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Buttoned Up Expert: How to Organize a Clothing Swap

How to Organize a Clothing Swap

By Buttoned Up Savings Expert, Amy Suardi of Frugal-Mama.com.

Often there is nothing wrong with our clothing – we just get tired of it. But new clothes can be a strain on our budgets, especially if we have little ones who are growing faster than green beans in July.

If you don’t want to wait for a Clothing Swap Inc. event to come to your city — or you’d like to do something a little festive — it’s easy to throw your own clothing swap party.

Here’s how, step-by-step:

1. Use a free service like Socializr to invite about 12-15 of your friends, or as many as you think can fit comfortably in your house. (Consider that 10% of invitees usually can’t make it at the last minute.)

2. Ask each person to bring at least 10 items of clean clothing in good condition plus a dish and beverage to share. (If you’re holding it in the evening, a dessert-and-drinks theme is simple yet decadent.)

3. Label empty boxes or sections of your house in categories like gender, size or type of clothing.

4. Allow an hour and a half for guests to arrive and clothes to be sorted before swapping begins. (Recruit a few friends to organize clothes or ask guests to sort their own as they arrive.)

5. Swapping begins at a set time and usually lasts about 30 minutes to one hour. Guests may take home as many items as they need.

6. Celebrate afterwards with more mingling and munching — and comparing of loot!

The concept can be applied to threads for women, men, children or even the whole family. Any way you slice it, a clothing swap is a great excuse to get together with friends while saving money, time and the earth.

Amy Suardi writes about saving money and making life better at Frugal-Mama.