My goodness kid’s clothes can be expensive and as a stay at home mom of three kids, it’s essential that I do whatever I can to keep the cost of their clothing down. I do this via a number of ways and none of them involve paying full price. In fact I can’t remember the last time I purchased new clothes for my kids. {continue reading at The Juice}
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Hey, Laura –
Come over to my blog and see what I made which was inspired off of your post about Kitchen Command Centers. Thanks so much for the ideas!!
Elizabeth
Consignments sales are big in my area. What doesn’t sell at one sells at the other.
I have noticed lately what I pay at consignments sale for clothes that I can buy new and not washed to death at the department stores. So many stores now have discounted their jeans and long shirts and with a coupon you get a great deal. I got a pair of Gap jean for $10.00 new now you can’t be that.
My favorite way to save on clothes is buy what I can on sale and always check the clearance rack. Recently I bought a pr. of pants that wound up being half price (from original price) once I got to the register. Clearance price was 40% off then at the register another 15% was taken off!! What a bargain for the exact pants I was wanting. (Actually, 55% off if I did the math right!) I did this for my children as well, when they were home and I was buying their clothes. I hope I’ve given them a good lesson on buying!!!
http://grandmabeckyl.blogspot.com
Consignment around me is zero, and the “secondhand” store prices are bigger than sale prices at the original stores. Here’s what I do.
Shop the sales when you can stack a coupon with them. This works well at Gap, Old Navy, Gymboree.
Outlet stores that deal with overstock/returns and do NOT produce their own “outlet” lines – Children’s Place being one of the best of these, IMO. The “monster sales” of 1.99-3.99 per garment stacked with a 20% of birthday coupon PLUS $10 back in rewards off every $75 I spend? = GOLD. That means plain layering shirts are $1.60 BRAND NEW (plus that $10 reward!)
Shipping prices kill most of the Ebay deals, in my opinion, unless you’re looking for something specific that you can’t find anywhere else. Same with buying on message boards. You’ll get a better “lot” price buying on Craigslist and being able to examine the clothes before buying them and not paying shipping at all.
In order to keep clothing costs in line, I do 2 things.
First, I have a $5 limit. I will not pay more than $5 for any item of clothing, or if its a play outfit, the whole outfit can’t cost more than $5. The only exception involves shoes and/or specialty clothing (flower girl dress, etc.) Having this limit, helps me recognize when a deal is really a deal, as opposed to getting caught up in the “hype” of a “sale.” I’m amazed at what I’ve been able to find. Consignment stores can be really tricky. In our area, JBF (Just Between Friends) consignment sales are big – especially on the last day = half price.
Secondly: I buy things with the future in mind. For instance, my daughter is tall and thin, but i bought a bunch of dresses for her at the Children’s Place Outlet spring sale. Each dress ran about $3-4. They were a little out of season, so I bought them in the next size up and in a style that I could easily modify. These items should last her well into Feb/March ’10. As she grow, they will become too short, but add a pair of $4 leggings, and she will have a new tunic. Next summer, I can cut the long sleeves off and she’ll have summer tunics.
Additionally, her jeans/pants usually get too short long before they get to small around her waist, so I either sew a cute decorative fabric hem with beaded trim, and she has new “cool” custom jeans or cut the legs off, hem them and she’s got new shorts, or even a new skirt!
I was wondering if you have teens.
Our son wouldn’t wear thrift store clothes so we set him up with a quarterly clothes budget. He’s responsible for spending it so he gets what he needs.
This works well for our family.