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The weather is finally warming up around here, and my kids were in need of some summer clothes. We did a little summer clothes shopping in our garage. OK, so we really didn’t go “shopping”, but we did go through the bins to see what we had for summer. I have mentioned before that I buy our families clothes “off season”, and it saves us tons of money.
We went to the garage and grabbed the bins, I have a separate bin for each child. All of the clothes in the bins are items that I bought at the end of the season last year. I went through each bin and took out the items that would fit my kids this summer.
These are the items I had for my youngest son, he already has several other short sleeve shirts and swim trunks, so I won’t need to get him anything else for summer. All of these items were at least 75% off. The sandals were “hand-me-downs” from my nephew. Hand-me-downs are another great way to save lots of money on clothing.
The benefit to shopping ahead of time, means you can buy clothing when it is marked down and it saves you from having to pay full price for your clothing. I have a rule that anything I buy ahead of time has to be at least 75% off. Lots of the items I buy ahead are actually 90% off. That is a huge savings on the clothing budget.
I would love to hear what you do to save yourself money on clothing.
maygan says
I love the 75% off rule and also try to stick with it… although for some practical items that don’t tend to go much lower- good jeans and pajamas, 50% or so is good enough for me for new or I look at the thrift store (especially for jeans). I also keep mine in bins, divided by size so it’s easy to pull down a bin and swap things out for the next size up (especially since my kids are still so little). We’re the first in our circle of friends/family to have kids so we’re not so lucky as to get hand me downs, but with two boys (and another on the way) we’re getting plenty of use out of the clothes I do buy.
Abby says
I just went through my bins of clothes this weekend too. I don’t love this job. My girls are 4 years apart so it means trying on everything to see what fits and doesn’t. It takes a full afternoon to sort through the clothes in the bins and the drawers. My 6 year old is set from her big sister’s hand me downs but my 10 year old is definitely going to need some more summer clothes…
Maggie says
I had my first son at 40 and my second son at 43 so all my friends who had kids at a younger age were long done having kids. I was given bags and bags of clothing. I have clothes, shoes, coats, snowboots, etc in sizes from 18M thru 7T (already gave away the really little clothes now that my youngest is 2). This has saved me so much money!
Samantha says
We just got back from The Salvation Army Store and they had a sale on kids clothing….50% off!! I found some great quality items from The Children’s Place and Old Navy. I posted pictures if you’re interested in looking. We save lots of money there because our kids grow out of clothing so fast! 🙂
Morgan says
How do you know what sizes to buy? I’m fortunate enough to have friends who have older children, and we get lots of hand-me-downs, but I’m just not sure how to purchase clothes that will fit in 6-9 months. My daughter will be 3 in Nov. and currently wears 18 months (I know, she is tiny) and my son is 9 1/2 months old and wears 9 month clothes. Any advice would be great!
Courtney says
I have a hard time buying an entire year in advance (or a couple of seasons depending on what type of clothing), so I tend to stick to thrift stores and eBay. It’s easiest to shop without my 19 month old, but when that doesn’t happen, I plan to go on Saturday morning right when the closest store opens up. It’s much less crowded, and I head right to the kids section and get in and out within 20 minutes. The clothes I purchase have to be new or like new, good brands (or at least good quality), and be cute and stylish. My recent purchases have included a brand new with tags Gymboree zip up hoody for $4.99, Baby Gap long sleeve onesie for $2.99, Carter’s fleece footed sleepers for $1.99 and tons of Old Navy and TCP cargos and tops. Even being a total snob, I can outfit my kid in the cutest designer clothes for under $50 per season (and he has WAY too many clothes, so I could do it cheaper).
Christy says
Morgan,
I have had several people ask the same question as you, I have a post coming soon that will explain what I do. Hopefully, it will give you some ideas.
Barbie says
I love to shop the off-season, too! I still have “new” clothes for my kids that I bought off-season before they were even born — and my older child is 5 now! And I have been able to go “shopping” for baby shower gifts in my own stock pile. You know, when that baby shower is TOMORROW and you have $0 for gifts in the budget? It’s such a great idea to buy when you can get things so cheap. Another blogger (whom I idolize) has said, “Just because you don’t need something now doesn’t mean you’re not going to need it at some point.” That advice has saved me multiple times, regarding clothes and other items. (I once bought eye drops that no one in my family needs because I could get them for $.34. Later on THAT SAME DAY, I heard that my Sunday School class was collecting items for a missions trip and that the missionary had specifically requested eye drops. I had paid just a little more than $1 for 3 bottles and was so thankful to get to help someone out!)
Zaful Coupons says
Hey this is amazing and unique. I love to do fashion shopping from my childhood. You and I are fashionable guys and shopping from the garage is funny.
I will shop this cyber Monday sale and take benefits of it.