As a child of the 70′s I learned to dress myself with a line of clothing known as Garanimals.  Each article of clothing had a colored tag with an animal on it.  Outfits were made by picking a top and a bottom with the same animal (a hippo with a hippo, a zebra with a zebra, etc.) or the same color.  That means with 3 tops and 3 bottoms with coordinating colors and patterns you can put together up to 9 different outfits.  I keep this concept in mind when building my grownup wardrobe.  Rather than buying two pieces that only go with one another, choose pieces that can be worn with multiple items for a larger wardrobe.  Consider the following example.

Your wardrobe can expand to 27 outfits simply by including 3 jackets/sweaters.  Adding 3 different pairs of shoes will give you up to 81 different outfits.

To recap:    3 tops + 3 bottoms + 3 jackets/sweaters + 3 pairs of shoes = 81 outfits!

Now you have mathematical proof that a penny pinching wardrobe is by no  means a boring wardrobe.  Pinch on!

The prize for the monthly drawing has been increased to $200+ in grocery coupons!  Be sure not to miss a single Ms Penny Pincher post.  You can receive an email notification each time new information is added to Ms Penny Pincher .com.  When you sign up to receive email updates you will automatically be entered into a monthly drawing with a prize of $200+ in grocery coupons.  The drawing will be held on the 1st of each month.  In order to be eligible to win you must complete the mailing address portion of the registration.

One winner per household every 6 months.