How to Save on Your Baby’s Clothes
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| Taking care of a baby is costly, with many expenses you can’t
avoid. One area you can save in is clothing your baby. Babies outgrow
their clothing so quickly that it makes sense to concentrate on a few
practical pieces. Getting carried away when buying baby clothes will
quickly break your budget, but keeping a few tips in mind will help you
to save. |
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Plan for baby’s age and shop seasonally
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| By carefully planning how old your baby will be in each coming
season you will be able to avoid having your child grown out of clothes
before the season comes to wear them. By planning from pregnancy and
stocking up at end of season sales before the baby is born, you will be
able to take advantage of end-of-season sales. |
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| A mother who finds out she is expecting in January, for example,
could stock up on end-of-winter sale items that year in sizes newborn
to 6 months, in preparation for her baby who will be born in October.
She could do the same at the end of the summer, in clothing sized 6
months to 1 year. |
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Buy from other mothers
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| Many parents will be left with unused baby clothes that their child
didn’t even get a chance to wear before growing out of it. These new
(or lightly worn) clothes can be sourced locally, through friends, from
neighbours, yard sales, and on sites such as Craigslist and eBay.
Buying pre-owned clothes can save you substantially – and on sites such
as eBay, “lots” of multiple outfits (many with tags still on) can be
bought for drastically reduced prices. |
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Make your own
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| Making your own baby clothes might be something to consider if you
have access to a sewing machine and are sewing inclined. While baby
outfits can be expensive to buy ready-made, they use such small amounts
of fabric that your material costs can stay quite low if you make them
yourself. |
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Hold a clothing swap
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| Clothing swaps have been popular among adults for a few years, and
the trend is beginning to trickle down to children’s clothes. Host a
clothing swap with everyone bringing clothes in good condition that
their children have grown out of. Clothes can be organized on tables in
piles according to size, and everyone will have the opportunity to
browse what is on offer, leaving with some great free outfits for their
children. |
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Buy and Sell at your local children’s resale shop
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| Many urban areas have resale shops that rival local high-end retail
boutiques. These clean, modern shops stock only never worn or lightly
used, high-quality brand name children’s clothing, all at a fraction of
original prices. One advantage of buying at a resale store over online
resale on sites such as eBay is that you can touch and have your child
try on the clothes before you buy. And while at yard sales you might
have to sort though piles of clothes in order to land a few treasures,
at a resale store you can be guaranteed high-quality merchandise – most
stores won’t bother to sell items if they aren’t in excellent
condition, and usually a name brand. |
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| Even better, you can return to the shop after a few months when
your children have grown out of their clothes and put the same items up
for consignment, usually making back a good portion of what you
originally paid. |
