The holiday season is great for giving and receiving; it also means new clothes for Christmas or Hanukah, and taking care of those clothes. As Americans, we see everything as disposable. We wear a piece for 2 years and pitch it. Classic pieces of clothing last much longer if they are taken care of properly, which seems like a no brainer, but alas, here we go.

1. Shoes, a good pair of shoes can last for years. This means, treat them well when wearing, and clean them regularly to keep them looking new. Take shoes to a cobbler to have them resoled if you’ve walked the other ones off, or to have polished.
2. Nice leggings can be very expensive but wear out very quickly. A tip for the pills that accumulate is to take a dull razor and shave them off and collect with a lint brush. Primarily Lululemon leggings do this, so don’t throw a pair out and spend $100 plus dollars when you know how to fix them.
3. Washing and drying over and over again drastically degrades the quality of clothing, so try to wash every other time you wear as to not prematurely age the clothes. Jeans especially lose shape in the wash so only wash when absolutely necessary.
4. Become friends with second-hand and vintage shops. If anyone has ever told you wearing used clothes is gross, they are just plain wrong. There is nothing dirty or bad about used clothes and some of my favorite pieces are from thrift stores, plus, the savings are unmatched.
5. Buying and selling clothes is a great way to expand a tight budget. Going to places like Platos Closet or Goodwill is an awesome way to get money back for clothes and buying from places like thredup.com is easy on the wallet and they have awesome designers.
6. Know when to spurge. That said, a heavy sweater from J. Crew is going to last longer and look better than a Topshop splurge you wanted at the mall. Trend pieces are often cheap because they go out of style quickly, so proceed with caution at places like Urban Outfitters and Forever 21.
7. Stock up on your basics, having an amazing base wardrobe with classic colors is a great way to inventory your clothes and be able to add and subtract based on those items.
8. Accessories! Buying a new necklace or stack of bracelets is much cheaper than buying a whole new outfit, which is key here because we are trying to save money and be ~fiscally responsible.~
9. Think about your purchases before you open your wallet. Shopping can be exhausting, especially with other people, so if you know you’re looking to buy multiple things, go alone and really evaluate whether you can afford it, or are just trying to look good for your friends.
10. Don’t buy things that are unrealistic, a faux fur vest or spiked heels may seem like the smartest thing in the world at the time, but ideally, each wear of clothing should cost less than a dollar of what you bought it for. For example, a Canada Goose coat costs $900 dollars, to get your money’s worth out of it, it would need to be worn at least 901 times.

These seem simple, but the pressure of the mall, pure laziness of taking care of clothes and so on, could be costing you some serious cash. Heed my advice, and you’ll become a money saving mogul in no time.