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Kiddley reader Jen from Semantically Driven submitted her tips for dressing your kids a tight budget. We decided to turn her ideas into topics for a series which has been running over the last few weeks.

In the first week we looked at Hand-me-downs while last week we had lots of great pointers from Jen and other Kiddley readers on buying second hand kids’ clothes. Next week’s article will be about buying and selling kids’ clothes on Ebay and finally making clothes for your kids… If you are interested in submitting your own tips on these future topics please do so. If you have any tips for this week or the first two weeks’ topics please leave them in the comments.

This week we are looking at (one of my personal favourites) Buying clothes on sale at the end of a season.

Jen says:

“There are always sales on at department stores and other shops and you can browse through to find clothing for the next season. Obviously you’ll have to guess what size your child will be but that’s usually fairly easy to gauge.”

Kiddley says:

Personally I love a good excuse to gather huge amounts of clothing in my arms in a department store. Shopping for next year in a size up is something I love to do. As with any sale there often isn’t too much left that will really WOW you or your young clothes horse, but I stick to really cheap, cheap, basic pieces in natural fibres (t-shirts, socks, jeans, shirts and so on) which they must over-stock on and I usually come out feeling satiated by some totally guilt free spending. I also love to pack all the purchases into plastic storage containers and then rediscover them the following year.

My favourite experience was hunting through a Target store in a big country town. It became clear to me that my “city mouse” taste is pretty different from the rural shoppers that had already been through so I found mountains of good stuff including gorgeous things I had eyed off months before in the city at full price and here they were, totally reduced ($2 for a beautiful dress? Heaven!). Perhaps my city taste vs. country taste is a bit of a furphy and it was just a wonderful shopping day for me, but if not, I wonder if this same idea would work for people from the country coming in to the city stores? I am guessing that the city sales are never going to be as good as the country sales.

Another thing I do when I am shopping at sales is that I keep in mind that while the item might be incredibly boring (but cheap!) as it is (plain overalls, plain t-shirt, plain pair of basic pants and so on) I can add embellishments, transfers or appliques to turn something very dull into something quite unique. Stay tuned to our fifth part in this series “Making clothes for kids” in a couple of week’s time for some more ideas in this area.

Good things about buying kids’ clothes at sales: Brand new, basic clothes for sometimes about the same prices as thrift store finds.

Bad things about buying kids’ clothes at sales: Sales are usually busy and almost the worst place on earth to take a child. The number of frantic, clothes flinging people is overwhelming and I am often flabbergasted by how rude and mercenary some shoppers in children’s boutiques suddenly become in the heat of the moment. Most times I decide that finding that extra special child’s poncho on sale for a few measly dollars less is not worth the trouble and I will wait until the sale has been on for a few days or a week. This often means sorting through the leftovers but prices will usually be even further reduced.

Another thing is that sale prices are sometimes pretty pathetic and only a few dollars off the original price. Make sure you are thinking clearly and are not just in a frenzied-sales-mindset which is so easy to get into. Use the tip from last week of asking yourself if your child really needs the piece of clothing and also perhaps ask yourself if you would pay twice the price for it anyway.

The only other negative thing about sale shopping for the following year that comes to mind is that your child will be wearing last season / year’s clothes. Probably not really a major concern for thrifty shoppers but I know that it does matter to some and maybe to those who have picky pre-teens.

Reader suggestions:

Heather writes:

“I stock up on basics, like t-shirts, cardigans, shoes, socks, and leggings at the end of the season sales. I buy the same thing in several sizes ahead and various colors. When something is outgrown, I just go to the closet to get the next size.”

Andi writes:

“A lot of the kids boutiques give discounts when you buy more than a set number of items at the end of season sales. There’s one that gives 75% off their designer wear when you buy 8 pieces or more at the end of the season. I grab what fits my boys (or will fit my boys) and make up the eight with stuff I can sell on ebay. It works out so that I don’t pay anything for the stuff for my kids because I’ve made up the difference selling the other pieces.”

