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My youngest girl, Johanna, in leather Robeez bought for $4 at a swap meet, socks bought on clearance, and borrowed GAP pants.
I’m often surprised when people comment on how expensive it is to have kids. Yes, they definitely add to our grocery budget… my 5 year old can eat more oatmeal than either of us adults, and my 3 year old ate 10 pancakes for breakfast the other week.
However, aside from some of the unavoidable costs like food, we have found that taking care of our kids basic needs does not have to be extravagant or expensive.
Clothes are a great example of this. If I were to buy my three kid’s clothes on full (or even sale) price at retail stores, it would be a definite “ouch” area in our budget.
Instead, I seek out mostly used clothes from a variety of sources, and am able to completely clothe all 3 of our (rapidly growing) kids for around $200 per year total. Not only does this save us enormous amounts of money, it is also a very green and sustainable way of reusing lightly-worn clothes that have plenty of wear left in them!
Here’s how I keep our kids well clothed, for less:
1. Buy from other moms.
My primary sources for clothing and shoes are garage sales and our local kids swap meet (where moms sell their used children’s items).
Garage sales are certainly the cheapest option, although they can be much more hit and miss. I like to get as much as I can from garage sales when I find a jackpot, and then I fill in the gaps from the more reliable sources of the swap meet and thrift stores.
Boys clothes from garage sales one summer-- all of this cost $16 US!
2. Take advantage of thrift stores.
Though some second-hand stores are getting a bit pricier these days, they can still be a valuable resource (I refuse to pay $8 for a worn-out tee shirt, just because it happens to say GAP on it, when I could get it new at an outlet clearance rack for the same or less).
Our local Value Village does half-price sales on clothes several times a year, and these sales make their prices very affordable. It’s a nice change of pace for me to be able to actually locate clothes by gender and size on a rack, after a summer of garage-saling.
Another way to save at the thrift stores is by donating your used goods. Many stores, including Value Village, will give you a receipt or a stamp card when you make a donation. These will entitle you to a specific discount on your next purchase. We just did this after moving to a new home, and were rewarded with a 30% off card which I put towards some great fall/winter clothes for my two older children!
3. Accept hand-me-downs.
Never turn down an offer of hand-me-down clothes! Though I do often receive clothes that aren’t in great condition, or that I just wouldn’t use for my own kids, I have kept so many wonderful clothes through generous friends, neighbors, acquaintances, etc. who have kindly offered clothes that they are finished with.
My rule of thumb is to always say yes, and ask if I can give away what I don’t need to someone else who can use it (the answer is almost always yes). Then I carefully sort through, choose the best items that suit my children’s needs (including clothes that they will grow into), and pass on the rest to other families or to those in need.
This gorgeous wool hat was borrowed from a friend, and the sweet pink jacket was originally from Old Navy clearance, but passed on from her big sister.
4. Borrow and lend.
If you have friends with children of similar ages, consider the option of borrowing and lending clothes between families. We have friends who have two daughters and a son, all just slightly older (or bigger, anyways) than mine. They have so often lent us beautiful clothes, and my sweet friend is happy to see her kid’s clothes being put to good use (and not taking up space in her garage!).
We have also lent out our children’s clothes to others and it has been wonderful to be able to bless our friends in this way. Yes, sometimes clothes don’t come back in exactly the same condition, and occasionally, an item is lost or ruined altogether. As long as both parties (lending and borrowing) are aware of this, we’ve never had an issue.
5. Develop a careful system of storing my children’s clothes.
As soon as I had my second daughter (after having a girl, then a boy), I was instantly grateful that I had made it a priority to stash away all of the clothes that we had used for our first daughter.
If you know or think that it’s a possibility that you will have more children, keep what you have. Create a system of bins or bags to store it away safely, labeled with gender and size. What a blessing it is to know that as my little girlie is growing out of her current clothes, I have a full bin downstairs of clothes from her big sister, ready to use!
6. Let your clothing needs be known.
Though we are happy to receive toys, art supplies, event tickets, money for dance lessons, etc. from grandparents or others who want to bless our children, we are quick to share their clothing needs when asked what our children could use.
