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Seriously, it’s just cheap. But it works so well!
I know some people who like to buy nice kids’ clothes. They go to upscale stores and they buy the clothes when they are brand new, when they need them. So, they do back to school shopping in August and pay full price. They walk away with the latest styles, at a price tag of $5OO or more for a full wardrobe! They rave about how the clothes are such “high quality” and they’ll “last forever.”
News flash: Kids grow FAST. Your kid will wear these clothes no longer than a year. They don’t need to last forever. They need to be clean, they need to fit, and they need to look halfway decent (i.e. you don’t want sweatpants and t shirts for church. But that’s it! You really don’t need more than that.
How much do I spend on kids’ clothing per year? About $5O to $75 per child. For the whole year. Even though we are in a Northern state and I have to buy separate summer and winter wardrobes. And keep in mind this is only for the first child of that gender, in that season. If my next baby is boy he’s basically going to be clothed for free because he will be born in the same season as Daniel. If it’s a girl I’ll need a few new things, because this baby’s coming in August and Bekah was a January baby. But even then only for about the first year, then sizes will match up.
How do I do it, you may ask? I’ve found a “formula” over the last couple of years that never fails. The most important part of it is buy a year ahead of time. You cannot get good deals on the latest styles. Not really. So I’ve already started shopping for next winter’s clothes for both kids, and it’s early January. The reason some don’t do this is because they say “I don’t know what size my kids will be in next year!” That excuse only works the first year, because your baby could actually be in size 12 months or 18 months depending on how fast he grows, at age 1. Even then you can probably make a decent guess, or buy some of each. With older children, just buy the next size up, and if your child doesn’t quite grow as fast, you’ll still have his previous year’s clothes to wear. Guess a little bigger than you think if you’re really not sure, but by the time your kid is 2 or 3, you should have an idea of what his growth pattern is like.
Here’s a good breakdown:
Random Deals
If someone says, “Hey, there’s a big consignment sale this weekend!” I try to go if at all possible. Then I buy whatever I can that I know my children will wear in the next two years or so. Yes, last year I bought 2T clothes for Daniel (then about 8 months old and some 5/6 for Bekah. But when you find jeans for $1 you don’t pass them up, especially nice ones. Brand new nice ones. I once found a ton of undershirts (sizes from 3T to 5/6, when Bekah was then 18 months old, and bought them all. I got them for 5 cents each. I also got really lucky on Craig’s List when Daniel was a newborn (literally less than a month old and found a whole 18 month wardrobe for only $25. I jumped on it, and he’s clothed this whole winter for super cheap!
Now, you can’t count on deals like this when you’re at crunch time: the kid needs clothes now. That’s why you always keep $2O set aside and hit up any major consignment sale, garage sale, or Craig’s List deal that you find. If clothes are $2 per piece or less and nice, just buy them. You’ll thank yourself later.
J.C. Penney’s
My next step is to head to J.C. Penney’s. They have Okee Dokee brand sweat pants and shirts (and capris, shorts, athletic pants, and sometimes even jeans and corduroys that are super cheap. Find them on 7O% off clearance, and you’ll pay $2.99 for most items. Occasionally the nicer items will be up to $5.99 and I usually skip those, but really they’re not a bad deal either. I just know I can do better.
Here, I buy several pairs of pants and shirts. I kind of let the kids choose whatever. Well, Bekah chooses because she cares, but Daniel really doesn’t. Most of the time my kids prefer to just wear soft tshirts or sweat pants anyway, and some of them are really cute. These are definitely great play clothes. Sometimes you can even find preppy polo style shirts for boys at this price, too, and those are nice for church or other “nicer” places. This makes up about 7O% of what I buy for them.
Children’s Place
I like to hit this up much more in the winter than the summer, but I do it in both seasons. At the end of their seasons [about the first two weeks of February, and beginning of August], they will do a major sale. Whatever’s left is $2.99 or less. I got Bekah tons of tights and leggings for only $1 each. I also got both kids fleece jackets, sweatshirts, and sweaters [really too many] for just $2.99 each! Yes, jackets and sweaters for that price!
