Easy tips to spend less on children’s clothing.
One of the sure things about kids is that they keep growing (and growing, and growing and growing). It feels like my kids ALWAYS need a new pair of shoes, or a new shirt, etc. Any other mamas out there relate???? Constantly buying new clothes for your kids can get expensive fast! Fortunately, there are some secrets to spending less on children’s clothing. Here are a few tips to help you learn how to save money on kids clothes.
How To Save Money On Kids Clothes
I know how tempting it is to buy all of the cute, fresh, trendy kids clothing you can find at the mall, but I promise, with a little work and practice you can find JUST as cute clothing, for a fraction of the price. Here’s how!
1. Buy Gently Used Clothing
Gone are the days where the only place to get gently used clothing is from your Great Aunt Lucy’s attic. Now, we are so lucky to have many, many options to purchase used kids clothing.
Here are a few of my favorite places to shop for preowned kids clothing:
Garage Sales
Garage sales are one of my favorite places to buy used clothing for my kids. They seem to always have the lowest prices, I can easily walk away with a huge bag of kids clothing for less than $10.
Here are a few tips for buying kids clothing at garage sales:
- Search Facebook Marketplace the night before you want to visit the yard sales (usually Thursday night or Friday night) to find a few listings that are advertising kids clothing. Only stop at the houses that have said they have kids clothes for sale.
- Make a plan and map out which sales you want to go to first, and in which order.
- Leave first thing in the morning to start yard sale shopping. A good rule of thumb is to get to your first stop 5-10 minutes BEFORE it was advertised to open. This gives you first pick of the clothing, which will also be the best quality!
- Clothing at yard sales are negotiable. Never be afraid to offer a lower price than marked. The worst thing that can happen is they will say, “No”, but they almost always say “yes”.
Thrift Stores
Another great place to purchase preowned children’s clothing is at kids thrift stores. These stores are picky about what items they purchase, meaning that you can feel confident you will be buying high quality clothing for a fraction of the price.
My favorite children’s thrift stores are Kid To Kid and Once Upon A Child. Bonus! You can sell your used kids clothing to these stores to earn money!
In addition to the kids thrift stores you can find some great deals at multi-purpose thrift stores such as, GoodWill, Deseret Industries, and Savers.
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Facebook Marketplace
You can also find some great deals on used clothing on Facebook Marketplace. It’s so easy to search for the exact size and gender you are looking for on Facebook Marketplace with their search and filter options. If you don’t find what you are looking for when you first check, make sure to set up a notification so you can be alerted when it is listed.
2. Shop Clearance Racks
Get into the habit of going straight to the clearance racks at every store you go to. These racks are usually hidden in the back of the store or department, so make sure to look thoroughly for those wonderful yellow clearance stickers.
Clothing almost always goes on sale at the end of a season. This is a great time to stock up for the next year for a fraction of the price. For example, when my kids were wearing a 2T size, I would buy winter clothing for them in 3T size on the clearance racks in the spring. Their new winter clothing would be stored at the top of their bedroom shelf to bring out the next year.
3. Shop At Discount Retailers
Discount retailers is another great spot for budget friendly kids clothing. These stores sell name brand, high quality clothes for a huge discount.
My favorite discount retailers are Ross and TJ Maxx. I’ve found that Ross is a little bit cheaper than TJ Maxx, but they are both a frugal options for clothing.
4. Host A Kids Clothing Swap
Most moms are looking for a cheaper option for kids clothing. Find a group of moms, such as in your community, school, church, neighborhood, etc. and organize a Kids Clothing Swap together. This way everybody wins!
I’ve participated in a few of these before and love the concept so much!
Here’s how it works:
- Invite moms to join you for a Kids Clothing Swap.
- Plan a day and time that will work for most people.
- Everyone brings any used kids clothing that they want to swap.
- Organize the clothing by sizes and gender.
- Let everyone pick a few new-to-them pieces of clothing to take home.
