Back to School Clothes on Budget

[libinatorsmom]

Well my daughter going into 3rd grade is a clothes horse! (Where she got this from I dont know its NOT from me!!!!) And loves her "style" where do you go about finding budget back to school clothes!!!! I am scoping out ebay with no luck in finding anything that is budget friendly! She is a size 12 - 14... depending on the brand.

Let me add I am a clearance Rack Shopper!!! I love Kohls (we find some things here together and I am getting pretty good at picking out things she likes when shes not with) and she loves Justice, Old Navy, etc....

Would love some suggestions! Going to hopefully have a yard sale this summer to help pay for some new things for her but I have to get organized enough to do it

 

[Mkaz]

May not help, but I try and shop second hand stores. Salvation Army has family day every Wednesday (almost everything is 50% off). Last year I found some really nice name brand clothes for my son. It was a win win because he hates shopping, and I saved a ton of money.

You could also try consignment shops in your area. We have a few in our area.

 

[mjkacmom]

My kids go back to school in September, and I will be buying back to school clothes in the end of October, when they are on sale, and can actually be worn. Up until then, my kids are still wearing their summer clothes. I will buy a couple of outfits for the first couple of days, in a couple of weeks, when all of the summer stuff is really marked down.

You should do well with Justice - most girls won't wear Justice past the 5th/6th grade, so they usually have the larger sizes available on sale. Dd11 still wears an 8 slim, so she was done with Justice before being able to buy the leftover larger sizes. I usually shop online, and that's what I've found.

 

[princesskimberella]

My kids go back to school in September, and I will be buying back to school clothes in the end of October, when they are on sale, and can actually be worn. Up until then, my kids are still wearing their summer clothes. I will buy a couple of outfits for the first couple of days, in a couple of weeks, when all of the summer stuff is really marked down.

You should do well with Justice - most girls won't wear Justice past the 5th/6th grade, so they usually have the larger sizes available on sale. Dd11 still wears an 8 slim, so she was done with Justice before being able to buy the leftover larger sizes. I usually shop online, and that's what I've found.

Same here ! BTS fall clothes will not be bought till they go on sale. Why buy jeans to sit in the drawer for a month. My son could care less as long as he has new tennis shoes for the first day, my girls have July/Aug birthdays and always get new clothes from family and use thier gift cards to but new stuff. My girls are also only wear leggings so I stock up on them from JCP and Target when they go on sale. Aero and Abercrombie kids always have great T- shirst sales - i never pay more than $ 8.99 at either place. I have found Justice to be crap.. everything they have gotten from there has fallen apart and way overpriced.
For shoes we hit JCP or Famous Footwear for the BOGO, if you have a FF card you get some great perks. I just received a 20% off my purchase plus a $5 gc and they are having a BOGO sale

I feel like I spend more each year on back packs and supplies than I do on clothes for BTS

 

[nilseks]

I'm so glad both of my boys (8 and 11) are NOT into clothes. Give them a pair of track pants and a Nike or Adidas t-shirt and they're happy. Now if I could just get them to cool it on their love for the super-expensive basketball shoes, which NEVER go on sale.

But I digress...
I just wanted to say that I have noticed our Old Navy is having a lot of unadvertised sales where it's 40% off the entire store. I never see it advertised (and I'm even on their email list) but friends keep mentioning it on FB and then I go over there and sure enough, entire store 40% off for a day or two. There have been a few times when this included the clearance rack, so that would be a good time to take your daughter in and let her go nuts. Keep an eye out at your store, or maybe call and ask when they will have these sales. Our store is doing it every 4-6 weeks.

Happy shopping!

 

[libinatorsmom]

Thanks everyone! I am going to have to see if I can find some consignment shops... maybe even try to sell some things there if they dont sell at the garage sale.

 

[agmmbolam426]

Honey, I feel your pain I have 3 girls that are all obsessed with clothes! Lol In my opinion kids grow out of their clothes so quick and they are so expensive new.

Yard sales are a great place to find clothes. A few months ago I found a yard sale that had justice and gap clothes that were like new for .50 each!

Do you have a facebook page? We have some online yard sale facebook sites around where I live that have been total life savers!

A good website to tell you about current deals is southernsavers.com.

If you have a smart phone there is an app called GeoQpons that is great. You can pull up current coupons for your local stores and they can scan them directly off your phone.

You can sometimes find good deals at Goodwill. Its a hit or miss but I have found some good stuff there before.

Marshalls, TJMaxx, and Ross alot of times have really good deals.

I hope this helps!

 

[bethy]

I don't know if this is a budget suggestion or not, but we shop at Nordstrom's Anniversary sale in July where the new clothing items are on sale right away. We buy some things there and a couple other necessities and then just by here and there as we go along throughout the year - as needed.

Waiting spreads the cost out and enables us to buy things on sale. Plus we can choose items that are sure to fit exactly when we need them. It's hard to predict every item a girl will need throughout the winter and fall. You also don't know what particular item is going to be popular that they will just *have* to have.

I have three girls.

 

[mjantz]

Thrift stores can be great. My DD gets a lot of her clothes at thrift stores. She just told me today that she wanted to visit our favorite one because she needs new shorts. She's very particular about how she looks as well so it's not like we are buying rags.

 

[dreamin_disney]

Try craigs List. I've sold a lot of dd's clothes in great condition and some even brand new with tags.

 

[roliepolieoliefan]

DD will only wear Justice and DS Under Armor and Nike.

They do get it from me because my clothes are primarily from White House Black Market.

Do you have an outlet shops near you? I know most are like regular stores but if you hit it at the right time, I have found some great deals for DS and DD.

And I do agree...wait! DD wears her summer and spring things for at least the first month of school so I wait until September to buy her cold weather gear.
DS wears shorts year round so doesn't matter when I shop for him.

