Clothing Your Children for Less

One of the great challenges of becoming a parent is doing so without breaking the budget. Here are some tips that I've found along the way.

1. Shop early. Don't go shopping for a coat when it is freezing outside and you can't possibly wait for a good deal. First of all, the selection will be limited. A season ahead is ideal. So at the end of this summer, try to guess what size your child will wear NEXT summer and buy them at rock bottom prices

2. Look for staples. Staples don't go out of style. Think classic cuts and classic colors. Khaki, navy, black, white. Classic items can be passed down to other children and staples can be easily mixed and matched.

3. Accept hand me downs. Hand me downs have gotten a bad rap. Most parents are trying to hand down quality items with lots of life left in them. Go through the bags and find what you like and what fits. If the items are stained, throw them out but if they are perfectly fine pass them to another friend or drop them off at the Goodwill or at your local church.

4. Check the clearance racks often. Usually retailers are pushing items to the clearance racks before that season is over and there is plenty of time left to wear them.

5. Sign up for emails and advertisements from stores that you enjoy. Gymboree, Children's Place, Limited Too, and even consignment shops have mailing lists and often send advertisements for sales or even coupons. For maximum benefits, use the coupons on clearance or sale items.

6. Keep a list of what you have and what you are looking for. I learned this tip after pulling out a tote of clothes that I had bought on sale and clearance for the next season and had a whole box of blue jeans. Now I keep a small notebook in my purse with sizes and lists of what I'm looking for.

7. Size up on things that don't matter. Pajamas are an easy item to do this. Buy a size up and then you can get more wear out of them.

8. Don't toss stained articles of clothing. I always keep a few outfits for playing outside in the sandbox, painting, working in the yard etc. Some stains aren't really noticeable and those go with my children to grandma's house, since she isn't as "mess conscious" as I am.

9. Look for second hand items. Children grow really fast and rarely can completely wear out an item. I check consignment stores and Goodwill for items like jeans, shorts, coats, etc. And make sure you look a few sizes ahead. Remember tip #1.

10. Check Ebay. Ebay has a lot of NWT (new with tags) and EUC (excellent used condition) items. Just make sure to watch the shipping charges when figuring total cost of an item.

11. Buy in neutral colors. Instead of buying your daughter a pink coat and only getting a season or two out of it and buying your son a blue coat with the same lifespan. Buy the oldest a color like red that your daughter can wear and then pass to your son. Of course watch and make sure it is a unisex style too.

12. Consign or resell items. Once you are done with an item go ahead and consign it or ebay it. As a last resort try a yardsale. Use that money for the next season's clothes.

13. Trade or resale uniforms. If your child has to wear uniforms to school, see if the school has a "swap day." It is much cheaper than buying new each year and allows you to unload last year's uniform as well.