Columnist Courtney Mihocik describes the economical advantages of accepting hand-me-downs from friends and relatives.
As the younger sister, I was always receiving hand-me-downs from my older sister. Shirts, pants and the like. Even now, most of the flannels I own, my sister gave to me. It’s a very cost-effective way of expanding my wardrobe, while still keeping with my personal style.
Well, why don’t I just sell her old clothes and then buy myself the same thing, except brand new?
The value of the clothes she hands down to me have been depreciating since she took them off the hanger and began wearing them around. A regular women’s blouse depreciates at approximately 33.3 percent, according to UpHelp.org’s Depreciation Guide. If I were to sell a couple of hand-me-down shirts on eBay and took that money to buy new clothes, it wouldn’t be enough money.
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Let’s say that about four times a year, you want to buy two new outfits. One for each change in season. Each outfit consists of a new top and a new bottom, totaling about $25, so two outfits are $50. Four times a year is $200. Now, that amount doesn’t seem substantial, but for a college student, that’s about half a month’s worth of rent, a repair on a laptop, a weekend trip or even a textbook.
So lately, I’ve been trying to limit my clothing spending — only buying necessities, such as shoes, when they’re too worn out to wear. The occasional dress purchase happens, but I like to stick to “borrowing” clothes from my sister to expand my clothing options and it costs almost nothing.
Don’t write off hand-me-downs from your relatives or friends because there could be an item you never knew you needed until someone else bought it and wore it in front of you. To me, the difference between old and new clothes when it comes from my sister is nonexistent.
Courtney Mihocik is a junior studying journalism. Do you think hand-me-downs are as efficient Courtney? Tweet her @CourtneyMiho or email her at cm674912@ohio.edu.
