I am getting married in a few months and needed to get some nice pants and a button-up shirt to wear (it's a beach wedding so I'm not wearing a jacket). I always wore second-hand clothes, Walmart brand, etc, so I was really not used to the prices I saw at the name brand stores. I left one store after the salesman started pressuring me into buying an $80 pair of pants. After a few more stores, I went to a Jos A Bank and, just like the other stores, I asked if they could compete with that $80 price. The guy said no, but encouraged me to check out the Jos A Bank outlet store just a mile up the road. WHAT!? How crazy is it that the outlet store is so close to a normal store.
I decided to check it out and I was amazed by the price differences. Even more amazingly, they were having a buy one get THREE FREE deal on clearance items. Now that's my kind of deal!!! I bought 3 pairs of pants (1 for myself and 2 matching pairs for the groomsmen), and a nice vest to make my outfit stand out from the groomsmen. Total price... $70! On top of that, when my best man went to get his pants hemmed at a different Jos A Bank, the salesman noticed that the same pants dropped in price. My brother gave him my number, the guy called me, and eventually he cut me a reimbursement check for $30! In total, I paid $40 for everything! Wahoooo!
The day after I bought the wedding clothes, I went back for some professional clothes. I bought two suits, a sport jacket, and a pair of work pants.
Price before discounts: $1765 ($1870.90 w/ tax)
Price after discounts: $138 ($146.28 w/ tax)
Total savings: $1627 (92%) !!!
I think I threw out the first receipt, but here is a picture of the second receipt.
Because most of the stuff I bought was very close to my measurements, all the alterations ended up only costing me about $40 at the dry cleaner.
This deal couldn't have come at a better time. Despite our most frugal efforts, the wedding expenses still have added up. Also, I've lost nearly 50 pounds and have a lot of clothes that are way too baggy on me now. This gave me some more professional options for work and school. Super excited by this win and wanted to share with this sub!
TL;DR - saved lots of money on wedding and professional clothing. KEEP AND EYE OUT FOR OUTLET STORES!
January 27, 2017 at 01:21PM
