Be Like the Ant [Old Navy: San Francisco]

Do you know the fable about the ant and the grasshopper?  My dad used to tell this to my sister and me as a bedtime story all the time. Basically the ant stores up food for himself when times are good while the grasshopper doesn't worry about the future and laughs at the ant instead.  Then winter comes and the ant is fat and happy and the grasshopper is dying of starvation...

So what does this have to do with saving money in the city?  Like the ant, a smart saver in the city needs to think ahead and prepare for what's to come--specifically when it comes to clothing and how the changing seasons necessitate a changing wardrobe.

When stores are getting ready to sell clothes for the new season, they also need to unload the previous season's merch.  And that means SALES!

Last September, on the cusp of fall, the big Old Navy in downtown SF had some crazy sales on their clearance section. At the time the clearance section largely consisted of summer clothes. The first week I went, all the clearance items were Buy One, Get One Free.  Sweet!  I bought 2 tanks, 2 shorts, and 2 sports bras for around $25.  Can't get much better, right?

WRONG.  The following week, the clearance section was all an extra 50% off instead!  It sounds like the same promotion but the BOGO is actually not as good a deal because it requires you to buy 2 things to get the lower price, which may result in unnecessary purchases.

This brings me to Lesson #1: Buying clothes out of season can save a LOT of $$$.

As far as I know Old Navy doesn't do price adjustments, so I re-bought the same pieces plus a few more.  Here was my haul:

Camper shirt with buttoned roll-up sleeves

Clearance price: $9.49

Final price (extra 50% off): $4.74

Stretch cotton sateen skirt 

(I bought these in 3 colors: olive green, gray, and black)

Clearance price: $7.49

Final price (extra 50% off): $3.74

Sports bras

Clearance price: $4.99 each

Final price (extra 50% off): $2.49 each

 

White cotton cardigan

Clearance price: $9.49

Final price (extra 50% off): $4.74

Denim pencil skirt

Clearance price: $6.99

Final price (extra 50% off): $3.49

Embellished striped cardigan

Clearance price: $9.99

Final price (extra 50% off): $4.99

Bermuda shorts

(I bought these in 3 colors: gray, khaki, and brown)

Clearance price: $7.49

Final price (extra 50% off): $3.74

Embellished racerback tank

(I bought these in 2 colors: black and white)

Clearance price: $4.99

Final price (extra 50% off): $2.49

Lounge pants

Clearance price: $6.49

Final price (extra 50% off): $3.24

I couldn't believe that every single piece was under $5.00!  And you can see that I mostly bought basics that can be mixed-and-matched easily to create many different outfits.

Lesson #2: It's possible to buy NEW clothes at dirt cheap prices--even cheaper than used clothes at some thrift stores!

So I hope as winter ends and spring begins that you'll have a chance to stock up on scarves, coats, and sweaters at cheap prices!  In 6 months you'll be glad you did :)