Tips for Parents on How to Shop for Kids Clothes on a Budget

Every season retail stores go through a clearance cycle. Following the cycle and managing an inventory of what types of clothing your child will need the next season is one of the best ways to shop. If you have a child and you are trying to maintain your budget here are some tips I use.

1. Follow Seasonal Sales. Big clearance months coordinate with holidays. When you shop on or the day before a holiday stores will often give an additional percentage off of their clearance items, which were already marked down.

2. Use retail coupons. I like the “Coupon App,” this app sends coupons to your phone that coordinate with stores located in your area. The last time I used the app I saved an additional $30 off of my entire purchase at Old Navy.

3. Take advantage of online clearance sites. One site I use is nomorerack.com, this site is a referral site that allows you to earn money that you can use on their site when you refer others. Nomorerack‘s merchandise is inexpensive (about 75% off the suggested retail value) and usually a good quality. The deals on this site are generally only available for 24 hours, starting at noon each day.

4. Shop at discount stores. While visiting in Alabama I came across a store called Dirt Cheap. This stores sells new items from stores like Target. The merchandise is often non-packaged, returns, or clearance items that did not sell. Big Lots is another discount brick and mortar discount store that is a great place to purchase children’s underclothes, accessories like belts and barrettes, and socks for a cheap price.

5. Shop at thrift stores. It is really amazing how many new items you can find at thrift stores. There are a lot of kids deals that can be found if you don’t mind looking through things. Just last week I found an almost new black pee-coat that would be great for my daughter to use as a church coat next year. Just make sure you turn the clothes inside out and inspect them for imperfections.

6. Shop for shoes out of season. I try to buy at least 1 tennis shoe, 1 church shoe, and 1 casual shoe for each of my children out of season. I estimate the shoe size by season and so far it has worked. Each summer my kids increase a shoe size so I make sure that they have shoes available for them when they have outgrown their current pair.

7. Coats. Best season to buy coats is the end of January and the beginning of February. If you can possible wait until President’s Day sales you will get the greatest discount, but you may not have a lot of size osr color options to choose from so if you want more choices I recommend buying the coats during Martin Luther King Day sales.

Reader question: What are different ways you try to budget and save on your children’s clothes?