When ShoestringUSA was small it was easy to get clothes from charity shops for him. Before he was born I bought everything he needed from the 50p baskets in those shops. These baskets always contained like new clothes for babies that had been outgrown before they were worn. We also asked for some special things as gifts and I made a lot, including his Christening gown and a sleeping bag as he was always kicking off the covers.
When Miss Shoestring came along a few years later the special pieces had been packed away and were brought out for re-use and we got a lot of hand-me-downs as by now we knew lots of other families with children. We discovered that as girls get older they are often more fussy about wearing second-hand clothing than boys and so I developed a strategy. The 'Tightwad Gazette' describes something similar. When new clothes were required the first shop was in the clothes cupboard where all the hand-me-downs and jumble sale finds were stored. Next stop was jumble sales and charity shops, next stop was sales online and in-store and then she had to pay something towards it herself. At 16 she got a monthly allowance, equivalent to what I spent, so it was very small ! The only exceptions to this were school shoes which we bought new.
Master Shoestring has worn nothing but hand-me-downs and birthday gifts since he was born but as he is about to change schools I might have to buy some new school uniform. However, there is a charity shop in the village where the school is so I shall definitely be checking that out before I buy a blazer and often the PTA in the school runs a second-hand uniform sale at some point in the year. Supermarkets also offer excellent value at the start of the new school year.
What do you do to save money on children's clothes ?
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