Tags: 11yrs+, 5 7yrs, 8 10yrs, babies, Dressing your child on a budget, frugal, sales, shopping

Kiddley reader Jen from Semantically Driven submitted her tips for dressing your kids a tight budget. We decided to turn her ideas into topics for a series which will run over a number of weeks.

Last week we looked at Hand-me-downs and next week’s article will be on looking for clothing on sale in regular stores, followed by buying and selling kids clothing on Ebay and finally making clothes for your kids… If you are interested in submitting your own tips on these future topics please do so. If you have any tips for this week or last week’s topics please leave them in the comments.
This week we are exploring the intoxicating world of buying kids’ clothes second-hand.

Jen says:

Op-shops (thrift shops): Keep an eye out for children’s clothing in op shops. It’s possible to pick up some great stuff in almost perfect condition… if you’re fashion conscious for your child, is that fashions are cyclic so something that was fashionable 20 years ago is probably fashionable again now if you’re lucky enough to find something from that long ago… there are more babies and toddlers clothes available in op shops because they haven’t had the chance to be worn out as easily as older kids clothes.

Specialty secondhand clothing shops: The other option in second-hand clothing shops is the specialty clothing shops for kids. Usually you can take in your pre-loved items of clothing and get some money for them and you can buy pre-loved clothing there as well. This clothing is a bit more expensive but still cheaper than buying brand new.

Kiddley Says:

It really does make complete sense to buy second hand clothing for your kids. Nothing last more than a few months in those early years so it’s hard to justify spending huge amounts on designer clothing when it will get such limited wear. Likewise, the second hand stuff you can find in thrift stores, flea-markets, consignment stores and garage sales often has only had a little use and can be still quite new and up-to-date (or as Jen mentions, excitingly vintage!). You really need to do a little exploration of your local op-shops and find out which ones are discerning and stock the better stuff. I have seen baskets of faded, greying, stained kids clothing many-a-time which makes my skin kind of crawl even imagining dressing a child in them, but in other places I have found heart-stoppingly cute things which I can’t believe anyone would toss.

Our local flea-market seems to be a goldmine for baby and children’s clothing. Quite often there will be whole stalls of goods manned by parents whose littlies are obviously not so little anymore. As with all flea-market (and garage sale) excursions, it’s important to go early to get the best stuff.

Stephanie at Little Birds has a great list of things to keep in mind when going out thrifting. She has useful tips such as “Keep a thrift store wish-list. Sometimes you need a little reminder.” and her golden “Is this worth twice the price to me?” rule which is something I really need to keep in mind. She also mentions how she manages to thrift shop with kids… “If my kids aren’t happy being there, we leave. I try to make it work, but I much prefer going thrifting on my own or with an adult companion!”

HGTV has a page of tips for shopping at garage sales, including “Take clothing measurements of family members ahead of time. Carry a list of sleeve lengths, inseams, neck, chest and waist sizes, and pack along a cloth measuring tape to see if items are likely to fit” (useful!)

Here are some more pages of tips for garage sale shopping:
Shopping Tips for National Garage Sale Day &
14 Tips to Help You Find Great Deals at Garage Sales

Gurl.com has a guide to thrifting for teens — and while most of the stuff is very much about finding groovy vintage looks and taking the time to swot up on your vintage labels so you can spot a good bargain, it also has some invaluable advice such as “Go to the bathroom and eat before you go. There’s nothing worse than having to pee while you’re trying to thrift.” (!) and “Get to know the sorters: They can tip you off when good stuff comes in, or even set it aside.”

A wonderful book on the subject of Thrifting is the now classic:

Thrift Score by Al Hoff.

It now seems to be sadly out of print, but you can still find it second hand it seems.

Reader suggestions:

Adrianne points us to her friend’s new venture - Baby & Kid’s Market with Australian dates and locations.

