I’m a money-saving mum – I’ve saved LOADS by changing how I wash my clothes, I can’t believe I didn’t do it sooner
A MONEY-saving mum has revealed how she saves hundreds of pounds a year simply by changing how she washes and dries her clothes.
Jamie-Lee Birch, 31, from Gloucestershire says clothing wash labels are the key to saving money long-term and shows how you can do it too.
The average household in the UK spends a whopping £526.50 on clothes and shoes per year, according to finance experts Nimble Fins. But not Jamie-Lee who manages to save herself thousands just by changing how she cares for clothes.
“On clothing a year, I would say I spend about £100 on myself, and that is purely because I’m able to keep my clothes for longer,” she tells Fabulous.
“Although that’s probably slightly skewed because I buy a lot of my clothes second-hand as well”.
Jamie-Lee said it was only recently that she released how much money she could save if she took care of her clothes.
More money-saving tips
“As ludicrous as it sounds, no one had ever really talked to me about washing clothes and it was a light bulb moment when I realised that clothes had these labels on them that we’re supposed to follow.”
Like many of us, the mum of two used to chuck everything in the machine on a 40 degree wash – most of the time without even separating colours.
Doing this meant she “ruined so many clothes”, particularly in her twenties before she had her children Harper, six, and two-year-old Kit.
Jamie-Lee, who shares her savvy home tips on TikTok and her website Savvy Jamie, said she was also “terrible with getting stains out” and used to chuck them in the clothes bin, meaning she had to buy more. Not only that but the mum-of-two would iron everything she could, unknowingly shortening the lifespan of some items.
“Once I had a lovely chiffon dress and I foolishly tried to iron it,” she revealed. “The iron went straight through it and burnt a big hole. I was absolutely devastated.”
But that all changed when she learned to understand what the symbols on tags mean and explained them in a recent video on TikTok.
What do symbols on clothes mean?
Some of the symbols found on clothes indicate what can and can’t be tumble dried, and what items should be hand washed only.
As for ironing, if you see an iron with dots inside it, this shows the temperature you can iron at – three dots mean you can apply full heat, explains Jamie-Lee, while one dot means ironing at a low temperature only.
Now, Jamie-Lee says she skips the ironing altogether and finds “drying things on a hanger actually helps to reduce the crinkles”.
“Remember, if you’re ironing something consistently that heat will reduce the quality, only iron when you really need to iron them, ” she tells Fabulous.
Washing tips to save money
Offering her tips, the savvy mum advises checking the recommended washing temperature and washing similar colours only – including whites, lights and dark clothing items.
“Also only tumble dry items that can be tumble dried, and items that you have to tumble dry,” she says.
“Even if it can be tumble dried, doing it regularly will reduce its quality over time, so line dying is one of the best things you can do.”
Another way to make money through looking after your clothes is the ability to resell unwanted items.
“I’m able to wash my children’s clothes in a way so they can either be handed down to any future children we might have, or I can pass it on to friends,” says Jamie-Lee.
“Or I can sell them on places like Vinted or eBay and make a bit of money back from it. “