Shopping for Clothes on a budget!

Ok, here comes the groans! The seasons are changing, the kids are growing, we are wanting "something new" in our closet too. What are we to do? Go out and spend way too much on a SINGLE outfit? NOOOOOOO

I was watching Dr. Phil a couple days ago and they were showing how to save money... had the "most frugal family in america" on...whatever... LOL ANYWAY... All they talked about was shopping at thrift stores for clothes. Yes, I will admit 90% of our clothes probably do come from thrift stores, and we have great ones around here I take full advantage of, but sometimes you just want that feel of "new" on you!

So, what do you do? Well, what we do is we buy basics at thrift stores. Basics meaning Pants, tshirts, coats (if possible, usually can), and pop up needs, we also buy shoes there. During the summer months, kids are out of school, if they are going to daycare, and even if they are not, really they don't need the latest and greatest because they are going to be sweating, playing hard and getting their clothes dirty all day. That's where thrift stores come in handy. Look at the tags, before you look at the style of the shirt, pant, etc! I shop by brand at my thrift stores! I know how much things are, so that isn't an issue, I look for the brands that kids are wearing now, Abercrombie, Aeropostale, American Eagle, Gap, Limited, Limited Too, Old Navy, etc. Just ask your kids what brands... believe me, they know! One reason I go for brand is because of the name recognition, but the other is truly quality! They just hold up better! So, for summer, thrift is good for 100% of their clothes!

School time poses other issues. Wanting to "fit in" "look right" etc. It is soooo hard for kids these days. What I did this year that really seemed to work well, is I got Jeans at thrift stores (and bought more as needed from there), and shirts at stores at the mall! OK, Ok, here we go spending tons of money, right? NOPE! Some of my favorite stores for girls (since that is all I have) are Limited, Too, Children's Place, and Old Navy. These 3 stores are amazing! A lot of times you can go in there, and head straight back to the back. In the clearance sections you will find prices lowered (sometimes- eh, sometimes wow!), but the good deal is when they are slashed really good, AND there is an additional 30%, 40% or more OFF the clearance price! When we put our girls in public school, I racked up over $400 of clothes at Limited too, for about $150! doing that . That was just after labor day, fyi! Then some places will give you cards for "buy $50, save $25" good for other dates, so go back and get $50 worth of clearance items for $25! See! You can get new clothes for your kids! I'm sure there are savings like these at shoe stores, I just haven't wandered to those yet. LOL I will be looking into those this year.

Ok, so the kids are taken care of, what about the ADULTS! We have to be dressed nice for work, right? What if we want a date night? Even Stay at home Moms/Dads deserve nice clothes too! Ok, so, I already told you about thrift stores, get your basics there, pants, tshirts, some shoes. You can even find nice dress shoes there! BUT if you want to "dress for success" you want stylish, new clothes. I don't blame you. Who doesn't. So, again, go to stores and head straight for the clearance sections. Awesome places for deals. My favorite stores for clothing deals: Kohls (men/women/kids), Ross (Men/women), Target (women, men, kids), Lane bryant (women), Sears (Men, women, kids, shoes), Old Navy (men, women, kids)

Don't forget to check online at your favorite stores to see if they have a special clearance section of stuff that they don't have at stores, sometimes you can get some pretty cheap stuff!