This lifestyle has actually allowed me to build up a pretty big pile of clothes, but there's a problem: my clothes don't fit. I get pants that I've never tried on, so they may or may not fit right. Generally they are too big and I need a belt or suspenders, or they just hang too loose. Furthermore, I lost a bunch of weight, and so even clothes that could basically function were way, way too big. I've just gotten used to having pants with a very wide waste, with cuffs that always get worn away because they get under my shoes, with baggy legs that are always rubbing against each other.
But in the last two days I've tried on some pants that fit right. They might be the first pants I've had that fit properly since...well, I don't even know. But it feels wonderful. And now I realize: it's good to be frugal, but you should still try acquire clothing that fits. I feel much, much better about my day because I am wearing pants that fit. The waste is just normal. There isn't a whole bunch of extra fabric flowing around my legs (I can walk without the fabric from each leg rubbing together!). The bottoms aren't getting caught under my shoes.
And besides, it's not that expensive. I bought two new pairs of pants this week for a grand total of $21.16. If you shop off of clearance racks, and shop at cheap stores (Target, Old Navy, Kohl's), you can actually get really cheap clothes.
So now I'm committed: I buy my own clothes (I also bought a sweater just because it is a sweater Geoffrey Tennant sometimes wears on Slings & Arrows). It's not something I would have done in grad school when I was living on super-duper frugality, but it's something I can do now that I'm just living on regular frugality (with some excessive exceptions).
Right now, having clothing that fits feels like some sort of extravagant luxury. I'm living it up, baby!
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