This is where I really do some filling in on the “bigger” items. I make sure I get their coats, sweaters, sweatshirts, and other nicer clothes here. Sometimes they’ve had excellent deals on PJs, too, and I got some of those. And of course, check the $1 bins for tights, leggings, hats, gloves, and other miscellaneous items.
By this time I’ve got them almost everything they need. So then….
Garage Sales/Once Upon a Child/Craig’s List
Okay, I’ll be honest. I don’t always have time to hit up garage sales. I’m busy, they may or may not have what I want…. So I’ll do them now and then, but they’re not my main source of anything. Also, in this area at least, you’ll often pay what you would at a consignment store or more for kids’ clothes. I’m talking $3 to $5 for a shirt. I’m not wasting all day trying to find clothes, then paying more than I would at many other places! But, if I happen to go and happen to find a good deal, great.
I’ll go to Once Upon a Child because I know they’ll have the items I want, usually. Here, I look for 5O% off tags or items that are $1 or $2 each. I’ve found some really nice things, too. I’ll fill in jeans, khakis, or a few extra shirts. I often buy bathing suits here. Bath robes are also good deals here. I also buy dress shoes, boots, or other “special” shoes. I refuse to pay more than $3 per item, except shoes. I’ve also found nice winter coats for $5 here, which I’ll buy if I couldn’t get what I wanted at Children’s Place. I don’t usually buy “real” winter coats though because they’re not safe in car seats and my kids don’t spend a lot of time just playing outside. I prefer to layer them and use the fleece jackets. But hey, it’s one less item to buy, right?
Craig’s List is the best place for PJs. For some reason, most stores don’t have very good deals on them [and I'm not paying $1O per pair], and OUAC often doesn’t even have them. So I find a lot of PJs on CL and buy them up for $1 or $2 per pair. This is for winter PJs only, by the way. For the summer, I just buy the kids cheap undershirts and let them wear those and sweatpants to bed. Or, if it’s hot, just the undershirt. They do not need special summer PJs. I only buy them in the winter because they would not be warm enough otherwise.
Walmart
Then I head to Walmart. Here I buy socks and underwear. They seem to have the best prices on big bags of neutral stuff. I often buy undershirts here too.
And although I don’t do this very often, it’s worth mentioning that they have a table of “Garanimals” shirts/pants that are either $1.99 or $2.99, similar to the J.C. Penney’s stuff. If they really are only $1.99 I should probably do this more often…. But it’s a good deal.
Also, I will often check Walmart at the very end of seasons when they have a lot of clothes on sale for around $3 to buy bathing suits or other “random” items. We’ve bought shoes here too, if we’re in a pinch.
GoodWill
This is really hit or miss. I mostly lump this in with the “random deals” group, because if I come across a shirt Bekah loves for $1, I’ll buy it. But I do buy shoes or boots here if I possibly can. They are only $2 a pair, instead of the $5 I’d pay at OUAC. But they are hit and miss; it depends on what’s there. They might not have my kid’s size. So I’ll check, but I don’t count it as a guarantee by any means.
Stride Rite
Once my kids are 2 or so, and they actually wear shoes for a full year, they get one nice pair of shoes each year. I find whatever’s on clearance and pay $3o to $4o for a pair of shoes. I don’t spend $5o or $7o and we don’t buy dress shoes or secondary shoes or anything here. Just one solid pair of tennis shoes. We do this because we discovered that shoes that don’t fit properly don’t support growing spines and can cause back problems. It’s worth saving the chiropractic bills to get one decent pair of shoes per year.
Gifts/Grandparents
Okay, this is really a “random deals” type thing too, but worth mentioning. Family members will call and ask before Christmas or birthdays what our kids need. Or sometimes they just feel like shopping, or they’re hitting up local garage sales or consignment stores, and they end up getting our kids some clothes. This past Christmas, Ben’s sister hit consignment stores and got Daniel almost a full summer wardrobe! About 7 pairs of shorts and 7 shirts, plus 3 really nice pairs of sandals. And I know she spent only around $25 for all of it, so that’s pretty awesome for everyone involved.