The grandmas all know to ask me what size our kids are wearing and what they need most. They’re all frugal shoppers, and love to find deals on clothes that look cute on their grandkids. We’ve taught our children to be grateful for both the clothes AND the other gifts, and it helps to keep the “stuff” around our house to more of a minimum as well.
More Resources
For more of my specific tips on clothing kids without breaking the bank, you can see my previous 3 part series on the topic, where I share my techniques in more detail, as well as how I organize and store the clothes:
One of the tools that I have been using a lot lately is a clothing inventory list. I like the one from my ListPlanIt membership (under Home Management), because it’s all there for me (types of clothes, sizes, etc.) and I simply have to fill it in.
Eight Excellent Ways to Suit Up Your Small Fry on a Budget @ Kitchen Stewardship
Another option (especially if you are lacking in local used resources) is ThredUp, a place where moms connect to swap kids clothes with one another. You can sign up for a free 2-month Pro Membership, to give it a try and see if it will work for you.
I think this post is right on the money! We clothe our 4-year-old for about $100 a year using the tips you suggest. I’ll share a couple of tips specific to my region (the mid-South), in case anyone from that area is reading:
1. Take advantage of Goodwill sales–your local store should have a sale calendar you can take home and post on the fridge. Mine has a half-off sale the first Saturday of every month, which means I can get kids’ clothes for $1.25 for most items, $3-5 for special items like coats.
2. Shop twice-yearly consignment sales, especially on half-price days (these are usually the last day or two of the sale). These sales usually have better-quality merchandise than thrift stores, but they are still very affordable–I can typically get shoes for $2-3 a pair, play clothes for $1-2 per piece, and special-occasion/church dresses for less than $5. Consignment sales are also usually run by churches or other worthy organizations, so shopping them has the added benefit of helping a good cause.
3. Don’t be afraid to buy ahead, especially for the priciest items like coats, school uniforms, and UPF sunwear. Buying on mega-clearance a year in advance is a great way to fit these items into your budget. If your child ends up growing more than you had anticipated, you can recoup your money (and maybe even more) by selling the clothes at a consignment sale.
@Kathryn, I absolutely agree about buying ahead! When my son was not even 2, I was already buying stuff for when he was in size 4 and 5.
I can’t always be that ahead, but my goal is to try to buy at least a season or two, if not a year, ahead of schedule. By doing that, I may not have 100% everything I need, but it means I only need to fill in gaps, not search for everything. It’s similar to stocking up your pantry at the lowest price, I guess!
I echo all of what you listed. We get a lot of hand-me-downs and I shop Thrift stores as well. I have also purchased bags of clothes off Craigslist. I know some people avoid Craigslist for safety reasons. I do my best to always meet a buyer or seller in a public location like a Starbucks. I have also sent some clothes on thredUp.com but have yet to get any boxes myself.
My daughter has those same Robeez – purchased from a garage sale!
I’m going to clothe my kids for next spring/summer for only about $75. That’s for TWO kids! (Yes, I will probably double that to buy the winter/fall outfits.) But still, $150 for two kids for a year? No big deal.
We hit up mega-sales at local stores. Children’s Place has a semi-annual sale where everything from the previous season is $3 and under. We buy a lot there. We go to J.C. Penney where clearance brings the clothes to about the same price, and Kohl’s too (this is U.S.). We check resale stores, but they’re often more expensive. Large, mom-organized semi-annual resale events tend to net us better deals. One year during a “sidewalk sale,” I went towards the end of the day and got 20 items for $1! I’ll be checking into that again this fall, even though I don’t “need” anything else.
We also don’t buy pajamas really. My kids DO have winter PJs sometimes, which we got at garage sales or from grandparents, but I don’t buy them. They sleep in cheap undershirts and sweatpants. My son is noticeably more comfortable this way anyway. PJs can be ridiculously expensive and you really don’t need them! A pack of undershirts is maybe $4 for 5; that’s just fine!
We get clothes from grandparents, clothes from friends (sometimes), etc. Though most of our stuff does come from the huge semi-annual sales. I also save them by size, season and gender because we are planning to have more kids, so next time I’ll be set (I had a girl in the winter and boy in the summer so far, but both needed warmer/cooler clothes than I had anticipated so I have a mix of seasons in tiny sizes). Future children will just need shoes, underwear, and socks!
