I have five kiddos…. so clothes can be a major expense.

I love in Northeast Florida…. we relocated from Massachusetts almost two years ago.

I didn’t think this would be the case but I do still need seasonal clothes . No snowsuits but we do get cold for a bit each year.

I try to keep our clothing budget in check.

Here is how I shop for our kids.

Before I mention my other tricks here is my number one thing I do as often as possible…. I prioritize my older kids in the budget. My kids are 17, 9, 7, 4, and 22 months.  Rather than saying everyone gets $100 I get everyone what they need…but I’m willing to give the older kids a larger percentage of the money being spent.

This is not because I love my littlest less than my biggest… but because their needs are different. 

I also consider fashion preferences.  My 9 year old daughter usually uses more funds than my 7 year old son simply because he prefers a t shirt and gym shorts over high fashion. 

Right now my baby just needs to be dressed.  Some kind of top some kind of bottom and we call it a day.  He’s also home with me with access to fresh clothes and a washer machine all day…. which we need frequently… another reason I don’t spend more than I need to on his clothes… he usually goes they at least two outfits a day and I want him to be a little kid and not worry too much about him ruining amything. There’s also the fact there are no peers to judge his outfits unlike my older kids.

My preschooler needs clothes she can beat up . She prefers dresses to pants…and wants to look nice at all times…but also wants to dive into the finger paint at school… so for her I look for practical which fortunately hasn’t been super expensive.

Now that I’ve explained that here is my strategy for buying clothes.

My go tos for clothes a lot lately are Amazon, Old Navy, and Hot Topic ( teenagers seem to love this place)

Hot topic for my teen.

Old Navy mostly for my girls… not sure why but their girl clothes seem to have better deals….and the leggings can stand up to what my girls do to them.

Amazon for anything else.

Here is how I approach each kid.

My teen lately has been into Hot Topic and will pick out clothes themselves. Since I am trying to teach her about budgeting I give a budget and have her pick her stuff. I try to buy things when there are sales, coupons or Hot Topic Cash. The store cash can only be used during certain periods but can be a great way to get an awesome discount. My teenager is not growing out of clothes anymore but I want to make sure they have clothes they feel comfortable in so we buy some new clothes throughout the year.

For my 9 and 4 year old girls I tend to check out Old Navy before looking at other places. Every day they have something on sale. When their leggings go on sale I buy them. When I say those two girlies are rough on the clothes…. I mean they are ROUGH on their clothes. They have stood up pretty well to what they do to them and for the most part don’t get too badly stained. Old Navy seems to better sale wise for girls than boys ….at least when I’ve been looking. You get cash coupons similar to places like Hot Topic or Kohls. It is good during certain periods. I highly recommend marking your calendar so you don’t forget. Another great way to score a deal.

Amazon is pretty much my go to for everything else. Why? Well one it’s simple… two I have prime… and I have found lots of ways to save. One thing I have noticed is that not every print or color costs the same amount! This is especially helpful for my toddler who could not care any less what he is wearing. I have saved quite a bit of money buying say strips over camouflage… and he doesn’t care one bit. The Amazon basics dresses are cute and hold up to my preschoolers various art projects and playtime on the playground. My 7 year old son just wants to be in comfortable clothes so red is cheaper than blue we go with red. This isn’t all off brand clothes either. I recently bought items from Carters, Puma, and Under Armour.

For things like shoes I tend to buy in person. I love Sketchers. I almost exclusively buy their shoes. My kids are really hard on their shoes… and they usually last about 6 to 9 months or until they outgrow.  We have a Sketchers Outlet nearby and I try to take advance of sales like Buy one get one half off. We buy Carters shoes right now for our toddler. I like my kids to have two pairs because of things like puddles 🙂

Do I do hand me downs… sometimes. If something is in good shape and can be passed down I do. I also know that since there is a 5 year gap between my girls and boys it’s probably best to pass on clothes to those in need instead of trying to hold onto it taking up valuable space.

My goal is everyone to have two weeks worth of clothing. The reason for this is I have an auto immune disease and while it doesn’t usually stop me from doing laundry I can get backed up.  When we moved in to this house the dryer gave us some trouble… then once that was replaced the septic needed replacing. Needless to say I never want to be in a spit where I can’t do laundry and desperately need to. Also my kids are in school with kids and kids have lots of opinions. While it shouldn’t matter I don’t want my kids to be picked on for wearing the same outfit over and over . I buy stuff that can easily be mixed and matched so the combinations are plenty. Getting clothes on sale and buying the way I do allows us to do this.

The last thing I do is not a tip for saving money on buying clothes but for keeping clothes nice so I have to buy less often…. I don’t cheap out on laundry detergent. I have used all different kinds… and while I really really was hoping this wouldn’t be the case… better detergent = better stain removal and nicer feeling clothes . Maybe it’s because of my late grandmother but I’m partial to Tide. I have used their liquid, Pods and powder… I think Pods might be my favorite because of my achy hands and reduced brain power.