When you are buying clothes for four children, you have to find the bargains. Here are some tricks I use for getting a great deal:
- Check the clearance racks and shop ahead by a size or two. Keep the clothes in storage boxes in the top of the closet by size.
- Visit yard sales. When you find someone that sells the sizes you are looking for, give them an index card with your name, phone number or email address, and kids’ sizes. Ask them to call you when they are having another yard sale.
- Use social buying (Groupon, Mamapedia, Totsy, Zulily and others) to snag great deals. Here is a recent purchase from an Old Navy Groupon I had:
By posting the daily deals for Groupon on my Facebook and Twitter feeds, I earn credit when my friends sign up and purchase their first Groupon. With that free credit, I purchased an Old Navy Groupon deal to get $20 worth of Old Navy clothes for just $10. That cost me nothing out of my pocket since I had the credit in my account.
At Old Navy, I shopped the clearance racks and even had Bill on his knees looking under tables for deals. We found 10 shirts for less than $2 each, some of them were less than $1, and the outfit for Ariary was less than $8.
The total OOP for this trip was $3.08, including tax.
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Sign up for rewards programs like the one at Toys R Us to earn free credit to stores. Here is a transaction using my Toys R Us Rewards bucks:
.I received a $5 rewards coupon from Toys R Us just because I have a rewards card. Babies R Us marked their clearance for an additional 25% off. I packed a buggy with shirts that were marked for $2 or less. They took the additional 25% off and I used my $5 coupon.
Total cost OOP was $5.05, including tax.
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Also, let friends know that you accept hand-me-downs. Periodically, I post on Facebook that I am open to hand-me-downs and I post the sizes I am looking for. My friends always come through! In return, I post when I have cleaned out the closets and pass those clothes along.
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Consignment sales are awesome for getting name brand clothes at extremely reasonable prices. Typically, I use those sales for getting Sunday dress clothes.
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While I have not used ThredUp, I have friends who do and they like it a lot. You box your clothes and post what you have and then can kind of trade for other clothes.
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Take care fo the clothes you have by treating stains immediately and patching pants as needed.
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Shop through Ebates when you are shopping online to earn cash back that you can use towards more clothes.
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Learn to sew and make the clothes yourself.
I’m not afraid to go to thrift stores like Good Will and Salvation Army.. I get the best deals there and even new stuff with tags still on it! It is the same thing as going to a yard sale.. Yard sales can sometimes be a little cheaper since some people price everything at .25-1.00 but thrift stores are still $1-2 usually. I myself get a lot of clothes there and no one has a clue! I’m often complimented on my clothing and my baby’s clothing. My baby boy is a month old and has a dresser full of stuff.. some was from the baby shower but most I got at goodwill for $0.50-2.00 He has so many cute clothes and I can have him wear something different every day (multiple outfits a day usually). Saving money on clothing enables us to be able to afford other things or just be able to afford life in general..bills, necessities..etc.
Clearance racks are awesome too. If you shop the summer clearance at the end of summer and save it for the next year at summer time..you can save a ton. For example..swim suits can be super expensive..$20-50.. but you can get them for $1-10 at the end of summer usually. Winter coats are another expensive buy that I always try to get at the end of the season.. just save it for the next winter and you have a cheap new winter coat that originally cost a lot.. A $100 coat for $25 or something.. you can save a lot if you shop right! 🙂
I keep saying that I am going to do that, Danielle, but never do. One day… one day… 🙂