This is where we often get the “nice” or random stuff, like Christmas or Easter dresses. My mom loves to buy these for Bekah, and often gets them at consignment stores. She’s even bought up through size 5 already because she found some great deals. Sometimes we get PJs or random shirts or just “whatever” this way. And I can and sometimes do make special requests for items that I haven’t been able to find at a price I’m willing to pay: “Hey mom, could you check the consignment store near you to see if they have bigger onesies? Thanks.” I know she’ll get them about 3 for $1 so I don’t feel bad asking. This is how I fill in those last “we don’t really need them but they would be so nice to have” items!
And that’s it! That’s how I clothe my kids for around $5o or so per year, per kid. It takes a lot of advance planning (like I said, I’m already buying for next fall and it’s right after Christmas, and a lot of time (I end up shopping at several stores over several weeks, but it’s worth it. It’s nice to know I am being a good steward with our resources while providing well for my children!
How do you clothe your children on a budget? How much do you spend per year, per child?
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TESTING!
Hand me downs! I rarely have the fun of buying clothes for my kids 'cause they always have almost everything they need. I think the way to get hand me downs if you don't already have a source, is to GIVE hand me downs! Be generous. If you're gonna store Big Brother's clothes for years, waiting for a sibling who isn't even born yet to grow into them, consider finding someone who can use them NOW. Putting the word out that you have hand me downs to give away will help make people aware that you're into that kind of thing, and they will think of you when they have something to pass on.
When I have an over abundance of clothes in a certain size and can find no one who needs them, I put them on consignment to make a little burn money
we've had great luck with Once Upon a Child's Moonlight Madness sale. We stock up then for the next two years or so and then fill in the gaps with thrift store finds and gifts from grandparents. i should check out children's place.com more often because i love their styles but it's hit and miss finding it at thrift stores and consignment shops.
Over cheap, I prefer quality, and when I say quality, I mean natural fibers first and foremost(cottons, silk, wool, linen etc) with natural dyes, and its great if they are made from Organic cotton. My nieces got nightgowns from "Kohls" for Christmas, put them on and guess what, our white carpet is now PINK from where they were playing, our sheets are pink from where they slept and even our bathtub and bathmat were pink because the dye got into their skin. That's got to be healthy. So, needless to say, I prefer my children to have less clothes, made of quality fiber or fabric. I also do hand-me downs, but I only use the 100% cotton or linen items. I love Hanna Andersson and my mom has an outlet near her that one can often find good deals. Their cotton items are often made to european standard (oeko-tek cotton). Just like what I put into my children food-wise to keep them healthy, I like to put the same quality ON my children. It also has to do with using sustainable resources, and keeping my children warm and cozy from the outside-in. Socks, undershirts, woolens in winter, silks in summer, hats, etc. I try to get my kids outside each day and we bundle up and take in fresh air. Its good for them. Also, in regards to carseats and winter coats, just because my kids have winter coats doesn't mean I leave them on when they are strapped in. I turn the the heat on in the car, take off their jackets and lay them on the seat next to me. Then when we head out I bundle them up . Don't know how other people do it, but in my opinion that's the wisest way.
I could not agree more! All the best deals on cheap jeans and t-shirts don’t compare to a carefully curated closet for my kids. We choose organic when we can, absolutely.
And that is also just what we do for car seat safety– remove bulky coats to make sure the kids can be strapped in appropriately.
Ah well…different ways of thinking. I don’t have the money for organic clothing, nor the desire to spend what I do have on clothes instead of food or supplements. To each his own.
Hand-me-downs is always the cheapest when there are multiple genders.
Like Trina, exchanging clothes between your friends is an awesome way to rotate hand-me-downs. My wife has a hand full of girlfriends with children of similar ages and they are always passing clothes around between them. But hey, this is a lot easier to do when you have 6 children…
Here in NW Oregon there is this sale: http://www.passitonsales.com/
Salvation Army, Good Will, Union Gospel Mission and Value Village are just a few in our area for cheap clothes.
