Hi, Strive4health. I'm having some of the same clothes-buying problems you are. I'm a new widow and only have 2/3rds of the income we use to and all the money is back to being wholly in my hands. I'm feeling sorry for my husband, understand better the position he was in asking me not so spend so much!

I'm having success with a one-month moratorium on spending. Last month I had to use my savings to bail out my credit card and I don't have enough savings to do that again! I was only able to partially bail so I had money on my credit card starting this months instead of a clean slate. Talk with your husband and set yourself a limit and practice sticking with it?

I wish I had worked harder to do that while my husband was living; I have to learn it now whether I want to or not and it's much less forgiving/friendly all by myself :-( What I'm doing on the clothes front is working harder on not caring what I think others think/see but on doing the best with what I have and not doing the "oh, just one more top/pair of pants/sweater, etc.," at least for this month!.

Get caught up for a month or two being "good" and then give yourself a small reward? Make a list of what you would like instead of just buying it? Investigate costs of the seamstress at the cleaner taking in the pants or other clothes you have? Don't buy new, give yourself $20 cash from your personal budget every month and go to Goodwill/other thrift places for an item or three? I was giving myself $100 cash a month but I noticed I wasn't spending it that fast so am experimenting with only $60 cash.

If you have a few things you are responsible for buying, "areas" of money you spend, experiment with one less book, cheaper dishwasher soap :-) (I had an epiphany on Cascade's 6x, 8x, 10x soap, which should I buy? and realized they all have to work, who cares if I have to rinse the dishes first, I do that anyway? So buy the cheap -- they aren't going to sell it if it doesn't sell/work) but make things a game; can you budget/predict how much your grocery bill will be and get it down $10? If you and your husband give yourself a budget, get below and you can have that extra?