12 Tips for Saving Money on Clothing for your Kids

Clothing for kids is adorable.

Everything is cuter when it's TINY - right?

It's easy to get sucked into buying cute items and it doesn't take long to run up the tab creating a darling wardrobe for your little person.  I have some tips for you that will keep you from spending TONS of money on clothes for your child.  I am no expert, but I'm excited to share my 12 money saving tips with you!!  I pick out really cute, comfy, practical things for Olive and almost never pay full price for them.  She gets complimented on her outfits often so I think my deal hunting ways are working just fine for us :)

1. BE THRIFTY!  Find good thrift shops in your area and frequent them.  I am still working on this one in Mississippi, but you can get GREAT deals at Goodwill or DI.  I also know many people who have great luck at garage sales and I'm still new to that arena so I don't have many tips about that.

2. CLEARANCE - Shop the clearance sections of your favorite stores.  I always have good luck with Target, TJ Maxx, Carters, Old Navy, GAP and sometimes Wal-Mart.  I scored big last week when Target had a special deal with their cartwheel app for an additional 20% off clearance.  I frequent them often and am always thinking ahead.  I know things will continue to get marked down so I will often wait for prices under $4.

3. SIZE CHART - Shop one season ahead for your child.  I can't predict the future or how fast Olive will grow right now so I only feel good about buying one year ahead. She's tall for her age and is already wearing 2T so I'm buying 3T for next fall knowing they might be a little big.  I am fine with that option because there's nothing worse that trying to squeeze your child into an outfit that is too small (not that I would have any experience with that... :)

4. TAKE INVENTORY - Take time to inventory the clothes you have before going out to buy more.  I was shocked to find that I'd bought duplicates of items on clearance because I'd failed to check out what we had before I shopped.  Luckily it only happened once and I have learned my lesson.  I organize Olive's wardrobe by size.  I have her drawers set up so the next size is right below her current size.  I've found that I'm prepared for the coming season if I organize it ahead of time instead of just tossing it in her closet.  Keep track of how many pj sets you have, dresses, outfits, etc so that you can shop smart.  I often keep a running list of things Olive needs on my phone that I can reference it when I'm out shopping.

5. SAVE ON PJS - Don't spend a ton of money on pjs.  They will get dirty, kids are hard on them and they do not hold up very well.  I usually buy Carter's pjs when they are on sale and haven't been able to justify GAP or higher end brands that change $30+ for pjs even on sale.

6. HAND ME DOWNS - Accept hand me downs with open arms.  Olive is one of the younger cousins on my side and we have been so lucky to have several little girls ahead of her.  My sister and SIL have been super generous and passed down their favorite things to Olive.  This has saved me TONS of money and I've gotten some really nice things for her to wear.  I've also saved all of her clothes just in case we were to ever have another girl.  If so, I'm prepared and if not I am prepared to consign most of it.

7. SHOES - I have yet to master the idea of buying shoes ahead.  Olive's feet grew really fast for the first year or so and have been close to the same size for many months now.  I am clueless as to how fast they will grow in the future so I have completely avoided buying shoes on clearance for the following year.  I want them to fit her well, to be supportive and cute and I feel like it's too big of a gamble for me right now.  I have noticed that consignment shops often have a shoe section so I'm hoping as she gets older I'll have a better gauge on how her feet will grow and what size to buy.  But for now, we are just buying her shoes as she needs them.  I also buy her solid colored shoes that will go with many different outfits.  That saves me from having to buy lots of different shoes.

8. SPLURGE on occasion - I have splurged on a handful of items for Olive - nice shoes, a special occasion dress or a few other must have items.  I will pay full price if it's for something special or for something really unique that I know I can't get somewhere else.  I don't splurge often so it's fun to do it occassionally when I know that I have gotten great deals on the majority of her clothes.

9. NOT TOO FANCY - Avoid buying tons of dressy shoes or fancy dresses/clothes.  It's easy to want to buy shoes to match every outfit or tons of sparkly dresses, but try to think about how many times your child will actually wear them.  Sundays in the South are for dressing up so I know that Olive will wear a dress every Sunday.  She has a cute collection of dresses, but not an excessive amount.  I try hard to only buy a few dress up items and lots of cute play clothes.

10. GIFTS - Ask for gifts of clothes from family/friends for holidays.  I know this isn't super exciting, but I always let people know what size Olive is wearing and appreciate clothes we are given.  Most have been given with gift receipts which is amazing.  I do exchange sizes and sometimes the item if I don't think Olive will wear it.

11. ON-LINE - Do some of your shopping on-line.  I got amazing deals from Old Navy & Target at Christmas on kid's clothes.  Everything was drastically marked down, free shipping and easy in store returns were great.  I get emails from on-line retailers all day long.  I send all of them to my junk folder so I'm not tempted to shop daily and then search my junk folder when I need a coupon code.  I check sites like Zulily and GroopDeals when I'm in the market for something, but don't check their daily deals so I'm not tempted to shop all day every day.

12. HOLIDAYS - it's fun to have something festive to wear when any holiday rolls around.  There are TONS of options for kids and they are all darling.  I've seen so many Easter bunny things that are monogrammed and I know that Olive would look adorable in them.  However, I try to stick to buying one or two holiday themed things for the holiday.  I got Olive a dress for Valentine's Day that she can wear this year and next and found a great deal on tops with hearts on them at Old Navy.  She can wear all of these things for several months because they don't say Happy Valentine's Day on them.  I buy generic St. Patrick's Day stuff so that she can also wear it to cheer on the Irish during football season.  This is another great area to shop ahead on - pay attention to the clearance racks after the holidays and pick up stuff for the following year.

I know that was a lot, but it's a big job to outfit your little people on a budget.

What do you think?  Do you have any other ways to save on kid's clothes?

I'd love to hear them (and so would my hubby!!)