Best Ways To Save Money On Kid’s Clothes
Clothes are so expensive. Why must they charge a fortune for things that are necessities? It’s simply not fair. At least when you buy clothes for an adult you know that they will get worn a lot. You’re not going to outgrow your clothes, but your kids are another story. Back to school is a big time for buying kids clothes, but the younger your kids are the more clothes you’re going to buy. At this point in Nick’s life I’m still buying him a whole new wardrobe for every season. Even though the clothes are small the price tags aren’t. The question becomes what are the best ways to save money on kid’s clothes?
Best Ways to Save Money on Used Clothes
A great way to save money on kid’s clothes is to get used clothes. Kids, especially the really little ones, hardly wear a lot of their clothes before they outgrow them, so you can get used clothes in really good condition. You may get a used outfit that wasn’t worn more than once! Why pay lots of money for brand new clothes when you an get practically brand new clothes for less than half the cost? There are a lot of different places where you can get your hands on used children’s clothes. You can get them…
- From a friend or family member. Hand-me-down clothes are great, and best of all they’re free! If you don’t like some of the stuff you’re given you don’t need to worry about not using it or passing it on to someone else because you didn’t spend anything on it. It’s great to help others out by continuing to pass clothes on as well.
- From a garage sale. You can find great deals at garage sales. The only problem is that you’ll never know what you’re going to find, so going from place to place could be a waste of time. You’ll likely spend the least amount of money going this route, especially if you’re good at bargaining (which I am not).
- Shop a Mom to Mom sale. These are great, and you should really go to them during your little one’s first year. Since everything there is for little kids you’re very likely to find stuff that you can use. I’ve never left one of these sales empty handed. I have found that while these are glorified, children focused, garage sales the prices tend to be a bit higher. Likely because the people selling their items are paying to have a space there, so they want to make it worth their time and money.
- Shop at a second hand shop. There are a lot of really nice second hand stores that sell just kid things. Since they won’t buy just anything back you’re sure to find nice things. If you can get them to buy some of your little one’s clothes when you go then you’ll have some money to buy new clothes with.
Best Ways to Save on New Clothes
Believe it or not you can really get some great deals on brand new clothes if you know how to do it right. Now this is a bit of a gamble because it means stocking up on clothes ahead of time, so you’re going to have to guess what size your little one will be. Nick usually wears the size that corresponds with his age, but that’s not always the case depending on the brand. Of course he has hardly grown this summer, so he’s falling behind on me, but I still base the size on his age. For example he’s mostly wearing 2ts right now, so at this point I’m buying 3t clearance clothes for next summer. The place where you can really get a great deal on clearance clothes is at Toys-R-Us and Babies-R-Us. If your a rewards member with them then fairly often you should get a coupon to save $10 off a $50 clothes purchase. Many times I have used this, and I use it on all clearance clothes, so I ended up with a ton of new outfits for Nick for a fraction of the cost.
You can also save on new clothes if you join different store rewards programs. As I mentioned Toys-R-Us/Babies-R-Us offer a rewards program although you do have to spend a lot to get much out of it. The coupons do help though. Sears has a great rewards program and you can gain rewards for purchasing a lot of different things. We recently bought a new washer and dryer there, so I gained a lot of reward points, plus I won a daily raffle type thing for more rewards because of that purchase too! I ended up with a lot of rewards money. Nick didn’t need any new clothes, but I wasn’t going to let good money expire, so I bought Nick some future jammies that were on clearance and a new Buzz Lightyear shirt for next year that he was crazy over. Gymboree also has a rewards program. In fact I just received $10 Gymboree bucks a couple days ago. Check wherever you buy clothes to see what rewards/benefits they offer (Kohl’s Cash anyone?). You’d may be surprised by what you find.
Clothes shopping is expensive. Kid clothes aren’t any better, and it can be a big part of your budget when you’re constantly buying new clothes because they’re always outgrowing what they’ve got. There are a lot of ways to save money on your kid’s clothes though.
Are there other ways that you save money on kid’s clothes?
Great post! I love thrifting!
I do really well when stores have clearance items but like you said you have to guess at the size. I also do really well at Kohls when I have a 30% off coupon plus I go when you get Kohls cash too. So I end up getting alittle extra money with the kohls cash to buy more clothes.
Great tips! The Children’s Place emails coupons too, usually for around 25% off. They have a lot of sales, and with the coupon I usually get a sack full of clothes for not much money. We get loads of clothes from Target too.
Great tip Andi! That’s so great that you can use the coupon along with the sale. That sounds like a REALLY great deal.
I try to buy a season ahead as well. My problems are 1. The Girl is very tiny, she’s 3.5 years and some 2Ts are too big for her, she’s gotta sprout sometime and I don’t know when that’s going to be! 2. I sometimes forget where I stash the previous seasons clearance items – I just need to get organized for that. 🙂
Thanks for linking up with Spread the Love!
Great tips! I always forget about Mom 2 Mom sales. I need to check out some in my area. Great idea.
Love these tips! 95% of my kids’ clothes are secondhand from hand-me-downs and garage sales. I also pay it forward by passing tons of things along to friends as well!
Great tips! I always shop a season ahead during clearance times.
The clearance items are my favorite way to go. Nick has really slowed down on growing though, so it’s getting a little harder to do. I think the gap in the size changes (a year compared to a few months) is making it a little more difficult too.
I agree with the reward program and most store nowadays gave them. It’s good because you get coupons and special discount.
Great tips! With 3 kids I am ALWAYS looking for ways to save money on clothes!
Great tips! I just discovered a great second hand shop near me.
That’s great Angela! I hope you are able to find some really good deals there.
We have a Toys-r-Us opening down the road…I rarely buy clothes there, but I’ll definitely be on the lookout for coupons and with it being so close, I will have to check it out.
I really like their clothes. They run on the big side too, so Nick usually gets a lot of wear out of them. They usually have a great clearance selection.
I enjoy shopping at garage sales or thrift stores. I’ve found some really great items at local vintage shops, too. Since I have four kids, I tend to buy what they need when they need it and not one big shopping spree at the beginning of the school year. I’m lucky that my good friend gives me a friends and family pass to the Columbia outlet for coats, etc.
I’ve never really understood having a huge shopping spree before school starts. You know they’re likely to grow before the years done so you’ll be shopping again. We usually got just a couple new outfits when I was a kid.
Love your Garage sale idea!!! I always forget that.
I always shop the clearance sales too! I also look for % off coupons from department stores and actually Amazon.com can have some great deals if you have time to look.