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Here is something that works for me, and saves our family money. I always try to buy second hand clothes before buying new.
Okay…I will admit, I probably do just buy new first sometimes, but more and more, I find that I don’t have a need to buy new because I was able to pick up something second hand.
Buying clothes second hand doesn’t mean wearing bowling shoe look-alikes and that your kids are wearing someone’s cast off Vacation Bible School t-shirt from 1998.
I think that my kids are decently well dressed. And, I would venture a guess that less than 10% of the clothes in their closets were purchased new by me.
Now…mind you, there are some new things in there, since they received them as gifts, but there also aren’t a lot of those either.
First source of second hand clothes — Molly has received a TON of hand-me-downs. I am never shy to say yes to someone that offers them up. I thank them immensely, and let them know how they have blessed us with their kindness. The last person to give us hand-me-downs gave us a big bag of clothes right at a time that I knew I was going to have to buy Molly new pajamas. Of course, because God is great, there were (I kid you not) at least 6 – 8 pairs of very cute almost all name brand pajamas in that bag — all in exactly Molly’s size!
I will almost always visit Once Upon a Child when my kids need new clothes. And, yes, I think it would be easy to spend a decent amount in there too. But…I do think I would spend more on those same clothes, and darn it — that’s good to me. I also sometimes take a jaunt through Goodwill, and while I do sometimes come upon some great finds there, they are not as plentiful as at Once Upon a Child (one of my sons even wore one shirt I bought there for school pictures one year, and Molly’s Christmas dress this year was a gorgeous Goodwill find while I was pregnant with her!).
Another great place to pick up clothes in my area is that a local school/church has a twice a year consignment sale. I spent just about $100 this last fall, and I got a play kitchen (once of those big plastic ones that we had been looking for), a couple of books, a couple of toys and puzzles (for therapy), and then got the kids around 30-ish pieces of clothing. Because I was a consignor at the sale (I received a check for $76 after the sale for my sales), I was able to shop on the consignor night (the night before it opens to the public). I plan on being a consignor at the spring/summer sale again for sure!
And, hey…maybe this way to save is rubbing off on Eric. He needed new shirts and some pants for work. He talked all about trying to look for sales at Penneys and Kohls. I suggested that he just take a peek at Goodwill. He didn’t seem too sure about that, but decided to humor me anyway. He had received $50 from his parents for Christmas, and headed out for a few errands (including Goodwill). I figured he would walk in and say he couldn’t find anything. But, instead he came in with a big bag! He spent $25 and got five nice button up shirts and a pair of slacks. (If he had bought them last week, they would have been the tag color for half price, we found out. Oh well!) He was VERY psyched, and already has plans to pop by Walmart with his other $25 for another pair for slacks and a package of underware. Seriously…it’s exciting to get that much stuff for so little, even Eric was excited!
Now, I will admit. I don’t buy second hand for myself. Because, well, darn it — I’m worth brand new stuff. No, I’m just joking. I just can’t seem to find decent clothes that are, well, plus-size, that are second hand. Everything I find is like a baggy tunic with huge flowers all over it or something like that. I would really love to find a source, and will keep my eyes peeled. But, for now, it just means I get a lot less “new” clothes than other people do.
So…try it, if you don’t already! Save money and bless your family with “new” clothes, while helping your budget as well.
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