05 Jan 2009 23:09:44 +0000

You are correct, the Great Depression comment won’t be making it in the story. Although I am all about putting the Great back into the Depression.

I have been pitching a Good Question story on what happens to the economy if people stop spending and start saving. Does the economy shift? Do companies figure out how to profit more out of saving? Or do we just slow down as a nation?