Saving money on children's clothing

[Shell]

As I now have a 15 month old baby I really have to be careful when it comes to buying for my little Madison. I have gotten bags of hand-me-downs and for her first birthday she got enough clothes for 6 months!

I have gone to garage sales and found wonderful toys for $1.00 and I have gone to second hand store and bought jeans for $1.00. They would have cost $20 in some stores! I also have a great Mom who just can't resist buying pj's and clothes for her grand-daughter.

What do you do to save money on children's clothes?

http://www.stretcher.com/stories/03/03aug25k.cfm

[crdurham]

I have a 10 month old son and have found some great clothes for him by buying at yard sales. I also buy on clearence for the next years sizes.... I bought alot of summer stuff last year (12 month size) when he was first born and now he is wearing all the stuff I got so cheap.

I also have a 22 month old nephew and we get alot of hand me downs from my brother. My cousin gave us a huge bag of clothes 2t/3t the other day that I will put up for him.

And of course the gram-mas and aunt are always buying for them.

[Early Bird]

#1. Don't buy too much! I made this mistake over and over for years. I'd go to garage sales and spend maybe $40 on little girl's clothes. But no little girl needs 20 dresses. Or 20 pairs of pants.

For this summer, I'm culling down. For each daughter:

5 pair shorts
5 short sleeved shirts
2 pair long pants
2 long sleeve shirts
2 dresses -- or other church clothes
3 pair pj's
1 jacket
1 sweater
2 swimsuits

That should keep their drawers from bursting open!

#2. Very few dressy clothes. Kids get dirty. Enough said.

#3. Coordinate colors/patterns. If you give your child 5 print/plaid shorts, make sure that all their shirts are solid colors. If any top goes with any bottom, you have many, many outfit choices.

#4. A few basic colors. For DD#1, I'm using mostly denim/stone for her basic colors. So she has 3 pair of jeans: 1 denim, 2 'stone'. If I'm shopping for her, I know what colors will go w/ her basics. If, OTOH, she had jeans in denim, purple, and red, I'd having a harder time shopping for tops that would 'go.'

#5. Consider ebay. Once I bought a nice lot of clothes for DD from ebay -- used clothes, and there were no other bidders. The new with tags seem to attract most bidders --- and highest prices.

[dz_blonde_girl]

I don't usually have enough ambition to take the little ones yard saleing. The closest Goodwill is priced way to high. We do have "The Store House" in a nearby town where you can get a brown paper grocery bag full for $2. When I'm digging around there I always look for clothing that I can make into other clothing. One men's T-shirt will make 2 T-shirts for the baby easy.

I also belong to www.swaphandmedowns.com. I have received some very nice things and feel good knowing I can pass them down to someone else who needs them. I'm sending off a 16# box of dd's clothes from last year. If I UPS it through the drug store the recipient only has to pay $11.16.

[Sara Noel]

I hit the thrift store weekly and have been buying clothes ahead for Alexandra. I've already bought almost all she needs for this upcoming fall/winter. I'm amazed by what is there and it's so inexpensive. We can afford new, but I'm thrilled to use the money for other things. When I think about how much all the thrift store clothing would have cost new, I just can't justify dumping that much money into clothing.

One of Gabe's co-workers (her inlaws live across the street from us) asked him if we wanted any of her daughter's clothes, so we'll be receiving more from her.

I shop clearance racks and pick up some things there too.

The thrift store is my favorite though. I have a lot of fun going.

[homesteadmamma]

All of the above and....

~never say no when someone asks you if you'd like hand-me-down clothes. If you can't use them, you probably know someone who can or you can donate them to goodwill.

~lets relatives know that rather than buying toys for gifts, you'd prefer clothing items or gc for clothes instead. Kids get far too many toys these days.

~take good care of the clothes your kids have. That way they can be passed down to future kids, relatives or sold on eBay or at yard sales.

~watch those yard sales. You can find wonderful clothing for low prices.

~always check those thrift stores. Watch for tag sale days as well. ValueVillage in Canada often has 50% off days or specific colors will be 30-50% off.

[Jerseygirl]

I have my file boxes of clothes in the basement. As something is outgrown, it goes into the box for the next who needs it. I have friends and family who send over hand me downs and I stop at the occasional garage sale and clearance racks at Walmart and Target. This fills in the blanks.

[graci42]

Ladies...I love the clearance racks at work!

I've bought all of dd's shirts price range...$2.50 and below...mostly below. I got her a turtle neck for $.70 and a couple of sweaters for 1.50.

I have a layaway in for ds...I spent 51.00 on 7 shirts and 5 pair of pants. It's a bit more than I wanted to spend, but boys clothes sell so much faster than girls that I just couldn't take a chance of missing out on the prices.

I did the same thing for Christmas and Matthew got several Joe Boxer shirts for 3.00 or less each.

I found men's hanes under gucci's for 2.00 a pk...(3 pk). not bad...got dh 3 pks....should have gotten more. But..OH WELL

Last year I found Mens FOL T-shirts for .40 each. Tell me I'm dream'n!

[Shell]

Wow! Those are great prices.

[rumrunnergirl]

I pretty much shop the thrift stores, but it's a lot of work. I have to take two preschoolers with me, and a lot of the stuff at our stores is stained or overpriced or both (for example, a stained Walmart brand t-shirt for $3). I do shop a lot though since I pay my medical bills by reselling kids clothes, so I can find what I need although sometimes it takes me a couple months. Since we live in SW FL, each kid only needs 1 pair jeans, 1 pair sweats, and 1 sweatshirt, so that helps - although they have a lot of shorts! My mom likes to sew and makes DD and DS matching outfits. My MIL has horrible taste and I prefer she not buy my kids anything. I usually sell or give away what she gets them.

DD starts kindergarten in the fall and has to wear uniforms, so I've been buying her used shirts and skorts at the thrift stores when they are on sale, and got her entire school warddrobe for under $15 (5 tops, 5 skorts, 1 pair pants).

Melanie

[Shell]

Someone I knew was having a garage sale yesterday so I asked her if I could come half and hour early before she started her garage sale. I was there 8:30 in the morning and got a ton of outfits for her for the next couple of years. They were great things. I was really happy and proud of myself to be able to dress my daughter in really nice clothes without breaking the bank.

[homesteadmamma]

WTG Shell!!

[Shell]

Thank you homesteadmamma.

[Sara Noel]

That's great Shell. Awesome deal.

[bmiltimore]

I do a lot of what has been listed here already. I buy one to two sizes ahead for DD who is now 10 months old. This way I can keep track of what I 'need" before she actually needs it. This avoids going out and paying full retail prices.

I get the best deals at garage sales. I live in a city/community with tons of little kids. It is kind of the baby boom area. So I see all kinds of clothes, toys, etc. at garage sales.

I also check out the children's consignment stores once in a while. I don't like paying $3 for a used shirt or pair of pants, but I can usually find coupons or go on sale days.

I sometimes find stuff at Target on the clearance rack--but not very often.

I also ALWAYS accept hand-me-downs no matter what.

I have learned that I need to just stick to basic styles and colors. That way it is easier to mix and match and get her wardrobe to stretch farther.