Clothing Your Kids Without Losing Your Shirt
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One of my back to school highlights as a child was going “back to school” shopping. Granted this was in the 80’s before the internet allowed all sorts of information and online shopping. And I was not frugal unless I wanted to me.
In fact, having grown up in a suburb of Los Angeles, just a stone’s throw from Hollywood, I drooled over the Guess jeans and the Swatch watches that I never owned. And, I’ve lived to tell about.
Thankfully, my boys aren’t into too many “status” items, except maybe video game stuff and those they pay for themselves. But, what if I have a daughter like I was?
Heaven help me!
But, seriously, what’s a mom to do when a kid wants expensive clothing that simply isn’t in the budget?
Here are some ideas I’ve thought of, and I hope you’ll add some in the comments.
1. Shop clearance.
I do this all the time, brand name or not. My personal favorite is Target, but I know that even more upscale stores offer clearance sections. Recently, I found next year’s swim trunks for the boys as low as $2.48. I bought four suits for the price of one at full price.
Make it a regular habit to browse the stores your child likes and find classic pieces (read: those that will last the year, fashion-wise) at low prices.
2. Browse thrift stores and garage sales.
My friend Jen has unbelievable skills when it comes to finding treasures second hand. She is, indeed, a frugal fashionista. I know from her experience that there is a wealth of gently-used clothes waiting just for the taking.
3. Keep up with online deals.
There is no shortage of deals to be had if you follow what’s cheap online.
- Sign up for Swagbucks and buy clothes for free on Amazon.
- Make online purchases via Ebates or ShopatHome and get cash back on internet orders.
4. Make your kids buy their own.
Seriously, people, just because our kids want something, doesn’t mean they have a God-given right to have it given to them. As parents, we have a responsibility to clothe our children with clean, decent clothing. But, nowhere in the parenting contract does it say that you have to buy them the latest and greatest, especially if you don’t have the funds.
Kids who are old enough to have specific clothing desires are old enough to earn money to make those purchases themselves. And if they have to hand over their own hard earned cash, they may be more likely to see the wisdom of frugality.
What do YOU do to save money?
Share your favorite money-saving ideas today. Leave a link to a post that shares some frugal wisdom. (Please no giveaways or deals posts. Teach us how to fish!)
I’m going to be the oddball here, but this fits in with last week’s Frugal Friday which discussed what we choose to spend our money on. My 13yo daughter has scoliosis and has worn a back brace for the past 3 years. I spend what would be considered a ridiculous amount of money on her clothes because it’s tough to find things that she feels comfortable in (both physically and emotionally, if you know what I mean).
When we find something cute, comfortable, flattering with the brace, not low-rise, not low cut, well-made (because the brace tends to poke little holes into thin cheaply-made clothes) that my daughter feels pretty and happy in, I take a deep breath and pay whatever it costs–and usually buy several! Yes, I look for sales, free shipping, clearance, etc and I scrimp in lots of other areas, but as long as my daughter wears a brace, I will choose to spend more for her clothes.
@Carol, Amen! Good for you. That is exactly what we’re talking about — both last week and this week. In your daughter’s instance, it’s not about the latest and greatest. But, it’s meeting her clothing needs. And “needs” change dependent on the kid.
— coming from another girl with scoliosis. 😉
Oh…I also forgot to add to check the free section on your local craigslist. I check ours everyday. Today there are 2 people with bags of kids clothes for free.
I love to shop clearance sales off season as well. I have been doing this my entire life since as a child we never had any money. My mom still shops this way even though now she can afford to buy whatever she wants. My favorite is clearance at Marshall’s. I love Marshall’s! I also like the goodwill in a nearby (10 min) affluent city. It is clean, well organized and they have great sales. Every season they have a $0.99 sale on all kids clothes. I got 4 pairs of jeans for my son that were name brand and barely worn for $3.96! Another day they were having a sale on women’s tops and I got 12 shirts for summer for less than $30.
I suggest for people to sign up for their local freecycle group. There are always lots of clothes, both kids and adult, going around on there, and you can’t beat free!
