I buy 99% of my kids (5 and 2) clothes at thrift stores and I am proud of the way they look each and every day. In fact I would say my son is one of the best dressed kids in the entire kindergarten and I spent about $60 (30 shirts/15 pairs of shorts) on his back to school clothes (not counting shoes). My budget gives me the option of either buying them the cheapest clothes at Walmart and not many of them or I can go to the thrift store and buy name brand nice clothes and many of them. I like to go to the goodwill on ½ off day in the really nice neighborhoods!! I know I am not the only “thrifty” Mom. So tell me your budget saving ways!
Freecylce.org!!! I get rid of stuff and receive a ton from that group! Clothes, toys, train table, baby gear, etc. All you have to do is ask and people just give it to you.
I buy clearance in a size bigger for my youngest and save for the next season too.
Yard Sales!
Ebay - sell old season, buy new season with that money
Only carry cash - it really is a lot hard to part with that $20 if it is in your hand versus handing over a card. It WORKS!
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Eat low budget, healthy meals and resist the urge to "exhaustion spend" = too tired after working to cook dinner.
I try to make sure I don't spend more than $20 a day. That's for groceries, household needs, gas, entertainment, bday presents, even doctor's visits (our copay is $15). If my son gets sick and I have to take him to the doc that day, I only have $5 to spend for the rest of the day. Obviously, emergencies aren't included in this.
So, its all in the planning and sacrificing for me but its worth it. It takes a lot of discipline to build up to $20/day. When I started out, I was spending on average $75 a day. We are only a family of 3 so its easy to stay within this daily budget and in the end, we can afford quick weekend getaways or splurge on a new fridge if we wanted.
gl!
I belong to a group where they have a resale 2X a year. You can sell and buy. I've been selling clothes my kids outgrow and buying them clothes from the resale. What I sell tends to cancel out the cost of what I buy so thus, I break even...so does spending $0 count as a savings?
2nd hand stores like other mothers and clearance racks.
I LOVE Other Mothers, they have a 25 cent sale the last weekend of every month. I get lots of GREAT things there, babies outgrow their clothes so fast they are in good shape. I also like Craigslist free ads and freecycle. The senior center thrift stores seem to do a set price for a basket, like $5 each and you can get a lot of baby clothes in a basket. I think the only thing I have paid full price for was a toy and her coat because she loved it so much. She still wears it over a year later.
I am a proud thrifty mom. I buy at thrift stores and I always check the clearance racks at retailers.
One good way to save money is to check the daily deal sites. I just got 3 oil changes for $27.... check out this deal
https://livingsocial.com/deals/101233?ref=conf-jp&rpi...
I am you I am very thrifty cause I love to buy things to so the less I spend at one store gives me more to spend other places.. I am a coupon freak...I love sales... I shop the Mall alot but only when they have sales/clearance I head straight to the area's with clearance you can find great deals plus if you sing up for email alerts you get coupons and most can be used even in conjunction with clearance... I bought my daughter a pair of Lucky Brand capri's for $5 these are normally $52 dollars... cause I found them on clearance & used a store coupon..... JcPenny/Kohls do the same thing they have great clearance & always have coupons you can use... Kohls even has kohls cash & even tho it says you have to spend $50 to get it it's not out of pocket it's your total.. I had a coupon for spend $20 get $10 off but because the items were clearanced I got 4 or 5 items my total before sale was over $50 so I got the $10 kohls cash so basically I spent 0 dollars...people say oh I don't have time to do coupons blah blah then really you don't want to save money it takes me no time at all to hit the print button on the computer... plus I don't plan to shop (persay) cause you always spend more I just stroll the mall the stores my teen girls like I might only spend $15 so some might call it a waste of time but in the long run I spent $15 & probably got 5/7 items it wasn't a waste specially when you see the savings on your receipt... Last Christmas I decided to buy for everyone (mind you both families plus our friends I bought for 80 people not including my girls & husband) my hubby was freaking out.. I saved all my receipts for these purchases seperatly so I could see how well I did.. mind you they all came from the Mall so no $$ store gifts etc... I spent $30 for 80 very nice gifts......End of seasons are the best time to shop/ Christmas time is the best timew to shop if you have patience & watch all the clearance (not sale ad's)... Good Luck saving
I also thrift store/garage shop. I can get a barely used Gap kids shirt for about the same price as a Walmart shirt.
We do not own a credit card. We buy what we need, not what we want... (and on those occasions we talk about it).
I don't buy packaged foods/sodas, we Netflix movies instead of going out to them...
I cut my family's hair (I am a stylist though, but any mom can learn how to at least trim).
i stalk old navy and the gap for their additional 50% off clearance sales!! and i have a gap credit card that i use to pay for the medical bills/vet bills, just pay it in full every month but i get the rewards certs then combine them with the sale! or i keep an eye on the childrens place monster sales as well, always print coupons before we go out!! also lately i dont know why, but jcpenny keeps sending out $10 off $10 coupons in the newspaper, go and get 2 brand new shirts for the kids for like $1.50... i love to shop but also love to find the best deal on nice clothes, not just garanimals from walmart, although i must admit walmart just had their organic kids pajama sets marked down to $3 a set no i nabbed a bunch... just keep looking when you go out :)
I never pay full price for anything. My entire house is filled with used items and no one knows! I even have my nice serving dishes and party dishes from Goodwill that everyone comments on and cracks me up cuz I only paid a couple dollars for them! We live comfortably because we pay cash for everything and I believe that allows us to have the nice things that we do. =)
Hi Ejessie -
I buy a ton of my kids clothes on E-Bay. Lots of moms buy ridiculous amounts of clothing for their children at exorbitant prices, and to make room for more, sell the gently used stuff on E-Bay. I have bought nearly new expensive brand name stuff for ridiculously low prices. Happy shopping!
I dont shop at thrift stores but i do buy absolutely everything on sale. I love ross!...and the discount racks at old navy tj maxx, marshalls, kohls, the gap and target.....sometimes Walmart.
I used to buy stuff from thrift stores but once i wore a shirt from there and all of the sudden i smelled like b.o. (i dont ever get this kind of strong oniony b.o.) it was the SHIRT!, I washed it twice and the stench never came out. It was like a b.o. that outlived soap.....but im not against thrift shopping, just traumatized by the shirt.
