The other day, I was talking to another friend of mine who was distraught about having to buy her child’s back-to-school wardrobe all at once. “So expensive,” she said, adding that she’d spent more than $600 on her son’s clothing.
She knows what I do (both for a living and in my personal life as a coupon/deal shopper!) but when she asked how much I spent on back-to-school, I said “I have no idea – I bought all of their clothes for the coming year slowly, whenever I saw deals.”
Some people get this, and others don’t. That’s okay, but financially, it’s what works for our family. I also like knowing that we’re never in “panic mode” wardrobe-wise. Grew out of your jeans? That’s okay – there’s a stack of jeans in the next size up just waiting in your closet. Favorite hoodie doesn’t fit? Hand it down to your little brother, and go grab a new one from your closet.
Since my kids were very young, I’ve built their wardrobes piece by piece – often just one or two pieces at a time. Anytime I see a good price on something I know they’ll need, I buy it. This usually means I’m shopping out of the current season.
For example, right now I’ve been finding great deals on summer clothing, shirts and shorts. As we’re heading into fall, I’m buying things one and two sizes larger than my son wears right now in anticipation of next summer.
I also don’t miss an opportunity to use a good coupon! This morning, I got a $10-off-$10 coupon for JC Penney in my email. Unless I personally need something for myself, I always head right to the kids’ clothing racks and scour them for deals.
I needed another item to get over $10 to use my coupon, so I picked out a cute Arizona tunic shirt/dress for my niece (who also benefits from Aunt Jill’s clothes shopping strategies!) It was marked down to $3.99. With the extra 25% off, it dropped to $2.99.
With my $10-off-$10, I paid .48 for both items. Adding .04 for tax, I was out the door for .52 for both items — a steal!
theresa1740 says
$600 is insane and for a boy. The chicago tribune had this in July about predicted spending for back to school and that is for supplies, clothes etc. https://www.chicagotribune.com/business/breaking/chi-back-to-school-spending-20140717-story.html Why does one need to buy all the clothes for school to go back to school. Then your child may out grow them before we even get to jean season. Once my son hit size 10-12 pants I found it harder to stockpile ahead, but still shop sales and use coupons. Boys do not need near as many clothes as girls and the character T shirts disappear for them. Girls/juniors can still have tinkerbell or whatever the going character is for that season. For the high school daughter to start school we bought a new pair of running shoes at Famous Footwear on the B1G1 half off and used a 20% off coupon too. Also 3 new tops at JCP with a $10 off 10 and a $10 off $25. She has way too many clothes but wanted a few new items. Bought sale gluesticks, colored pencils and a new 13 pocketfolder and she was set. Rest in supplies extra from last year bought on sale. And so we start the school year at least $550 or so richer than your friend.
mabzeiss says
I do the same thing, and also shop several sizes ahead at kids’ consignment sales. Because I shop several sizes ahead, I can be a little more choosy on what I purchase. I also have learned that for me, it is easier to purchase girls’ clothing when it is a set already matched together. Then I don’t have to worry about matching it later!
llamalluv says
Your example right here is pretty much how I shop for my kids. I also hit thrift and consignment shops and accept ALL hand me downs (and sort out the bad stuff at home). I currently have clothing for my 3 YO boy all the way up to size 8, and for my not yet 1 YO daughter, we’ve got stuff all the way up to size 5.
This is also why I’m driven absolutely batty by the insane uniform requirement at our PUBLIC school. They claim one of the “benefits” is that it is inexpensive, but your example above proves it is really not cheaper to buy one specific shirt that costs $5, compared to having all shirts available to be purchased on clearance with coupons. Almost none of the clothes I have stockpiled for my little boy can be worn to Kindergarten. It is very hard to find solid black pants and shorts in good condition at thrift shops, and almost impossible to find maroon “polo-style” shirts without any logos.
Supermom10 says
I just thought I would post this – maybe it will help someone else. My daughter is in a private high school and has to wear a uniform with the school logo. It is very expensive, but she asked a senior last year if she could buy her clothes when she graduates –for half price. Lucky for us – they were all free! (My daughter gave her a gift card as a big Thank you!) All were in good condition except for white blouses – which she only needs to wear once a week – so that was the only thing I needed to buy. Also, some of the schools sell the uniforms cheaper certain times of the year.
Outlander says
Unfortunately, this shopping ahead doesn’t work for me anymore. My kids are 13, 11 and 9 and they only wear what they want now, and usually don’t like what anyone else picks for them. Plus, my boys are HUGE, for some time now (a couple of years) I have been buying men’s sizes for them. They are already bigger than half the adults. They have always been above 99% on the growth charts, there isn’t even the room on the chart for their age and size. We have no idea who they are after in our family, nobody is that giant. :)
Anyway, they are very opinionated when it comes to fashion so I can’t buy anything anymore without asking them if they’ll wear it, or it goes to waste.