And my dilemma is i need well fitting clothes. Most of my current shirts are leftover from when i lost weight before and somehow they've managed to survive my regain, lol.

Ive bought a couple things here and there, a couple tops and a dress. But none of my pants or skirts fit right. I can get them on but they are super uncomfortable. Plus i need pajamas, workout clothes...etc

But i wanna lose weight. I would hate to go buy a bunch of new clothes only to not be able to wear them in a month or two bc theyre too big. But i am tired of wearing clothes that dont fit!

What would you guys do if you were me?

As I'm in the same boat, this is easy. I suffer with the ill-fitting clothes. If I can't, like I need to look decent at work, I am a still huge tightwad. I have exactly 1 pair of pants I can wear to work. Just plain black slacks, hopefully no one notices, but I wear them day in day out. I'd rather spend the money washing them then getting extra that I intend not to wear in a month or so. You can also try goodwill/resale shops.

I'm in the same boat as well after a gradual 30 lb gain. For the most part I've been recycling the same 4 pair of pants. I had to break down and buy a new suit when I was interviewing but I refuse to buy a new fat wardrobe when I don't plan to be this size in a few months.

Some ideas...

1. Join Freecycle and see if anyone is giving away clothes.
2. Check Craigslist
3. Yard Sales and Thrift Stores
4. Join a clothing rental service like Gwynniebee. Although you have to pay, it's still not really that much... like 30 dollars a month for 1 item at a time. So you could probably get at least 2 or 3 items a week depending on how fast you mail it back.
5. Ask around to see if anyone is donating clothes. Also, talk about your weight loss to anybody that will listen... The clothes I'm wearing now are ones that were given to me by people because I simply asked them.

I bought a small amount of new clothes. For pants/skirts I bought a few basic pieces that I can wear often. I also bought a few new cheap shirts, even though many of my smaller size shirts still fit. I'd estimate that all total I spent within $200. I plan to donate the bottoms when they get too big. That makes the purchases not feel like a waste of money to me.

Oh yeah, I also had to buy a couple new bras. That was another $50 right there. I'm picky about bras.

I also bought a couple pairs of workout pants and a sports bra. Another $70 or so. Wow, this is really adding up.

I put off buying clothes for a long time. I kept telling myself I'd lose weight soon, so didn't need new clothes. What's funny is I didn't *start* losing weight *until* I bought my bigger-sized wardrobe! I think wearing tight clothes had me feeling uncomfortable and soooo overweight, which made the process of losing weight feel overwhelming. The correct fitting clothes made me feel more comfortable in my skin which ironically made dropping weight much easier for me.

I'm a slow loser so will probably be able to wear my bigger-sized clothes for a while.

I'm really glad I bought the bigger sizes and highly recommend it.

Are there any outlet centers near you? I'm a frequent flyer at the one closest to my house (Old Navy, The Gap, Banana Republic, The Loft, etc.), and there's always Kohls for reasonably priced basics and they're always on sale. Even the regular Old Navy has great sales where you can get slacks in the basic colors, depending on how dressy your work is. I've been losing weight for 14 months now and have gone from a tight size 14 to a loose size 6. I actually have a nice pair of black pants in a 4 from The Gap waiting for me when I finally get there I always bought a few things each time I downsized, but I still wore the size bigger, esp. during TOM. The larger stuff my mom took, the smaller stuff will go into a yard sale/consignment shop.

My suggestion is buy what you need to get by at a thrift store, like Good Will. Then you can donate the clothes back to the store when you shrink out of them with no guilty feelings for wasting money. If you really like to shop, you can scrounge the end of season sales at your favorite stores, but you've got to be careful to limit yourself to the items you can wear this fall and winter. Also, don't let yourself get sucked into buying a bunch of too small summer clothes on clearance. I've done that before and didn't end up being the right size at the right time to wear the clothes. What a waste!

Do you have any friends that can lend you some? I was also getting tired of spending extra $$ and mentioned it to my girlfriends, next thing I knew
we all brought stuff we not longer wanted and had a clothing exchange - fun night & I got a few new things which was great.

if it is work clothes you need - I found a great deal on Woman Within - they have a wide leg ponte knit pant (also boot cut if you prefer) and you have to keep watch because their prices can vary from $27 to $44 for the same pants (price compairison them to on Amazon, they sell there too). When I had regained back to 230 I finally had to give in and get pants. I bought 3 pair of them in black for $27 each. I have worn them from 230 pounds up to 270 pounds and back down. I'm at 219 now and while they are much looser in the leg the waist band (which is elastic) fits fine, so they just look like a wide leg pant - which is what they are. I wear them 6 days a week (my uniform...) and supplement with really inexpensive tops from Walmart for casual day or even look at Macy's clearance section online. I have 6 tops, and then what has been a life saver is tank tops under those open lightweight cardigan style jackets.

for casual - read I'm at the house or doing errands I have knit capri pants and t-shirts from walmart. I don't think I have paid more than 10 for the capris and 5 bucks a tshirt and only have a few of each. I wear them until they are falling off. I refuse to spend too much money on clothes while I re-lose weight. Being bigger, I have never had luck at Goodwill.

I don't want to spend mega bucks on clothes either, but I think investing in some so I can be wearing clothes that FIT NOW is a self respecting thing to do. I'm worth it. I'm also going to be job seeking soon so I want to look presentable and not ill fitting/sloppy.

I look for good buys or things I can easily alter at home myself because I don't want to be running to the tailor for simple repairs like hemming something or taking in elastic. I leave the tailor for complicated pieces I don't have time to monkey with. (ex: blazer, lined dress)

I recently cleaned out my closet and gave my too small clothes away to other plus size pals. You could see if anyone is doing a fall cleaning. I want ANYTHING I touch in my closet to fit me NOW. That is a boost and makes getting ready in the morning way easier.

For work pants, I hit walmart and fullbeauty.com and picked up a few pairs cheap.

For PJs, I just am sewing them. I pair them with cheap walmart tank tops in solid colors. I just picked some up for less than $3 a top. I can always take the PJs in or just leave them baggy in the leg and only take in the elastic.

I'm planning to sew some skirts because those are more forgiving and I can always take in the elastic some more later on as I lose weight.

A.

I think it is important to buy something that fits. But I feel strongly about not buying too much.

I agree with this.

I mean don't go to neiman & marcus or anything, stick with kohls or target...or something cheap. But you deserve to feel good no matter what size you are.

In your skin I would wait to loose weight and then go for shopping. Now you don't need them so much.