Clothes shopping. My achilles heel. I coudl literally shop for hours in a day if time (and money) were no object... I liked clothing shopping before I had kids, but since they're arrived, I am a total sucker for seeing them look (extra) adorable in well thought out outfits. Many people around me think I'm completely nuts--and I probably am... But, there are far worse habits to try to keep in check... right? RIGHT?? Here are a few tips/tricks and thoughts about dressing your kiddos on the cheap.
1. Hand-Me-Downs are a BEAUTIFUL thing! Until they're AT LEAST three, kids won't really wear anything out. They may get stains or a bit of wear, but most kids aren't quite that tough on things. After age 3, all bets are off.... Garage Sales, Yard Sales, and Craigslist are great places to hunt for bargains, as many people are just wanting stuff gone by the time they have a garage sale or post to CL. That said, feel free to haggle with either. I may be in the minority, but if someone wants to purchase a lot of items, I'm usually THRILLED to negotiate a price to move the merchandise so to speak.
2. Shop a season ahead (or more) if you can. You'll find the best deals on winter stuff when they start putting out summer. I tend to not ever pay more than about 50% off of retail prices for any kids clothes, unless it's a really special item or accessory that matches something we already have. It's sometimes hard when the kids are really tiny, but if you save receipts, often you can return items if they don't end up working. We have items in the closet for a year (and a few for further out that that) in advance. Certainly if storage is an issue, you may not want to go too crazy, but assuming you have a place to store your stuff, you can save a ton this way.
3. Check for coupons before you go to any retail store. Many big name kids stores have coupons online, or in magazines. I was (OK... I *am*) a huge fan of Gymboree when the Queen Bee was a baby, and discovered that if I shopped sales AND used my 20% off coupons, I could come close to the price of "regular" items at the larger stores, and wind up with more special items. Many stores will have week long sales sporadically throughout the year, too, so do your homework and check out store websites before embarking on a shopping mission.
4. Back to that hand-me-down business... Consignment stores are a great way to snag name brand goodies at discount (or better!) prices. I find some great items at 75% off of retail (or more) at local consignment stores, and most will have sale racks at any given time also, making the deals even sweeter. I've scored matching sets for a dollar or two that would cost $30 or $40 in store. PLUS, sweeten the deal further by taking your used kids items and consigning them and using the return to buy for your kids for the following season(s). That's a no-brainer to me. :-)
5. Other great ideas... Find someone to swap with. When I lived on the East Coast, I found a mom who had a son (I had a daughter at the time) and she was expecting a girl and I was expecting a boy... We swapped about 4 rubbermaid totes of clothes and I didn't have to buy much of any boy stuff for the first year and a half of being a boy-mom. If you're looking for something special that you can't find in-store or at a consignment store, try eBay. You can often find great deals there if you do some looking--I found an Easter dress for the Queen for $6 shipped. Can't beat that anywhere.
I have plenty more to say on this topic... but will save that for a bit later when I can elaborate a bit further...
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