Go shopping for clothes and save money – and time!
Can that happen? We think so! And I’m sharing ways we’ve been able to save (a lot!) when buying clothes,
especially for the kids.
I now (almost exclusively) shop at seasonal consignment sales. Our favorites are:
I’ve also shopped at WeeCycled Wear once and was very pleased with my finds.
These sales are well-organized. (I’ve even gotten my dear hubby to go with me!) And we’ve found great (name-brand!) clothes for the whole family. The links
above are for sales in my area, now gearing up for spring and summer clothes sales in
the next month or so. If you don’t live in the Upstate, do a quick “Google”
search for local consignment sales in your area.
If the dates for the seasonal sales don’t coordinate with our (travel) schedule, I shop at local consignment shops. My favorites are:
Again, the links are for sales in my area, but do a quick online search for
similar shops in your area. Or ask other moms at church, etc. That’s how I found out
about Kids & More!
I shop online to “fill in gaps” for items still needed but not found at consignment sales
or shops. My favorite online consignment site is:
Right now (through January 18 extended through January 21!) use coupon code SAVE10 at check-out to get $10 off your first order at ThredUp!
Whenever possible I shop through either Ebates or ShopAtHome to get a percentage of cash back. Every
little bit really does add up! I’m currently expecting over $30 in
cash back from ShopAtHome and about $7 from Ebates. (You can read about Ebates
in an earlier post: Get $5 plus a $10 gift card when you place your first order!)
I click through either Ebates or ShopAtHome (whichever is offering a higher percentage of cash back) when I shop online end-of-the-season clearance sales, especially at The Children’s
Place and Gymboree.* These are typically quality clothes that wear (and resell!)
well. I’ve found clearance sales to be a great way to shop ahead for birthdays,
too. Just this past summer I found Olympic t-shirts for the nephews for an average
of $2 to $3 each! And I’m excited that online-clearance-sale-shopping-for-birthdays is something I’ll still be able to do when living out of the country!
I shop at outlet malls for items typically not found at second-hand sales (i.e. underclothes
and socks).
I include needed clothing items on Christmas and/or birthday wish lists. Admittedly, said
lists are right now authored mostly by me, and I can take advantage of the fact that our kids are still too young to
object to getting undershirts from grandparents for Christmas!
And some practical tips I’ve picked up along the way...
Before
going online or to a sale, make lists of needed items. Then look for items that will coordinate
with other items on your lists or with items you already have. I learned this lesson late (as
I was “buying ahead” for our move overseas), so I’ve been especially thankful
for current online sales that included some child items needed right now!
Unless you’re saving clothes for younger little ones, resell clothes (as your kids outgrow them) through local consignment sales (where you’ll get a higher percentage by doing the tagging yourself) or take them to a local consignment shop (where you’ll get a lower percentage by simply dropping them off). Save and then use the profits to offset future clothing purchases.
Avoid
going to the mall to “just look!” This probably goes without saying. And I
admit that it’s easy for me to say because I just don’t like going to the mall
unless I’m going for a specific purpose (like taking a specific list and going to spend
GymBucks I’ve already earned). But avoiding the mall is probably the top
way to avoid becoming discontent.
What are your ideas? How do you save when shopping for
clothes?