We also trade clothes with our friends and the hand me downs get passed around our group of friends between all of our kids. Works great!
My mom has always had “Santa” give us socks and underwear in our stockings. It’s a tradition in our family and we always know they will be coming!
My son is only 2 so shopping ahead off clearance has worked for us so far since he doesn’t really have an opinion yet. I’ve also had good luck steering the relatives towards buying him shoes and socks or winter coats for Christmas instead of a bunch of toys (although somehow he still gets about a million toys too).
When my brothers and I were in school Mom would give us a budget of $100 each to spend as we saw fit. That had to cover all clothes and supplies. I would clearance shop and get a lot of un-cool but varied stuff, and my brother would get a really expensive pair of sneakers and one pair of brand name pants. My other brother was quite a bit younger but he seemed to get 5 shirts all of the same style, maybe different colors for about $1 each somewhere and 2 pairs of jeansut then he would always have the best school supplies. So, in our own ways we all learned to budget and were happy with what we got.
I used all those tips for my back-to-school shopping:-) It worked!!
The Salvation Army store in my areas have Family Day on Wednesdays, and all clothing is half-price (except the most recent tag color – they use a different colored price tag each week, so if they are putting out clothing with pink price tags that week, those clothes are full price). The prices at these stores are already really, really low (Old Navy shirts for $.99; Children’s Place jeans for $1.99) so I can usually find shirts for fifty cents and pants for a dollar.
I shop all year round – I usually only find two or three things each time I go, but I hit these sales 2 or 3x a month.
I have an idea of what I’m looking for. I know that TCP jeans fit my skinny son really well, so I look for them. I also know that, for some reason, TCP long sleeve shirt sleeves are never long enough so I don’t buy them. A bargain isn’t a bargain if it never gets used because it didn’t fit.
I keep a list in my purse of things I have, so we don’t end up with 4 navy blue t-shirts.
@Michelle Z., There are two areas where I don’t skimp, and I usually buy new: underwear and sneakers. Underwear because…well…I wouldn’t buy used underwear for myself, so I don’t make the boys wear it, either. Sneakers I buy new, and I buy brand name just because I’ve found that the cheaper ones don’t hold up (my boys wear their sneakers pretty much every day) and cheaper shoes start to smell really bad after awhile, even though they are worn with socks.
I can, however, always find decent used dress shoes.
Find the more affluent section of town and keep a eye out for yard sales in that area.Yes,those people do have yard sales and the find’s there are awesome. My son’s and nieces have worn the high end (ie:expensive) clothes for year’s because of yard sales in our town’s “nob hill” area. I have also bought a lot of thing’s brand new,still in the box,that these people have gotten as present’s and never got around to returning to the store.
My husband and I also shop the stores that get name brand stuff sent to them, like Marhsalls, Gabriel Bros, Ross, etc. We can get our son lots of name brand clothes and shoes at a fraction of the price. A lot of times we can get the big names for less than buying them at yard sales.
I have 3 brothers and 2 sisters (so 6 of us) and we were each given $100 to spend how we wanted. My oldest brother would always get a shirt and a pair of pants, that’s it, just so he was in “style”. My other brothers and sisters would shop some of the clearance and outlet malls for good deals and would get a few outfits. I was the goodwill shopper since I can remember. I would get so much clothes for not a lot of money. Since we lived in a community where people would get rid of clothes without even wearing them, tags still on name brands, I would never look out of place compared to my siblings.
Now undergarments and shoes were not part of $100 budget and we would always get clothes for Christmas to add to our wardrobe.
For my boys I still shop garage sales (they are 2, 10 months and newborn) and last season clearance, plus with a large family they get clothes for holidays. I intend to employ the $100 limit (although with inflation I may make it $150 to $200 a kid) and they just need to learn how to make it work. I think it is a skill that has stuck with me since I was young.
I LOVE clearance!
Your point on letting kids buy their own is right on! They don’t need that $100 pair of sneakers. If they want them that bad then they can save up and purchase the “needed” items on their own.
My son also buys his own video games. He’s learning that he can save up for awhile to get the new DS game or go buy a $5 toy. His choice.