How to Save Money On Children’s Clothing
Whether you have one child or 10, buying children’s clothing can add up quick. Today I wanted to share where I shop for children’s clothes, and how I balance getting the best deal versus the time getting that deal.
When I just had my two boys I went to garage sales for basically all of their clothes. I couldn’t imagine spending full price for little clothes that they would outgrow so quickly. After adding several more children I realized my lofty goals of always finding their clothes at garage sales was going to need to be thought through again.
It is hard, hard work to spend a day at garage sales with five children to buckle and unbuckle at every stop, and try to watch them while you dig through clothes and look for stains. Sometimes I’m able to leave them with my husband on a Saturday morning, but previously he has always owned a lawncare company and was normally out working on Saturday mornings.
As my children have grown I’ve realized different things are best buying new. It’s rare that I find boys socks at garage sales for 7-9 year olds that are not falling apart. 🙂 It’s also becoming harder and harder to find a decent long skirt for my five year old daughter, so now I sew her the skirts we sell at Deborah & Co. for girls.
Here is a list of places I shop at, both locally and online for children’s clothing.
1. Garage Sales – This is still my preferred place to find clothing as it is always cheaper then anywhere else. I try to plan garage sale days around city wide or neighborhood sales. And if I can leave the children home it is much, much easier for getting in and out of a sale quickly. 🙂 I still do go with all five, I just know I’m not going to get to as many sales.
2. Local Children’s Consignment Sales – You will spend more at these sales then at garage sales. The advantage is the fact that newborn through teenage clothes are all together, so you save a lot of time in hunting at various sales for the sizes you need. I always look first for boys jeans at sales like this. 🙂
3. ThredUP – This is like a consignment sale for children but it’s online! You can find gently used or even brand new with tags clothes for children here. When you sign up through this link you can even earn $10 that is put into your account! I purchased all of my boys winter clothes through ThredUP and was very, very pleased with everything I received from them. I’ve also ordered tops and dresses for my daughters here. You get free shipping on orders over $50. Once you sign up then you can share your own referral link with friends or family and earn credit once they order!
4. Zulily – A daily deals website that sells items for children, women, and household items at a discounted price. I love seeing what deals pop up each day, and have purchased suits for my boys, shoes for both myself and my children, and sweet dresses and accessories for my girls. I recently purchased the dress below for my daughter for just $12.00!
5. Department Stores – I like the shirts that Kohls sells for children. If you watch closely you can find some really good sales on them where you don’t spend much more then Walmart prices, but the quality is a lot better.
6. Thrift Stores – I’m listing this last because this is honestly the last place I normally look for children’s clothing. There is no guarantee whatsoever that you will find anything at our local thrift stores, and I just don’t always have the time to go look and walk out empty handed.
That is my list of where I shop! I’d love to hear where you get clothes for your children!
I find that buying sales when a certain season is going out for the next size up, you can find some really good deals. It is delayed gratification as you will need to wait to wear these until the next year. Does that make sense?
Yes that makes sense, I do that a lot!
I am very lucky because my sister has twin boys a couple years old than my own. I get almost all of my son’s clothes as hand me downs.
My husband is also a music teacher, and a lot of his students’ give old clothes they do no need anymore.
When people here you might want clothes they don’t need anymore, they are usually more than happy to pass them on!
I am expecting a baby in November, and my other sister had a baby in January. She has already bagged up some newborn outfits for me.
So anyway, to answer, I get most of my son’s clothes from other people!
Kate
Yes, as our families grow larger and we divide our time between more children, grades to teach, needs to fill, (can you say drivers ed and mentoring your first graduate in her own business?!?!)–we must make wise choices with our time and money!
Surprisingly, I find that 60% off plus a 20% sale and another 20% off coupon at Gymboree of all places gets me the best deal for my money. I never ever shopped there when my first 5 kids were little but now I window shop online to watch for modest styles and sales then go shop when they have their mid season sales. The colors co-ordinate from season to season so I know that last year’s sweater bought a little big will go with this seasons tee shirt bought for $3 (originally $18). Hope this tip helps someone. 🙂
I have good luck at our thrift stores, for some reason we have a ton of thrift stores in my area and I always find great dresses for my daughter and it’s the best place to find pants for the boys.
I also like the semi-annual sales at Gymboree. Great prices, but you usually have to pick through a giant pile of all sizes to find things.
Yard sales are my favorite place, but we have a short season here(North Dakota).
Boscovs always has awesome sales, even better than Kohls. I also like JcPennys.
We have often have clothes for the younger children from people at church and from some relatives. In turn, we pass on clothes that our children have outgrown. I suspect that some of the clothes are worn by 4-5 children!
Occasionally, we will buy something new, usually in sales.
As the children get older, obtaining hand-me downs becomes more difficult. The particularly difficult age seems to be about 12-13 when they are often too big for children’s clothes and too small for adult clothes. I made some girls’ clothes at this age but boys clothes just seem to need to be brought.
Our church does a swap a few times a year. We all clean out things we don’t need/want anymore and bring them for others in the church to have. It has been such a blessing to know that we are passing on our things to others in the body of Christ and we have been blessed to receive as well. I posted on how it works at our church here….
http://www.largefamilysmallworld.com/2013/02/swap-large-family-finances.html
I enjoy shopping at Gymboree online for my younger kids (they actually carry quite a bit in terms of modest, age-appropriate wear for kids – including long skirts). I resale my kids’ clothes that they’ve outgrown on eBay and Gymboree stuff has a nice return on your investment – often it brings it down to the same per-piece prices as consignment or Target stuff (I’ve even made money on stuff that’d be worn for a whole season). I also shop for clothes on eBay as well and have done fine (especially for formal clothes like Easter dresses – I bought two gorgeous upscale formal dresses for my little girls in perfect condition for less than $15 each, including shipping, and they were originally over $100). I love garage sales, but you are right, they are a lot of work with a bunch of little ones.
In Christ,
Melissa
My church also does a clothing swap once a year. I have gotten my youngest, a girl, many free items! She is heading into size 5 though and since the mom group is for parents of children 5 and under the larger sizes become more rare, because fewer people come who have older children. Used boys stuff is so hard to find anywhere. I can occassionally find t-shirts for them at the thrift shop and occassionally things for my youngest as there is always more girl stuff. But still I notice the older they get the harder it is to come by. The economy isn’t great around here and any store selling used stuff is slammed. However, I have gotten quite a few nice kids things at the mall at the Children’s Place. You just have to go when things are on sale. When they have “place cash” days, you can really save. Mostly I get casual stuff: jeans, shorts, t-shirts, casual skirts and dresses. I think the dressy stuff is pretty expensive, but I don’t have a lot of need for much that is really dressy. I often hear people talk about consignments, but the one here is overpriced and the clothes are often stained or faded really bad. I have heard of Zulily but haven’t tried it yet as I had the idea it was expensive, but since you suggest it I will have to give it a try!
I couldn’t agree more. We always dress my two little girls in age appropriate clothing. I’m sick at how society sexualizes children. This is the site that my wife and I buy a lot of girls clothing from, because they seem to get it. http://www.twirlygirlshop.com/girls-birthday-dress