There are a hundred ways to save money when it comes to getting the things you need as a parent. I’m going to touch on two of them which relate to clothing and can save you 90% or more. Those two ways are thrift stores and eBay lots.

Clothes can be very expensive if you buy them new, even on sale they can break the bank. This last weekend the family and I took a trip to Long Island to visit family and I forgot to grab one of the suitcases. It happened to be the suitcase with the baby clothes and my wife’s clothes. Not cool. Off to target I went and I went straight to the clearance rack. $4.60 for a pair of shorts, $4.80 for a t-shirt, $5.00 for a sweatshirt, $5.00 for a onesie. Did I forget to mention I was shopping for twins? So double all that.  The tag after all that and a $4.00 “superhero shirt” for Thomas, who was my four year old shopping buddy, came to a cool $70 bucks. Ouch. Last time I forget the luggage! The non-sale items which I shied away from were $10-25 dollars each.

Ok, so I’ve proven that clothes are expensive. So how do we beat this wallet monster? The first way is thrift store shopping.  Buying things for little Jimmy or Jessie that are not brand new is hard for some people to swallow at first but it is crucial unless you want to take on a third job to pay for clothes. That $70 dollars for nine items of clothing would have been more along the lines of 12 dollars at a thrift store for ALL of it. Like anything else there is an art of thrift store shopping. Many thrift stores are better than others, many have sales on certain color tag items each day of the week, some even let you shop by the pound! You’ll figure out where to get the cheapest books (.25 cents each or so) and where to find the best other things. I like to immediately wash everything that comes from a thrift store cause… well… it just makes me feel better.

Aside from the money is there any other reason to thrift store? Yes. You have to remember that many people don’t shop at thrift stores which means they pay the premium for clothes and because of that they take care of them like no one’s business. And then there are those who get too much at baby showers or who are gifted new clothes that are already too small for the baby. Where do those NEW clothes end up? In thrift stores. My wife and I have picked up countless items with the store tags still attached for a fraction of the tag price. Kinda crazy.

Ok, eBay lots. Some people instead of giving their clothes away are a little more frugal and want to get a return on the clothing investment they made for their little gremlin. So what they do is collect the seasons clothes and sell them on eBay as a “lot” (a set of clothing). Some lots include 10 or more items for the price of two of the items in the lot new. Yes, occasionally you may get a stain on something or a little hole but those are rare and you know what? Your little monster is most likely going to put a few stains on those clothes as well. You don’t have to have every outfit be good enough for glamour shots by Deb. Some outfits are just fine to only wear around the house, but heavens, you most likely have some of those yourself!

So that’s about it. You can save up to 90% or more on clothing if you plan ahead and shop around. It’s kind of a rush when you find an awesome deal too. Yes, there are times when I buy things new, such as last weekend when I didn’t feel like navigating a new world of thrift stores five hours from home and then the hassle of washing them all. But over all we save a ton of money by buying clothes, shoes and toys this way. Trust me… your toddler will NOT care where their clothes came from. Good luck keeping them dressed in the first place!