He's happy!

In the last week or so, I’ve noticed that my handsome lil man (3 mos. old) has been wearing high water gear…not cool.  He needed new clothes.  Of course, I need more money.  So, for the budget savvy mom (or budget-forced mom as the case may be), we need good deals and bargains to keep our young ones looking their best as they quickly outgrow last year’s clothes (or last month’s clothes in our case with a new baby).

A couple of years ago, one of my sisters-in-law told me about a great little local consignment shop for kids and babies, which buys and sells gently used baby and children clothes, toys, and items.  This was a great discovery given the turn of the economy and the need to spend less money.  On my first visit, I realized that I can get very cute clothes, practically new (and in some cases, they are new), for a fraction of the price that I’d spend on new clothes.  With a household of six children, this is an important money saving tip when it comes to clothes shopping…and when the economy threw us for a loop, it was not only important, but necessary finanical money saving tip.

This past summer, my other sister-in-law told me about another similar consignment shop for kids – Kid to Kid.   We picked up almost everything we needed for our new baby at this store, by bringing in and selling some of our gently used girl items (our girl is now three years old so doesn’t need her pink swing and pink baby sleepers), and receiving our payment as store credit there, to purchase our little baby boy items and clothes.  We were able to pick up his swing, carseat, clothes, and more – for very little out of pocket when compared to buying new.

Best thing about quality consignment shops is:

1) it’s green to recycle clothing and items in this way

2) the items and clothes are “gently used”, not abused – so you dont’ sacrifice cute or quality

3) they will buy your gently used items to help stock their store (of course they have their rules…such as seasonal, no stains and tears, etc)

4) and best of all, you get like 4 or 5 times the amount of clothes and items, for the money spent

So, yesterday I took a trip to Kid to Kid, to look for a walker type toy for my baby boy.  I gathered up a few of my baby’s best outgrown clothes, along with some of my best pregnancy clothes – no longer needed – and headed out.  By the time I was done with my shopping trip and small store credit for the items they purchase from me, I had over a dozen new outfits for my baby boy, a couple of outfits for my toddler, a “Jeep” walker, and a playmat.  The Damage?  Under $100.

New consignment shop wardrobe!

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