Time to Buy A New Pair of Jeans – Quality Vs. Cheap

Since starting our debt reduction journey, we have spent very little on clothing. The only exception is my son since he is growing like a weed. Even that spending has been minimal thanks to some hand-me-downs from a relative and from shopping second-hand and clearance sales.

I am officially down to one pair of jeans now. And that pair needs to be retired soon since they are getting very shabby (I’m having a flashback of being in school and having my stonewashed jeans rip down the inside seam because they were too frayed – I’d rather not repeat that very embarassing moment!).

In general, I don’t like shopping for clothes because I don’t like to try things on in the store. I also don’t like spending money on clothes. I remember one year when I found jeans on sale at Walmart for $5 a pair. I tried one pair on, they fit okay, and I bought three of the same exact kind and that was that. I haven’t seen a deal like that in a long time.

That means that I will be going shopping for jeans this weekend. I’m going to do something a little different, though. I’ve been thinking about the value in finding deals on well-made clothing. Over five years ago, I purchased a pair of jeans from JC Penney for less than $20 on sale. Those jeans fit well and they lasted a long time. I was very sad when I had to say goodbye to them. I was so sad that I went back to JC Penney to see if they still carried that brand/style. They didn’t, and no longer had any sales, so I went back to Walmart for buying jeans.

While the Walmart jeans I usually buy are okay, they don’t last very long. They fray quickly and develop holes. Did I mention how awesome that one pair I bought from JC Penney was?

I think you know where I am going here. I am going to stop by JC Penney first and see if they have any sales on good pairs of jeans. Even if the initial cost is more than a pair of Walmart jeans, they can be a better value if they last longer. I am going to take the cost and the quality into consideration.

It’s hard to do, because (I’ll admit it…) I’m pretty cheap. But I think I need to transition into a more frugal mindset with buying quality items for less. Not just cheap items for less.

Just a note…we do have second-hand stores in our area, but I have not been able to find jeans in my size in good condition. Hopefully that will change soon!

Posted by Tricia on March 27, 2008 at 9:32 PM in Living Frugal | 28 Comments »
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Moni responded:
Posted: March 27th, 2008 at 10:11 pm
Just discovered your blog and I’m already a fan. Also want to mention that I love the Goodwill! There are two huge Goodwill megastores that I haunt regularly. I buy almost all my daughter’s clothes there, as well as tops, dresses and workout wear for myself. A great recent find: a pair of Ecco shoes in perfect condition. I also found a $90 snowsuit for my daughter for $5. Sadly, though, pants (for myself) are a problem! I can’t seem to find a decent pair second hand pants anywhere. So I always seem to end up paying $40 for new ones…
DM responded:
Posted: March 27th, 2008 at 11:10 pm
I’ll second Moni’s suggestion. I buy ALL of my clothing at local thrift stores. For a time, I was buying used jeans for three or four dollars a pair and reselling on ebay for ten or fifteen. (Mostly Levis). If you don’t have a thrift store nearby, I’d strongly encourage you to buy used on ebay. You can purchase any brand you like and will often find good deals. Buy quality. It’ll last much longer.
Joe responded:
Posted: March 28th, 2008 at 12:16 am
I’ve been pretty lucky with ebay.
I’ll set up a search for something specific, such as men’s 569’s, and with a little patience, I’ve found some great deals.
Jeans, shoes, outerware.
Ryan S.@uncommon-cents.net responded:
Posted: March 28th, 2008 at 12:30 am
Hey Tricia,

While I am pretty cheap myself (I like to refer to myself as the cheapest man in America), it’s important to remember that it’s better to spend $10 on an umbrella that lasts ten years than $1.50 on one that breaks every six months. So, same can be applied to jeans; if you can find the pair that lasts you five years again, do it!

OTOH, if the reason you can’t get five years of use out of your clothes is your fitness level improves, then I’m all for shorter lifespans of clothing!
jaye responded:
Posted: March 28th, 2008 at 6:21 am
This was a very timely article…I just ripped the knee on my jeans last night.

I wear jeans every day (literally). I usually buy 2-3 pairs of Gap jeans (they fit me) on sale at a time. I find that they last about 1 1/2-2 years of hard wear before the knees go. Of course, since I buy them at one time, they all tend do wear out at the same time.

