Thank you Old Navy for sponsoring my post today about baby and toddler styles. Old Navy is giving you 30% off everything in their baby and toddler summer collection, plus get an additional 15% off in-store.
As many of you know, I have three little boys. I love to dress them in stylish clothing. I know a lot of people say it's hard to find stylish clothing for boys, but I have so much fun dressing them! I love making them look like little men...or rock stars.
Sometimes baby or toddler clothing can be hard to find at a good price. I want them to look adorable, but I don't want to spend a lot when they will grow out of it quickly or wear holes in the knees in what seems like a matter of minutes! It is great for me having three boys because I know I will be able to pass some items down to the younger ones.
I have found that I can find some really great clearance items toward the end of season to stock up on. Old Navy and Target are two of my favorite places to shop. They always have really great clearance. What I will usually do is hit the clearance section when the season is ending and buy clothing that I know will be the size of my sons the next year. This has worked really well for me. I have been able to find items as low as $1 (a few times I snagged some 25 cent items!) and they are stylish, trendy clothes! I have rarely have to pay full price for clothing. I have also been able to use great coupons (Old Navy always has some) and stack it with sale or clearance prices for some great deals.
Another thing I like to do is keep play clothing and nice clothing separate. This way I can buy clearance t-shirts and shorts that they can run around in and not worry about ruining. Then I can keep some other clothes as school or church clothes a bit nicer so they last longer. This stretches out my spending.
So what about you? What are your strategies for buying baby or toddler clothing on a budget? I would love to hear them!
I was selected for this sponsorship by the Clever Girls Collective, which endorses Blog With Integrity, as I do.
I adore Old Navy's little boy clothes! I stock up when they have 30% off sales and on their clearance. I also love Kmart's end of season clearance. It usually goes on sale for 15-25% off the marked price. I think my little girl's Easter dress cost less than $3 and I have a Christmas dress for this year that was less than $2. I'm dreading when my little boy is out of the toddler section next year. At least Old Navy has great 4t and up stuff too!!!
ReplyDeletei pretty much dress my two-year-old exclusively in consignment. we have several consignment stores here- once upon a child, re-kid, kid to kid... i can't justify paying full price, or even sale price, for stuff he'll only be wearing a few months, and they only sell clothing that's in good condition.
ReplyDeleteI buy all of our families clothing (well, about 98% of them) at garage sales. I just picked up Seven jeans for my husband and I last weekend (two pairs...we don't share!), and an entire summer wardrobe of Abercrombie and Fitch for my tween. I bought them all for less than one t-shirt would have cost and it's all in great shape! After my kids wear the clothes and outgrow them, I take them to the consignment shop. I typically cover the costs of the initial purchase when I resell them.
ReplyDeleteMy daughter-in-law is amazing. She clothes her 18 month daughter by remaking some of her own clothes through helps from blogs. She also pays attention to times when there is a swap and go gathering. When she is giving some hand-me downs if they are not just want she wants, she uses her creativity and remakes them to what she wants. She will be the first one to admit that she is not a seamstress, just really good at following directions.
ReplyDeleteWe are all about the thrift stores. I buy my boys cute, trendy stuff(seriously, most of their clothes are Gap and Old Navy, with some Circo-Target thrown in) for ridiculously cheap. Kids clothes are way cheaper than adults, usually under $4. We do Goodwill sometimes, but I have better luck at Savers.
ReplyDeleteGarage sales are definitely the most frugal way to buy clothes. Thrift stores are next on my list. My fav has 3 for 1 Wednesdays!! If you go often enough, you can afford to be picky.
ReplyDeleteI always have a bin for clothes that are too big too. If it's cute and cheap, buy it and save it for later.
I have been so blessed. My 13 year was in hand me downs from friends about 10 years. My 8 year old for the first 7 years of his life. The only thing I had to buy was socks, underwear, and sneakers.
ReplyDeleteEven this season I just pulled out all the clothes my youngest will need for summer (from my oldest last summer.)
My in laws take my kids shopping once a year (since they started school) and buy them a few new outfits and sweatshirts. It is such a blessing.
My mom just bought my youngest new sneakers.
Unfortionately my oldest has weird feeet and we just had to buy $100 shoes. Yikes.
I do not buy used: underwear, socks, and shoes (except snow boots and dress shoes that they barely wear.) Everything else is fair game.
We love garage sales and thrift stores and consignment shops. Rarely do I buy new clothes and then only on sale or clearance. I usually only buy new stuff when we need something specific (like my daughter needed a white sweater to wear this spring over dresses to church). We also get tons of stuff hand me down. We have several friends that pass along stuff. I always pass along our stuff too and I think the good vibes keep it coming to us too! I make and remake some for them both too. When I make things, I add extra inches in the hem to let them out. Also, I turn long pants and long sleeves into shorts and short sleeves so they get an extra season out of things before they grow out. I also have found that if I dress my son in darker colors, clothes last longer for him. He's messy!
ReplyDeleteMake friends with moms whose youngest kid is older (i.e. bigger sizes) than your kids. Most moms understand how expensive buying kids clothes can be and are more than happy to pass on used clothes to you rather than donate to Goodwill. Just casually say, "hey, if you ever need to get rid of some of Sam's old clothes, I'd be more than happy to take them off your hands." It seems nearly every month, I'll have a mom say "hey, I was just cleaning out Sam's closet. Could you use some shirts for Josh?" Combine this with clearance sales, thirft stores, and consignment shops and I rarely have to buy kid's clothes full price!
ReplyDeleteOne way I love to save is with Sears Kidvantage program. You can sign up at the register by giving them your info, its free. When your kids wear out their clothes or shoes, sears replaces them for free. This works awesome for my four kids (three boys in a row). I used to just buy cheap shoes for my kids because I couldn't justify spending $30 or more when they ruin them so quickly. Now I buy them a nice pair of sketchers or new balance on sale and sears ends up replacing them 3-4 times before they grow out of them. Also, then I have a brand new pair of shoes to pass down to the next boy in line. This works great for pants too. This program applies to clearance clothes as well which makes for great bargains!!
ReplyDeleteWe do Childrens Place online end of season clearance and get crazy amazing deals! at the end of last summer we bought our now 18 mo old boy shorts in every color for $2.50 each usually selling for almost $15 each and same with shirts! when they have their online blow out its insane!
ReplyDeleteEnd of season clearance is the way to go and online always has more options!!!
I agree with Andrea. With my little guy in tow and a little girl on the way, I make sure to stock up on clearance clothes at the end of the season. I just make sure to buy the size I think the kiddies will be in. Old Navy is usually my go to choice since they are fabulous with kids clothes. Another place I go is thrift stores, mainly because I could spend hours in there going through everything and something happens to catch my eye.
ReplyDelete