To buy or not to buy - that is the question

 My pants are falling off me and my belt is at the limit. I am only three weeks after surgery. Should I be buying new clothes already. I fear that if I buy now, in a few weeks I will need to buy again. Would love to hear comments and ideas

I blew through the sizes... I bought a few items every couple of weeks, mostly from second-hand or thrift stores, to get me through.  This kept the cost down and I was amazed at some of the nice stuff I found for cheap.  I plan to keep shopping at these stores to find the good stuff even after goal!

You will :)

I went through a lot of clothes, but budget constraints and my own frugality meant I shopped Goodwill and consignment... more time, more of a hunt, but cheaper. If this doesn't work- try hitting the sale racks, outlet malls etc. You may not last long in any one size, and the smaller you get, the faster you go through sizes. DO go shopping though, get out of the baggy stuff as soon as you can, it feels nice to wear clothes that show the progress!

 Buy judiciously - discount rack, Ross/Marshalls, etc.  It may help to buy just a size smaller than you currently wear if you can squeeze into them.  

I feel very strongly in the pants department, lol. Tops you can get away with more and you can always try to wash and dry them to shrink them. As I lost pant sizes, I would either go to the thrift store or like Old Navy who has reasonable priced pants and buy new pants that fit, not many, just maybe one or two. Trust me, you feel 100x better about yourself and how you look, if you have pants that fit. Also, I always loved to hear, "Wow, are you losing weight" and it was always because I kept wearing pants that fit. If you wear baggy saggy pants, no one will ever notice and therefore never give you those compliments that deep down, we kinda wanna hear. They do not have to be expensive pants but do yourself the favor and keep your pants above your waist, lol. You will be glad you did.

THIS.

I'm a lifetime member of Weight   Watchers and when I lost my app. 50 pounds to accomplish that back in 1991, at the meeting where I made goal, I wore my old clothes to "demonstrate" how much difference there was. But you know what?  People didn't seem nearly as impressed as I expected. They seemed a little puzzled as they applauded and I held my jeans out from my body to demonstrate.

The next week I wore "clothes that fit" and several people commented, "NOW I see how much you've lost."

 I've already started buying a few necessities the next 2 sizes down when I see them listed on grage sale pages (we have them for our base on facebook) and at thrift stores (charity shops).  I was never one to keep my smaller clothes around so once I'm out of 18s I'm outta luck!

I'm a firm believer in having clothes that fit because they just make you feel better when you aren't walking around with them cinched in or looking like a tent.  I'd rather only own 3 outfits that fit properly than 15 that were huge.  

You're so smart.  I have been afraid to do that because every single time I've bought something too small because I'll fit into it later--especially when I'm dieting--it always fails.

Mentally, this should be a no-brainer. But emotionally I don't trust it.  Maybe after I'm sleeved next week and the weight really starts coming off, it will be real enough to me to trust the future, as well.

 Some support groups have a clothing exchange.  People further out than me helped keep me in clothing.  I then passed them on.  

I also used second hand stores.  Buy as little as possible because in two weeks you'll need new clothes.

 The pants I have on today, yeah I've worn them twice and coworkers are telling me to get new pants. 

You will likely need to buy now, and again next month, and next and next...

Check out thrift shops, Goodwill, make a friend who is a little ahead of you so they can give you their old pants.

I am a woman but I do a lot of shopping at the cheaper stores like Kohl's and Old Navy for these in-between size issues. So when I only wear a pair of jeans five times it doesn't hurt to pass them along cause I was only out $20 bucks or so.