Like many of you I am an office drone and spend my days dressed in the knowledge worker uniform which include a  pairs of wool/polyester pants.

The second life of pants

Here is a money saving tip someone showed me years ago. When the dress pants get a bit frayed and need to be replaced, keep them for the weekends. Or for painting a room in the house (once you send your kid to

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private school you are going to be in-sourcing a lot of work you use to hire experts to do).

My favorite pair of pants last saw the inside of an office 5 years ago. And they have permanent black stains on them from when I refinished the driveway in them (two points added to the man card, thank you). But they are *really* comfortable.

Save time and money

What is amazing about this approach is what didn’t happen. I haven’t bought weekend pants, jeans, or pants to work in the yard over 5 years. That is a few hundred in expenses saved right there and less stuff going to the land fill. And it is better for the environment. And it is easier – I always know the pants that move to the weekend pile (I use a permanent marker to mark the inside tag so I don’t accidentally wear them to work) fit and it requires no shopping on my part.

Take a second look-but don’t over do it

The mind set of taking a second look at anything you are going to toss or recycle to see if it has a second life can turbo boost your cash flow over time and help pay for a private school tuition.

You just have to be careful to not save things that aren’t used. I only keep 3 pairs of former office attire in the weekend or yard work draw. The rest go off to be donated for a tax write off.

The pants progression

Here is appropriate life of a pair of dress pants:

  1. Dress pants for work (helps earn the income)
  2. Weekend pants (saves on buying a second pair)
  3. Donate to the thrift store (tax deduction)

 

 

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