10 ways to save money on summer clothes for kids

Kids grow out of their clothes way too fast! And buying new clothes for your kids all the time can be quite expensive and unrealistic.

By being a little creative and strategic, you can save money while keeping your children clothed. Here are 10 ways that you can save money on summer clothes for your kids:

1. Alter winter clothing to create summer clothes for your kids. Turn jeans that are getting a little short into cutoffs or capris. Pair a dress that is getting too short with leggings and the dress becomes a baby doll top. Remove the fleece lining from winter pants and wear them through the summer. Create a short sleeve shirt by removing the mock long sleeve from “double” sleeve shirts.

2. Look for summer clothes at a thrift store. Thrift stores offer a wide selection of clothing for children. With a little bit of searching you can find some well made items for your kids. Most thrift stores offer a dressing room so you can have your child try on the clothing before making a purchase.

3. Take the clothing your children have outgrown to a consignment shop. You can use what you earn from selling their old clothing to buy their summer clothes. Consignment stores often give you the option of taking store credit in lieu of a payment. Look at the terms carefully; sometimes taking store credit allows you to receive a higher percentage on the items you sell and receive it sooner than if you choose to wait for a payment.

4. Garage sales are a very frugal source of clothing for kids. Children’s clothing is usually priced lower at yard sales than it is at thrift stores. Look on Craigslist for garage sales in your area that will be selling children’s items. You can often send an email to the person holding the garage sale and ask them what size clothing they will have so you can be more strategic in the garage sales that you choose to visit.

5. ThredUP is a good resource for gently used children’s clothing. This is a particularly good choice if you don’t have any consignment shops in your area because you can sell your kids’ used clothing and earn credit to buy clothing in the next size up for your children.

6. Organize a clothing swap with other parents in your area. You can hold the clothing swap in someone’s house or at a local church.

7. Buy summer clothing on Ebay. You can find both new and used children’s clothing on Ebay. It is easy to search by brand, style, and size to find exactly what you need.

8. Use Savings.com to find a discount code. Try as you might to buy all your kids’ summer clothes second-hand, sometimes you have to break down and buy a few new things. Look for sales, comparison shop online, and be sure to grab a discount code to maximize your savings on new items. Additionally, when buying pants or shorts, look for adjustable waists so your child can get extra wear out of them.

9. Think ahead when shopping from the clearance section. Summer clothing will start being deeply discounted right after 4th of July. This is a good time to start stocking up for next year.

10. Don’t toss stained clothing! You can extend the life of stained shirts by tie-dying them. If you don’t have any dye on hand, you can use bleach to tie-bleach clothing, which creates a similar effect for even less money.

How do you save money on summer clothes for your children?

Alea Milham shares her tips for saving money and time while reducing waste in her home at Premeditated Leftovers. She also shares the latest deals and coupons at Saving in Nevada. Her favorite hobby, gardening, is a frugal source of organic produce for her recipes.

(Source: Savings.com)