How do you ensure that you always have clothes that fit?

I shop at Goodwill, garage sales, and other consignment shops and buy a few good pieces to get me through to the next size. I am donating all my fat clothes so I am not tempted to just gain it all back... It's the right thing to do but it hurts to give away the clothes that I adore. As someone else said its fun to shop at the 2nd hand stores to see what deals you can find for yourself. I refuse to buy anything new until I hit my goal weight/size.

So far I am just wearing the bigger clothes with belts. I know it's not that flattering but, like you, I can't affoard a new wardrome at every loss. I am going to try to keep doing this for as long as possible and then go look at marshal's and ross.

I also hear from a friend that worked at American eagle that if you bought a pair of jeans there, they are for a lifetime so you can exchange them out for different sizes. I would ask about it before buying but if that's true, it's AWESOME

p.s. I am seriously so excited for a new wardrobe when I get to my goal

Thrift stores - Goodwill & Salvation Army (we call it Sally's Boutique LOL)
TJ Maxx & Marshalls
Watch for sales - maybe even sign up for emails from your favorite stores if you don't get mailings from them (or fliers in a newspaper)

ETA: consignment shops

I like shopping at winners. Not as cheap as value village, but if you like new stuff for a fraction of the price, it's a good place to shop.

Dresses are a great way to go for clothing that spans several sizes, though my "regular" size dresses that were good to keep me from having to buy stuff in bigger sizes are now too big

My sister and I are working out, eating well, and losing weight together. (It wasn't planned that way - the timing just worked out well.) She is about 25 pounds behind me, weight-wise, and so basically I pass all my clothes along to her as they get too big for me. However, I am hitting the point where I'm not going to be dipping into many more smaller sizes. My tops are already size S, and since I have boobs I can't imagine I'm going to hit XS in much. I am in size 8 jeans, but I still have another 30 pounds or so to lose, so I imagine I'll need to pass those on as well! My sister also has a co-worker who has given her some clothes that are too small for her, and she has sold basically all of her old clothes to another co-worker.

So that's one way to do it - find someone who needs to get rid of smaller clothes because they're either too big or too small. Otherwise she and I will pick up pieces here and there at Goodwill or at places like TJ Maxx or Marshalls. I don't have the income to be able to do often that right now, but basically if I can find something for less than $10 that is well-made and versatile enough, I'll snag it. (I also am lucky in that I've been on the smaller side before, so I have a fair amount of clothes left over from then.)

A few months ago I purchased an awesome pair of Levi's jeans at Belk on clearance ($50 jeans for $11) in a size 16. I think I got to wear them 3x before I passed them on to my sister, and thankfully she got more wear out of them than I did. She and I both loved the style so much (since we have similar builds) that we scoured the internet for smaller sizes of the same jeans. She and I both ended up buying two pairs each off of eBay. (Just a note on Levi's - they tend to run small compared to other brands. For example, my Levi's 10s are slightly tighter on me now than my NY&Co 8s. I basically consider my Levi's 8s as a 6.)

My sister also found some people on craigslist who were selling clothes and has sold some clothes that way. She bought a new winter coat on clearance at Banana Republic, but she sold her old coat on craigslist to fund the new coat. I think all in all she ended up spending $15 on the new coat when you take into account what she sold her old coat for.

To sum up my little novel here - trading or purchasing from people you know, craiglist, eBay, Goodwill and the like, TJ Maxx and the like, and clearance sales at other stores. You should have a lot of luck with sales once Christmas passes, but you can also sell your bigger clothes, even if it's just as a lot on craiglist, to fund some new clothing purchases.

Well, I was in a 16 when I started and I had clothes in my attic down to 8 which are starting to fit now. I have had to buy a few transitional pants throughout the year because some of my clothes that fit didn't coincide with the proper season to wear them. I should be good to go for this winter (my mom has some of my old 4's and 6's that I will absolutely ask for if I can get into them this year!). I have a ton of stuff that should fit in the spring and summer...next fall/winter might be time for more shopping. Right now I get transitional stuff at Goodwill and the clearance racks at Target, Walmart, etc.

Ummmm Until I got comfortably into 12's I only randomly bought things here and there. When I got into 12's I started dropping to a 10, then suddenly 8's and some 6's. I decided it was time for a shopping spree. So, yeah. I dropped a few hundred, and now I pick up miscellaneous articles from Kohls, Maurices, Vanity.... I can handle Goodwill once in awhile, but now I'm VERY near my "forever weight" I can start getting most things new and know that I won't out grow or shrink out of them...

I've gone from a size 24W pants/shorts and a XXL shirt to now a size Small/Kids Size XL or Large shirt to size 8/10 pants. I haven't bought a lot of clothes, though, because I don't want to spend money on clothes that I'm going to not use and because I am cheap (in all areas of my life).

I have bought a total of maybe 30 things this entire time, but I'm a SAHM, so I don't need work/dressy clothes or anything. Right now I currently have 3 pairs of jeans (Salvation Army store), 1 long sleeve shirt (free with coupon from JCPenney), 1 hooded sweatshirt (clearance at CVS), 3 sweaters (garage sale for .25 each), 1 lounge pants (Salvation Army store), 2 PJ pants (garage sales) and about 5 t-shirts (garage sales). This works for me since I'm just at home for the majority of my time anyways.

In my case, I was a 7 then went up to 9, 10, 12, 14, and 16's.....lol. I kept all my clothes after gaining weight with hopes to wear them again some day. Now I am getting to my 14's, I plan on keeping one pair of 16's, not so I'll have them if I gain again but to remind me where I don't want to be again and put them on and be like.....dang I used to wear those?!?! What!?! I'll get rid of my 14's and 12's once I've past those. So, for me I already have jeans ranging from 7 to 16 and shirts ranging from M to XL. I love my clothes that I wore when I was thinner and refuse to get rid of them because I want to wear them again! Luckily I don't have to do much shopping but try second hand stores or Wal Mart brand to get you through.

i guess i am kind of lucky this way too. i have everything from size 0 to 24, XS-3X! i gained 200lbs in the past 5 years alone and most of the stuff i have in boxes is still rather fashionable :P but i still buy tonnes of new stuff anyway because it's good to reward yourself during the journey...not just after

It sucks, I have to say and getting expensive. I've gone from (so far) a size 24 pants to a size 12, and a size 2-3XL top to now a medium. I found for jeans I would go to Marshalls or TJ Maxx. Can find good jeans for under $20. Though recently I found a pair of Lee jeans that fit me so much better, holds my stomach in a bit. I got them on sale for $26 at Kohl's. They usually have some good sales. Tops, well I've mostly been living in t-shirts, but I'm trying to try to get a little bit more style. Old Navy and again Kohl's I like.