As for stylish brand name items, we don't bother with them unless their found in one of the top suggestions.
Forget the kiddos, this is a great guide for shopping for me too!
I think the zero digit on your prices got converted to a lowercase letter o, but it might just be my computer.
What do you do about storage? I find it very difficult to shop in advance for my kids' future sizes, because there isn't anywhere to put it! We live in a small two bedroom condo. Do you have any tips for this problem?
Emily, could you store things on high shelves in a closet? That’s what we do! We use baskets and even pillowcases stuffed with clothes. I read something about home organization that said to use vertical space: putting up shelves, hanging things from the ceiling, etc.
Robin,
Yeah, they are. My keyboard is broke [thanks, kids!] so a few keys don't work and I have to sub others in!
Emily,
The amount of clothes I end up with is usually only like one medium shopping bag full per kid. I just store all the clothes folded up in a bag in their closets. Sometimes I hang nice things on one side of the closet. I also use plastic boxes for too small stuff which I put down in the basement. If you can keep the amount you're buying to a minimum, hopefully it will just fit on a shelf in their closet! Though truthfully I eventually want a better way to organize things, especially as I have more kids [tired of having an explosion of kids' clothes in every room of my house!]. Working on that still, though!
I actually might spend less than you do. I use all of your tricks above, except Craigslist. I do use Freecycle, though. BUT, I was just able to get pj's at Kohl's about 1 1/2 weeks ago for $1-$3/pair!!!!!!! I bought 'em up for next winter!
My kids are teens now but I do/did many of the same things. I also wait for the 4 times yearly sale at Savers/Value Village when everything is half off. We have two in our community so I hit one in the morning and the other in the afternoon and stock up on whatever has worn out. It is so nice to pay $3 for clothes someone else paid $60 or more for. Yay me!
I’m 12weeks pregnant with our first child and already buying clothes for next Christmas! I’ve been buying clothes for my nieces and nephew for years so I figure I have a good idea on how our baby may grow. At 90% off, I couldn’t help buying a bunch of Christmas outfits. We don’t know the sex yet, but I figure I can consign all of the outfits for the wrong sex.
One of the benefits of second-hand clothing is that they have usually been washed many times already, and they no longer have any chemicals that were originally in the fabric. It’s a way to get lower-chemical clothing without spending the money on organic.
Once you get them home, you can wash them a couple of times in natural detergent and hang them out to dry in the sun to remove any detergent build-up. It works for us, especially on a budget. 
Yes, I agree second hnad clothing has been washed and don’t have chemicals so it’s very unnecessary to buy the expensive clothes for kids to get “safe” clothes. And sun does a very good job. New clothes washed a few times and hung out is safe as can be. Since before our kids were born I shopped second hand for most all their clothes, did get new cloth diapers. For those concerned about chemicals, I hope they aren’t putting those chemical laden diapers on their baby’s butt. That’s MUCH worse. Good posting about how you get their clothes. I did buy many, many shoes econd hand as they are sometimes barely worn and do not hurt the child. The chiropractor told me this long, long time ago. it might apply when children are older but just buy barely used shoes. No need to waste $50 on shoes kids might wear a year. Buy $5 ones and you can save so much. No harm there. I wash ALL soes, boots, and sandals in my front loader so they are clean and then set in the sun to dry. this includes winter lined boots, steel toed shoes, leather shoes, and man-made shoes when worn. I get really neat footwear for $5 or less when they cost $50-$100 new and are slightly worn.
I have been shopping on the cheap for years. Since I can remember. I grew up doing what you do. I have a great sense of sale finding. My husband not as strong yet. It is growing slowly. He usually prefers to have me do the clothes shopping b/c I find the cheap stuff in the same stores he completely misses.
