Saving Hand Me Down Clothing Can Save You Money
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When my first child was a toddler, we had no idea if we could have more children. In fact, he was three and a half before our second child was born. But, ever hopeful, I had saved his baby clothes for the next child.
Who would have thought that I would get so much bang for my buck by saving those hand me downs for the next kids?! In fact, thanks to durable clothing, proper storage, and a little patience, we’ve saved quite a bit of cash by holding onto hand me down clothing.
In fact, even my girls are able to wear some of the items that my oldest wore when he was a preschooler!
Last week, I sorted through and did a “changing of the guard,” if you will. The youngest FishBoys were cajoled into trying on a number of different clothing items to see if they still fit. What was too small was passed on to the next kid or the giveaway bag. What was left was there for him to add to his wardrobe.
Here are some tricks that have helped us save money on clothes over the years:
Buy Durable Clothing
I don’t spend big bucks on name brand clothing. I never wanted to fuss over stains and tears which is what I would do if I was buying expensive clothing. Instead, we’ve chosen to shop for classic, quality items, usually on clearance. I prefer new, though I know lots of people who find great ideas at thrift stores. Either way, buy something that appears to have a lasting quality — in both substance and fashion.
Store Clothes Properly
As you may know, I have major bug and rodent issues. I can generally handle spiders, but every other creepy, crawling thing better stay away. As such we’ve invested in Sterilite boxes to store clothing. These stack well in the kids’ closets, come in a variety of colors, and generally keep bugs and rodents from investigating your stored clothing.
Be Patient
The patience part comes in when it’s time to change your kids’ wardrobes. It can be a chore to switch out the old and figure out what hand me downs will work. Kids can vary in taste as well as body build. But, think of it as shopping in your own home. Not only will you save a bundle on gas, but you’ll save money on clothes, too.
Funny how often we’re on the same wavelength! I linked up “Top Tips for Saving Money (and Time!) on Laundry”
Hooray for hand me downs! We just did the seasonal clothing switch here last week(in Florida). My youngest loves unpacking her new wardrobe each season from the storage tub. I rarely have to buy her anything new which saves us so much money.
This is a great post, and perfect for frugal shoppers. I buy almost everything on clearance with coupons, but uniform pants I find at the. Last week I just wentthrift store shopping, and I found uniform shorts and pants for $1 each.
I do the same thing with clothes! I have some awesome quality thrift stores around me that I have bought clothes and many things, all 3 of my kids have worn, plus I then give to daycare kids who they go through 2 or 3 more kids. Talk about getting your money’s worth!! Great tips, thanks!
With 6 kids of my own, I have a great relationship with Sterilite boxes, but I will pass on a small warning. I have found that things like shoes with rubber soles, or the elastic in pajamas and bathing suits somehow gets ruined with prolonged storage in plastic boxes. Those things may need to be kept in cardboard boxes in the closet. Hope that helps!
I agree, hand-me downs can save a lot of money. The only thing we have struggled with is sometimes the elastic waist band in pants gets brittle after sitting there in the plastic bin for years and renders the pants no good. Any suggestions? (Note: Our first son was almost 5 years older than the second son so there was a long wait to reuse his clothing.)
With 5 kids, 4 boys & 1 girl, I follow a similar system with the plastic boxes. I label the outside of the boxes with the size & whether it’s boy or girl. I always check the boy boxes first for clothes that my daughter can wear to stretch her thrifted wardrobe. When I do my seasonal clothing switch, I evaluate what I have and get rid of stuff if I need to. Even though we have a lot of used clothes, the kids still get new ones during the year. Some clothes wear out faster than others like sweat pants. I try to catch these holes early and use these mended sweatpants as play clothes.
When I thrift clothes to fill in the holes, I do stick to the name brands because I’ve found that they’re generally better made and last longer, a bit plus with boys!
I have 3 boys and we have passed down clothes from my oldest to middle to youngest. Of course, some clothes wear out after one or two boys wearing them and some look very outdated, but many have lasted.
Soon after my youngest was born, I commented how my oldest had worn the outfit he had on. My sister-in-law was so shocked that we had saved the clothes. I told her we knew we were having more kids, so why not? We had the storage space, and it has saved us tons of money over the years.
We do the same thing. We have 2 boys (6 and 4) and a 4 month old daughter. I keep all the boys clothes until our youngest out grows them, then I will save whatever his little sister might be able to wear down the road or give the remaining pieces to a friend/Salvation Army/church boutique.
Our boys are very close in size, so I am starting to find that they can wear the same size shirt/underwear/socks but different size in jeans and shoes. I am thinking of starting a “community” drawer of same size items with pants being separated.
As far as storage goes, we use the Sterlite bins as well. My husband was going nuts with all the bins as well but understands the benefits. We are done having children (unless the good Lord decides to gives us a SUPER surprise 🙂 so I have been getting rid off all newborn stuff etc that I can. It is a nice feeling to be able to cut down on all the “stuff”.
For the boys I typically buy new items, sometimes I do find a good thrift store/used children clothing store find. However, I find that the newer clothes tend to last a lot longer so that each boy gets a chance to wear the clothing. Unlike a lot of the used clothing that we have bought. I am thinking though for our daughter I will see what used items I can find since those clothes will only being going through one child.
I spend time instead of money on hand-me-down clothing also:-)