I hate shopping too. Go for quality. It’s not worth buying junk. I think you need to go to JCP and get it done. If you know your size and the style you want, go ahead and try e-bay. Of course, the truth is every pair fits differently….
Rachel @ Master Your Card responded:
Posted: March 28th, 2008 at 6:38 am
A friend of my husbands use to say ‘buy cheap, buy twice’ just make sure that if you do decide to spend qite a bit of money that you buy something good quality not just something expensive!
Tricia responded:
Posted: March 28th, 2008 at 6:56 am
DM – if I knew exactly what cut/style/brand would work for me, I’d definitely check out eBay. But there doesn’t seem to be a universal size so I’d be worried about buying something that doesn’t fit. But you bring up a good point about reselling.

Ryan S – good point about the lifespan part
Matt responded:
Posted: March 28th, 2008 at 7:17 am
I’m not too fond of buying clothes for myself either mostly because the clothes that I like the most are the ones that are the most expensive. I don’t know if I do this subconsciously or not but I somehow manage to find the most expensive stuff. Thankfully I’m good for clothes for a little while though I haven’t been able to find my shorts lately so there will be a trip to the store come summer time.
Michelle responded:
Posted: March 28th, 2008 at 7:28 am
I recently went to our GAP outlet about 45 min away and found jeans (in style) that were $25 a pair. If you can save up some spending cash and spare an afternoon, it might be worth it to make an outlet trip if you’ve got one nearby.

Otherwise, I’d say go to Target on a clearance. You can really find some great deals when they have their clearances and all of their clothes seem to be fashionable as well. (an added plus when you’re saving!)
Tricia responded:
Posted: March 28th, 2008 at 7:34 am
Michelle – I agree about the clearance at Target! Unfortunately, the closest one to us is over two hours away. When I was visiting our parents last summer(who do have a Target nearby), I found two nice shirts for my son for $1.00/each
Dedicated responded:
Posted: March 28th, 2008 at 7:35 am
Hey Tricia – I would definitely (and do) buy jeans at JC Penney over Walmart. They will pay for themselves over time.

I wanted to tell you that Penney’s always seems to have a deal at the register. Where they give me extra money off. Just ask someone before hand.

Oh and if you have a Kohl’s in your shopping area – they carry most of Penney’s jeans but they cost less.

For instance – I bought the Levi’s Skinny Jeans for $29.99 that were $32.99 @ Penney’s. Prices before my discounts.

I wish you lived closer – I would go with you. I find that the best pairs of jeans are purchased with a friend. Friends tell you straight forward how they look.
Caitlin responded:
Posted: March 28th, 2008 at 7:51 am
When I get down to the States, I love to buy clothes at Kohl’s.

I agree with everyone else, though, it’s just not worth it to buy all your jeans at Wal-Mart. They’re cheaper initially, but they’re cheaper for a reason and generally don’t last as long.
Levi’s and Lee are my favourite, long-lasting brands.
When I can find ones that fit on sale, I tend to get a couple. Otherwise, I check out the local Value Village (thrift store) and get “last years” $80 jeans for $10.
Tricia responded:
Posted: March 28th, 2008 at 7:52 am
Thought I’d add a link to this timely article on Yahoo:

Spend or Save? A Guide to Buying Wardrobe Essentials

They say to spend when it comes to jeans for the quality.
Lisa responded:
Posted: March 28th, 2008 at 8:30 am
I’m also a Walmart jean buyer (pretend that was grammatically correct). I kept getting fraying and eventually holes in the front near the zipper and around the back pockets. Anyhow – our Walmart carries Levis which is all I will buy now and here they are less than $20. They last forever!
Josh responded:
Posted: March 28th, 2008 at 8:58 am
You could always look at consignment stores. You can get really good deals on barely used, quality jeans.
Jim responded:
Posted: March 28th, 2008 at 10:04 am
Old Navy. Go when there are sales and you can really clean up. Keep in mind you do get what you pay for, so make sure they’re not the stupid kind that are already damaged when they’re new!
Adam responded:
Posted: March 28th, 2008 at 10:57 am
Tricia, I would see if they have a Steve and Barry’s anywhere near you. Just I got dress pants there, brand new, for 9 bucks a pop, and they had the same prices on jeans. Everything seemed to be of good quality, although only time will tell how long they last. Just a thought!
Nine Circles responded:
Posted: March 28th, 2008 at 11:34 am
I’ve been buying Rider jeans at K-Mart for the last few years and they do last a long time. However, I’ve done what you’ve done–try one pair on in the store and then buy multiple pairs in that size and style–only to find when I got home that some of the other pairs didn’t fit, even though they were the same size! Now I force myself to try on every pair before I buy and I’m surprised how often I have buy jeans of different sizes to get them all to fit!
wealthy_1 responded:
Posted: March 28th, 2008 at 11:42 am
I love to shop, but I hate shopping for jeans. In addition to being very expensive (sometimes they cost more than dress pants), it’s hard to find a pair that fits right. In addition, the jean makers seem to change the fit on a regular basis.
arduous responded:
Posted: March 28th, 2008 at 11:48 am
Tricia, normally I would be with you and say definitely go to JC Penney. But I noticed you just started up your other blog again … maybe it would be better to go to Walmart and get a cheap pair of jeans if you’re trying to lose weight? You don’t want to buy a pair of jeans that is slightly more expensive and will last a long time only to have them be too big for you in just a few months.
Marie responded:
Posted: March 28th, 2008 at 1:05 pm
We buy all of our jeans at Sam’s club and it runs us about $13 a pair. My husband is really really rough on jeans and they have lasted us a good long while. We buy the Member’s Mark ones. I hear the Kirtland brand at Costco is also very nice.
Rob Madrid responded:
Posted: March 28th, 2008 at 1:48 pm
Generally I have two rules