Plus do you have a Gabriel Brothers near you? I have found alot of name brand items there if you hit it at the right time.

 

[shruley]

Recently I've started shopping for DD (who is 8, almost 9, but very tall and skinny) at Once Upon a Child. She's basically at the top of their size range right now but this summer I bought her several tops that were Abercrombie, Hollister, and American Eagle for $4-$5 per shirt. And they were very good quality (most looked brand new.) She has an AE sweatshirt that was around $10 and some Hollister shorts that also look brand new and maybe were $7? Your daughter may be a bit too large for that store, but you could check into something like Platos Closet. We haven't checked it out yet because we're not quite there size wise, but I'm told the selection and prices are similar to what I described above. Garage sales are also another good place. Seen lots of very good quality name brand stuff being sold for a couple dollars! I have NOT had good luck with local thrift shops. Usually dirty out of date clothes for more than a garage sale.

Otherwise, we usually take a trip to an Outlet store that's maybe a 30 minute drive from us that has an Old Navy, Gap, etc. (I think the Old Navy isn't an outlet, just a regular store.) In past years, I've usually found coupons online for Old Navy and a couple of the other stores (usually around 20% off total purchase), and when we combine that with their regular back to school sales we've usually saved a decent amount of $$$. Old Navy generally has some good online sales as well, so keep an eye on that.

 

[HM]

We've never bought "back to school clothes". They just get new pieces throughout the year as they are needed or wanted and hopefully on sale or clearance.

 

[bjscheel]

My girls have grown up on second-hand for a majority of their clothing. We have a local consignment and for example in a few weeks they will have their bag sale where I can fill a grocery sack for $7. That is twice a year but I am in there frequently. She usually has half off on certain items all the time.

When I went to city-wide garage sales last year without the girls I took measurements of waist, rise, hip, thigh, and inseam on their best-fitting jeans and brought my tape measure along. Helped a lot- everything I brought home fit.

I have shopped at thrift stores all my life but I have to say lately I have not found anything much, but I'm not giving up on them. I used to buy on eBay, but they are to the point where they need to try a lot of things on, so I haven't even looked to see what's on there.

Otherwise, we buy swim at Lands End, on sale/with coupon, a little Justice only with a coupon or J-Bucks or clearance, and Kohl's with a 20 or 30% off.

 

[Nayan]

We've never bought "back to school clothes". They just get new pieces throughout the year as they are needed or wanted and hopefully on sale or clearance.

I think this is the most budget-friendly advice. I never got new clothes for school but I did get new things throughout the year.

 

[libinatorsmom]

Honey, I feel your pain I have 3 girls that are all obsessed with clothes! Lol In my opinion kids grow out of their clothes so quick and they are so expensive new.

Yard sales are a great place to find clothes. A few months ago I found a yard sale that had justice and gap clothes that were like new for .50 each!

Do you have a facebook page? We have some online yard sale facebook sites around where I live that have been total life savers!

A good website to tell you about current deals is southernsavers.com.

If you have a smart phone there is an app called GeoQpons that is great. You can pull up current coupons for your local stores and they can scan them directly off your phone.

You can sometimes find good deals at Goodwill. Its a hit or miss but I have found some good stuff there before.

Marshalls, TJMaxx, and Ross alot of times have really good deals.

I hope this helps!

Thanks for the help - I have been so busy I havent been able to hit the yard sales but I hope to get to a few before school starts! She goes back August 16th... AHHHHH I forget about TJ Maxx...

Looks like I am doing our sale next Week guess I better start getting my stuff together

 

[Pigeon]

We also don't do a big back to school shopping, but wait until it's a little colder and the fall clothes are on sale.

As an added advantage, lots of times I've found that what the kids want changes as soon as school starts and they see what other kids are wearing. Nothing annoys me more than having them not want to wear the stuff we've just bought.

 

[MinnieForMe]

Wait - the best deals are always in late September/early October. It will give your daughter a chance to scope out what other kids are wearing. From what I understand, girls move through the Justice stage really fast. At least, that's what I'm hoping, as my daughter, age 7, just found their clothes at the end of 1st grade and it's all she wants.

We buy one new outfit for the first day of school and the kids wear their summer clothes until the end of September. We are in New Hampshire and the summer weather doesn't last too much longer than mid-October.

 

[reginaastralis]

I've been looking at our choices, and I have to say, as much as my daughter seems to think she'll like Justice, there clothes are My kid sister is only 14, so my dd tends to want to be just like her ... and my kid sister is more into the indy look, rather than the "preppy" look (or the awful 80's look that seems to be all over Justice right now) Anyways ... I'm having a really hard time finding things that are appropriate that she'll wear.

There looks like there is some really cute stuff at Old Navy that might work. The thing I love is she'll wear any dress, no questions ... but most of them don't work because of the straps. She has a sweater or two to wear over her summer dresses, but it's Florida and she hates wearing the sweater. I honestly don't think her shoulders showing are a huge deal, but that's just me.

We always get a few things before school starts, because she plays hard and the new stuff that was bought in Spring is pretty gross after summer. My grandma always buys her seven winter outfits for Christmas and seven summer outfits for her birthday (which is right after Christmas) The rest of the year is just trying to make her clothes look like they match ... lol.

 

[kinntj]

We do most of the back to school shopping at Justice for our 8 year old. I try to combine clearance and 40% coupons when they have their summer stuff marked down. Since your dd wears a bigger size, you may want to try Aeropostale. My 5th grader wears their sweatshirts and tshirts.

Justice in this house is only really good 1st grade through 4th. My 5th grader thinks it's too flashy. She wants to shop at Nordstroms and Macy's now.