“I have bought so many fab clothes for my children here from 50 cents to $20. If you go early you get the best choices but if you leave it to late in the day the bargains are unbelievable! A great way to declutter your cupboards and take a stand against mass consumerism whist dressing your kids in stylish clothes”

Heather writes:

“I frequent thrift stores in a wealthy area, where kids tend to wear uniforms for private schools, moms and grandmas like to shop at children\’s boutiques, and families are small so clothes are rarely handed down to siblings. Most of these parents are not interested in holding tag sales or dealing with consignment stores, so they donate carloads of practically new clothes and toys to the charity thrift stores. In fact, a lot of what I buy from the thrift IS new and unworn.”

Asha from Parent Hacks has some tips for selling your kids’ used clothes and one of her readers sent in a tip for making sure you match clothes (sizes and styles) in the store so that you come away with a few useful complete outfits rather that lots of odds and ends.

Iona says:

” I’ve only recently started thrifting and overcoming my congenital blindness to op shops and garage sale signs, so what I’m about to mention is probably appallingly obvious but here goes anyway. Op shops are great for kid sized pieces of fabric going very cheaply. But I’ve found the greatest saving is in sewing patterns - these often sell for 50c or $1 which is a whole lot better than $15 or $18. Many are unused; there are lots of kid’s patterns; and sometimes there are great vintage finds.
The best finds have been sewing manuals such as a 1979 Simplicity sewing manual ($2!) which covered fitting, pattern alterations and sewing technique and other manuals for stretch knit fabrics. This has given me the confidence to go through the patterns and make the most of what I find - if the pattern’s a size 3 but my child is size 4 I know that I’ll be able to adjust the pattern to fit.”

Thank you for your ideas this week. If you have any more around the topic of buying second-hand kids’ clothes please leave them in the comments below. If you have any useful tips for next week’s topic which is finding bargains in regular stores, please be sure to email them to us.

Tags: 11yrs+, 5 7yrs, 8 10yrs, babies, Dressing your child on a budget, flea market, frugal, garage sale, preschoolers, second hand, shopping, thrifting, toddlers

Kiddley visitor Jen from Semantically Driven submitted her tips for dressing your kids a tight budget. We have decided to turn her ideas into topics for a series which will run over a number of weeks.

This week we are looking at Hand-me-downs and next week it’s all about buying second hand clothes at thrift stores and consignment stores. After that it’s about looking for clothing on sale in regular stores, followed by buying and selling kids clothing on Ebay and finally making clothes for your kids… If you are interested in submitting your own tips on these topics please do so.

But now, back to this week… Hand-me-downs.

Jen says:

“Spread the word that you’re in the market for hand-me-downs. Most parents are glad to off-load the clothes their child has grown out of so you will be doing them a favour. As a child gets older they might get more fashion conscious and they wear out their clothes as the level of activity increases, so hand-me-downs are easier to obtain for younger children.”

Kiddley says:

I have a small group of friends who share kids’ clothing. Because our kids are all different ages and all born in different seasons things cycle around the group depending on need. Obviously we don’t share anything we aren’t prepared to lose to permanent staining, under the bed clothes-eating monsters or the kinder lost property box but it means there are good amounts of basic gear on hand for each new child.

Each family has stitched a small number of stitches in a bright coloured thread inside the back of the collars which indicates which family the clothing needs to be returned to. Our family is green, another is pink, another is purple and so on. Some of us do just write our initials on the label in the pen — but sometimes labels need to be cut off for comfort’s sake.

Drawbacks are that if you grow particularly attached to an item (as I did with one set of pajamas that didn’t belong to us but became synonymous with Amelia’s babyhood in my mind) you need to either let it go or lean on your friendship a little to keep it. Also things do start to get rather worn and stained so the pile needs replenishing from time to time and favourite pieces hit the rag bag sooner than otherwise.

I make sure I always buy nice new clothes to give to one particular family’s kids for birthdays who happen to be the oldest and the front of the queue, not so that we will end up inheriting them, but as a kind of thank you for their trail-blazing kindness.

Jen’s quite right about hand-me-downs being more common for babies and toddlers. Not only do the clothes of older children wear out more quickly, they also stop growing so quickly and tend to wear their clothes over a longer period of time so the supply starts to dry up!

Tags: babies, clothing, Dressing your child on a budget, frugal, hand me downs, toddlers