Buy Quality and buy it on sale

A good example is a rain jacket. Don’t know how many cheapies my wife has bought and not worn (the most expensive was a $100 ouch) all sit in storage. Finally she bought herself a top quality LLBean rain jacket and she loves it (and I love the weak US dollar), looks professional and keeps her dry on the way to work (she bikes everyday). It will last years and she won’t have to buy another cheapie rain jacket.

Secondly is to buy it on sale. Our favourite chain over here is C&A (much like target chic but reasonable) stop in the other day when they were having a clearance sale and she picked up 2 suits for 50â‚¬ like 70% off!!!!

The only exception is stuff that wears out quick, socks underwear, T shirts that kind of stuff.
Sherri responded:
Posted: March 28th, 2008 at 4:27 pm
I agree about not buying on eBay. I luckily found a pair of designer jeans at ROSS for $19 that fit me so well. I didn’t want to pay full price for another pair from the designer so I bought a pair on ebay in the same size & cut. They didn’t fit, and to top it off, the color was NOT what the seller said it was and what the picture portrayed!
DC Smith responded:
Posted: March 28th, 2008 at 5:21 pm
I often buy clothes at Penny’s online. Their prices aren’t bad, the stuff is fairly good quality, they constantly have stuff on sale, and I’ve never bought anything without finding a free shipping coupon code online (or just waiting a week or two until they send me one).

Best of all, if it doesn’t fit or you don’t like it, you can take it back to the local store. In other words, I can always find my size, it gets dropped off at the door for free, and I only have to go to the store if it isn’t right – much easier than getting a return authorization, packing it back up, getting it to the shipper, etc.

I buy a lot of home decor stuff there for the same reason. Not furniture, but soft goods like rugs, curtains and towels. Color/texture/style/size not exactly as you expected? Just drop it off at the local store and you’re done.
lpkitten responded:
Posted: March 28th, 2008 at 9:24 pm
no! walmart is evil! i admit jeans are something that i tend to splurge on just because i wear them so much. the per use cost doesn’t work out to be that much even if i spend $200. i think i bought my last pair at banana republic. but old navy tends to have lots of different sizes and their prices are not bad. happy jean hunting!
Tricia responded:
Posted: March 28th, 2008 at 11:17 pm
arduous – You are so right about perhaps not needing the jeans for a very long time if I lose the weight I’m hoping to lose. In that case, the cheap ones may be best. I hear that little self-doubt monster and she mentions the fact I have some skinny jeans in my closet that have been sitting there for years.

I’ll see what I can find. I’ll probably go to JC Penney first, scope it out, then go to Walmart and then go from there.

Totally off-topic, but I just noticed on JC Penney online (thanks DC Smith for the tip!) that Gloria Vanderbuilt has a brand of jeans! Wow. My mom loved that perfume way back when. I had no idea they had jeans.
DBT responded:
Posted: March 29th, 2008 at 10:07 pm
I came across a JCP code that may help: MARSURVY for 15% off and includes in store (regular, sale, clearance), catalog and online purchases…valid thru 4/1/08 so you’d need to order/purchase soon! Hope that helps. Let me know if you’d like a pdf of the coupon to use in the store.
Chris responded:
Posted: March 31st, 2008 at 5:19 pm
I believe L.L. Bean offers free lifetime replacement on any purchase you make through them, so keep them in mind. My friend bought a pair of slippers from them 3 years ago, which recently wore out. He merely brought them back to the local LL Bean store to exchange them for a new pair–no questions asked. They are all about customer satisfaction! In return, he makes many of his purchases through them and is a very loyal customer.