I also buy/keep basic neutrals like plain jeans, pants, shorts, shirts of primary colors and w/o gender specific designs on purpose. Then I know that even if mt son wears it some but it still has life in it then one of the younger girls ( I have 4) will wear it too and then I sometimes pass it on to another family for them to wear if it was not a favorite for all but maybe 1-2 of the 5. Our area has a junior league sale every year too which has great deals as well. So between all places we spend about $200 total on clothes/shoes for our kids as well.
Once upon a child is my favorite place, and I resell my stuff there too. I also love when the out of season stuff is on clearance at Kohl’s, then I use my 30% of coupon. I got some shorts for my son for about $1.25, brand new!! Only buy there when it is on clearance. The rest is a rip off, even with a coupon. And children’s place like another post said, they give 20% off coupons, and I only shop in their clearance section.
I’ve been shopping thrift stores and Good Will/Salvation Army for years—and if they are good stores I can go in there, get 4 boys (3 teens, one 6 year old) at least 3-4 pair of pants and some shirts for $150. The problem is—when the kids get bigger and out of the kids sizes, the prices of clothes go up exponentially. It would be impossible for me to spend $200 a year on all of the kids—especially given how quickly they are growing. But, I’m happy if i can keep it below $200 a year per teen and under $100 for the 6 year old per year. When I had all 6 kids at home, i felt it was a good year if i kept it under $400—-but as they got into high school they wanted the brand names—so they had 2 choices, find them at the thrift stores and on clearance racks (Penney’s and Kohl’s usually have amazing clearance racks) OR if they want them brand new, they buy it themselves.
I buy 90% of our kids clothes at yard sales in the spring. We have 3 boys, so I just buy all sizes for all seasons (2 are winter one is summer birthday). Shoes I get on clearance (winter boots) and Goodwill. I usually get snow suits on clearance this time of year, TJ Maxx is a great place for these. We probably spend about $50 on clothes, maybe about $30 on outer wear.
We swapped clothes for awhile with friends who had kids the same age, opposite sexes.
I shop strictly consignment sales/stores for needed items and then when I am shopping for other things, online or in stores like Target, or even occasionally the mall, I search the clearance racks for the items that are the lowest prices and only buy the best values, instead of the lowest prices (so for example I got my son a Janie and Jack size 3T winter coat, originally priced at $150 for around $20 when he was a newborn). I wouldn’t have been in there if I hadn’t been using a coupon to buy a Shower gift, but since I was, and I knew he’d be a size 3 someday I bought it. Since I now have a second son who is almost 2, that good quality jacket will probably get a total of 3-4 winters of use for $20. It’s not always smarter to buy cheaper/lower quality, esp. if you have same sex kiddos.
I buy items that are a steal no matter what size they are. I keep a basket in each of their closet for the future. How can I pass up name brand baseball cleats for $5, even if they are 5 sizes too big? Worst case I’ll consign them and since they’re new I’ll get my $ back.
I let myself splurge on a full-priced item or two once or twice a year for each kid, and I almost never regret it because I know how well I do all year long.
Shopping for deals on clothing is a double high for me…I love to shop and I love to get steals even more!
I belong to a Facebook group in my town that posts swap items. It operates similar to consignment I guess, I’ve never been to one of those stores. But you post a picture of what you have to sell, a description and price and someone else who wants it gets in touch and comes to pick it up. I only use the money I have made selling things on there to buy things. Just the other day I bought my son a pair of nice like-new Stride Rite sandals, a special name-brand Christmas sweater, another high quality sweater, corduroy OshKosh overalls, and a 2 piece boutique church outfit that her kid wore once for pictures. They were all in 3T which I predict my son will be wearing next year (or even the year after that.) All that for $9. Let someone else buy frivolous things for their kids! I’ll buy it from them when they’re done. I haven’t bought any new clothes for him in quite a while, but both my husband’s and my mom love to buy him cute things, and my sister-in-law is a sucker for a designer label and a “deal”!
Just found this post a couple mos. ago. I’ve not seen $1 PJ’s, but I don’t get to many places but the Salvation Army. Wondered what folks think is reasonable for girls sz 4 winter PJ’s? Thanks!