Everyone gets to clean out their closets of clothes they no longer need, and bring home new clothing for their kids….without paying any money!
5. Accept Hand Me Downs
Alright, I am going to be real honest here…..
When I was expecting my first baby my husbands very kind cousin offered me boxes and boxes of hand me downs from her kids.
But, I refused them all! In my stubborn, naïve, new mom attitude I thought that I wanted only new clothing. (I regret this decision!)
Years down the road (and way to much money spent on kids clothing) I realized my mistake. Ever since I have happily accepted hand me down clothing (and wish I could go shake my pre-mom self for a minute).
- Related: Top Secrets For Living On One Income
7. Repurpose Clothing
Another tip for how to save money on kids clothes is to make your kids clothing last longer by repurposing them. Here are a few things you might want to do with clothing, instead of throwing it away:
- Cut jeans with holes in the knee and turn them into shorts.
- Let the hem out of a dress that is getting to short.
- Add a patch to cover a stained shirt or pants.
- Cut the feet off of footie pajamas that have grown to short.
Remember to be creative. If you can’t think of a way to extend the life of the clothing, repurpose the clothing into something completely new. Such as a toy, quilt, or rags.
8. Never Pay Full Price
Make a habit of only buying clothing if it’s on sale or discounted. Here are a few tips for shopping clothing sales:
Sign Up For Store Emails
Sign up for store emails so that you will be the first one alerted to the current sales. I am very picky about who I hand my email out to. But, I have signed up for emails at just a few of my favorite kids clothing stores (Target, Children’s Place, Old Navy) because their sale emails have been so helpful in knowing when the sales are happening.
Shop Off Season
Like I mentioned earlier, shopping off season is a great way to get brand new clothing for a fraction of the price. In spring, buy winter clothing for your kids to wear the next year and in the fall buy summer clothing.
Use Store Reward Programs/Cards
Many stores will offer points on purchases made through their store reward programs. My favorite store reward programs are:
- Target: Sign up for their red card and get 5% off of each purchase made. This makes for an even greater deal when you use the card on clearance items!
- Kohls: When you make purchases using your Kohls card you will be given 5% in rewards. These rewards will then be turned into Kohls Cash to spend at the store. You can use your Kohls cash with clearance items and coupons!
- Children’s Place: Another great store rewards program is Children’s Place. When you sign up for the program you will begin receiving points each time you make a purchase. These points can be redeemed for cash rewards that you can spend at the store. Plus, they send out a birthday coupon each year!
Shop Online Deal Sites
You can find great deals on kids clothing when you shop at online deal websites. A couple of my favorite sites for cute clothes and good discounts are Jane, Zulily, and Burkes Outlet.
9. Take Care Of The Clothes
One of the most overlooked tips when learning how to save money on kids clothes is to take good care of the clothes you do buy. The longer you can keep your kids wearing the same clothing, the less you will have to buy, which means more money saved!
Here are a few ways to take good care of your children’s clothing:
- Air dry clothes after laundering.
- Wash clothing less often. I know this one is hard with kids (they can get dirty so quickly), but if an outfit looks clean after one wear, hang it up to wear again.
- Treat stains as soon as possible.
- Sort and wash clothes by color.
- Wash clothing in cold water.
10. Earn Cashback
If you shop for kids clothing online, make sure to do it through the Rakuten website to earn some extra cash while shopping! It’s so easy too!
- Just log into the Rakuten website (or app!).
- Search for the store you want to shop at.
- Click on the store name, you will then be redirected to the website.
- Shop as you normally do, including check out.
- You will then be given a percentage of cash back from your purchase.
- Rakuten mails cash back checks every 4 months (and it’s my favorite piece of mail ever!).
You can then use this cashback to purchase clothing for your children to wear! This is such a fun way to get more bang for your buck!
In Conclusion
I hope this article gave you some helpful tips to figuring out how to save money on kids clothes. There are many different options available to us as parents, sometimes the secret is just knowing where to look! Let me know if you have any other questions or tips that I might have missed!
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