I am thrilled with all the tips I have gotten here! I have our grocery budget under control, and we are really cutting out all extras in order to save. The one area I'm struggling with is our clothing budget, especially for the kids. I shop thrift stores and clearance sales for myself, and that works out great. I want the kiddos to look nice without spending tons of money. I have no luck in our thrift stores with kids clothes! Any advice would be great!

Continue to hit the thrift stores as they rotate their inventory. That's where I get the majority of their clothes. I find some namebrand clothes and none of them have holes or stains.

Shop at consignment stores, garage sales and clearance racks.

Do you know anyone you can swap clothes with when your kids outgrow them?

Do any of the churches in your area do Rummage Sales? I have lots of those in my area and a lot of time they will do Bag day sales. I get all kinds of goodies for me and the kids.

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Amanda
Mommy to Zack & Emily

Call your area churches to ask if and when they do consignment sales. Not only can you find great deals on name brand clothes, you can also put your outgrown stuff in, too! You don't have to be a member to do it, either. I routinely put stuff in at 4 different churches each year. My kids were Gymboree, Gap, TCP, etc. and I very very rarely even go to the mall!! (I am talking I went twice this last year!) I paid a fraction of what it really costs, and when I resell...I almost always get every bit of it back!

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Shaking in my boots (well, if I was wearing them in the middle of summer!), but glad to be back!

I shop the clearance at Old Navy and Target. Most of the time I buy things for the next year, but usually i buy things that they can wear now. I buy jeans for like $3 and jogging suits for $5, shirts for like $4. It's cheap and always in style. In stores have better things than online. Childrens Place has real cute stuff that are a little more but cheaper when you have coupons.

I shop the clearances at the outlets here. I got Thomas entire summer wardrobe for about 65. Most stuff was like a $1 a piece at the Children's place. I also just got a huge lot of clothes like 22 pieces for 13 off ebay and they were all Gap, gymboree, Oshkosh.

I also do really well at Kohl's too.

I only buy clearance from the stores but I got most of my really good deals from ebay. I paid about 80 bucks for my daughters winter clothes and that included a heavy winter coat and tons of outfits. Everything I got from ebay so far was in great shape some of the stuff still had tags on them. For my son whos 8 we usually go to old navy, they have great clearance items, also sears had some good deals this year too!

I am always getting compliments on my dd's wardrobe and if people only knew where they came from. I get lots of nice, gently used clothes from garage sales, consignment sales and shops (I like Once Upon a Child). I also try and shop a season ahead when things are on clearance. I bought my dd's summer wardrobe last fall and her next year's winter wardrobe a couple of months ago. Kohls, Old Navy, and JCPenny is where I have the best luck with that. It is really pretty easy to do, not to mention fun, knowing how much you are saving.

Last year was my first year buying school clothes. I bought most of her things regular price since I didn't shop ahead. This year, I bought clearanced items for next year. My daughter is particular and will only wear a dress to school. It is hard to find long sleeved dresses in the stores. I did my shopping on ebay, lands end outlet & ll lbean outlet. I will comb the yard sales when it gets warm. Last year I scored a handful of Gymboree dresses from a yard sale ($2 each!) they were all beautiful.

Go on the just between friends website (jbfsale.com) see if there is a sale near you. Also, if you have access to a goodwill, that is where I buy all dd's clothes, and it is usually all brand names.