By the way, if anyone in the U.S. hasn’t tried the Children’s Place sale…I got jeans, jackets, sweaters, etc. — really nice ones — for $3 last year! You can’t even get jackets and sweaters that cheap at garage sales half the time. Definitely recommend checking that out, the winter sale will be in early Feb.
That is wonderful information. Thank you for sharing when the sale usually occurs!
Really great ideas, especially for those with young children. It’s a bit more challenging with teens, especially when they are after just the right “look.”
After consulting with my son about which items he needs/wants, we then look for sales at various stores, and at least once a year we shop down in the States, where things are somewhat less expensive. There are times we buy more expensive items, of very good quality, but then these tend to last for at least a few years (example, winter jacket purchased from a skate/snowboarding store, has lasted 3 years now). I do find that purchasing better quality clothing (on sale, if possible) is best, for older kids, since they are either done growing or are growing at a much slower rate, and the better quality clothing lasts much longer and stays in better condition through repeated washings.
@Jana, Sage advice from a mom of teens.
It is definitely easier the younger they are. I can tell that as they get older, we will have to get even more creative!
I agree with all of your ideas. Our homeschool group also has clothing swaps each year. Everyone brings the clothes, shoes and baby items they no longer need. We lay everything out by size and then everyone takes clothes that they currently need. There is no cost, and it feels really good to give away items that we no longer need. (-:
Also, we love getting used clothing as well. I need plenty of stained clothes for the summer time since we spend the days gardening and processing food. This way it doesn’t matter when there are additional stains added.
We also do similar. We mainly get things at either garage sales, or at consignment and thrift stores when they change seasons (for us this means around August for summer clearance and around March for winter clearance). I rarely buy anything new at all. Things like underwear I stock up on sales.
Yesterday our local thrift shop had a bag sale for $5 fill a garbage bag. I got myself 2 shorts (hard to find as I need them long enough) and 3 shirts, 2 shirts for my husband, 2 rubber boots, and about 20 other items of clothing for my oldest (youngest wears her sister’s hand me downs). For $5!!! I stock up on things that are too big. She is in size 4-6 right now (mainly 5′s) and I stock up even up to 8′s if its really good deal like this. It is, however, getting hard to find good running shoes, especially in small towns, but we are able to order some in for a still pricey ($35) but decent price. Good shoes are important since we do a lot of walking.
Did you know Value Village sells a calender with coupons each year at Christmas time? They often have decent coupons (but sometimes do not, ask and check, they always let you, they seem to be great coupons about every other year…last year had a coupon for $50 off a purchase of $100 or more, so we simply added up $100 worth of needs in our cart and then got the equivalent of 50% off without a 50% off day which I normally cannot travel to go to). This year’s coupons were not great, but we still saved $10 and spent $2.99 for the calendar, and we go there anyways, so I say it was worth it as every dollar counts. Value Village is getting priceyer though. But its still better prices than new.
Some great tips here!!!
I struggle with the bottom half for my boys. They are so slender that only slims and with adjustable waist fits them and it is difficult to find them at consignment shops especially with all hard most boys are on their clothes. We had upped our clothes budget and I buy a season ahead when things are on clearance. Shirts are easier to find used or just about anywhere on clearance. I do buy quality winter jackets and shoes [my oldest is so hard on his shoes that it was cost effective to buy one really good shoe instead of 6 cheaper pairs].
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Great post! I thought I was frugal, but not so
I have some room for improvement, thanks for the ideas…
…one of my shopping secrets is to buy a year ahead. Stores will clearance their summer stuff the first week or two of July and their winter stuff in late January. I go and buy clothes one size bigger for my boys to wear next year.
@mab – I have the same problem with my boys. To make matters worse, they are so hard on their jeans that I can’t pass them down. Osh Kosh fits them really well. Not only do they have have adjustable waistbands, but they have slim sizes with adjustable waistbands. We have an outlet store about 45 min away – they put their jeans on sale for back to school and will often have deals where you get 25% off a purchase of $40 or more. I was able to get them jeans for $9 a pair! If you don’t have an outlet, you might want to try online. hope that helps
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A lot of my kids clothes are hand me downs and have come from consignment stores, I agree with all of your ideas!