You really don't have to spend a dime to clothe your family. It's simple, and fun, I promise!
Many of us have closets and closets full of clothes! Clothes take over our household and lives (not to mention our pocketbooks). Here's a few rules to keep in mind:
1. If you don't need it, don't buy it.
2. Only keep as much as you have room to keep.
3. If you haven't worn/used it in 3 months (besides seasonal or special clothing) get rid of it.
Now, how do you decide what you need? Follow these rules:
1. Keep no more than 14 of everything. EX: 14 pairs of pants, 14 shirts, 14 skirts, 14 dresses, etc. This way if you decided for two weeks you were only going to wear dresses, you could, and never have to repeat a dress in 2 weeks. But none of us really do that, so having 14 of everything really still gives you a lot of clothes.
2. If you want to pare it down even more, keep only 7 of everything. The same principle applies.
Now, onto how to get these clothes for free.
1. Craigslist-people list clothes all the time for free! Just check out the "free" listings:
Craigslist
2. Freecycle-Freecycle is a network of people in your area who post things to give away, often you can find better items on freecycle than Craigslist
Freecycle
3. ThredUp!-ThredUp is an exchange program. You sign up, choose a box of clothes and pay $13 for it. After that, you fill up boxes of clothes and can exchange them with another box of clothes. It's a great program to get kids clothes for free!
ThredUp!
4. Hand-me-downs: Accept them! Take what you want and give the rest to someone else. Or if you are really thrifty, you can re-purpose them. Turn a prom dress into a dress up dress for little girls. Take stained men's t-shirts and use them as smocks for painting.
After you've pared down your clothes, sell your old ones on Craigslist, or take them to a consignment shop. If you MUST buy new clothes, only use the money you make selling other clothes. But if you get more than 14 of each item, sell/give away more so that you only have 14. This will save you time and money.
A little note on shoes...I believe it is important for everyone to have good shoes. I don't buy shoes used, but I do find the best deals. It's okay if your child wants the latest, hottest new shoes. Are they worth the money? Will they make your child feel good about themselves? Will they hold up? If yes, go buy them! But before running to the nearest mall, do some research. My girls wanted Sketchers Twinkle Toes for Back-to-School. I really wanted to get them, but didn't want to pay $40 a pair. So, I found them on amazon. They were decently priced, but I'd have to pay for shipping. And they didn't have a great variety in my girls sizes. So I decided to look at Sketchers website, assuming they'd be most expensive there. What I found was that I could get free shipping by signing up for emails. I took this another step and googled Sketchers online coupon codes (We'll discuss online coupon codes later). I found a code for 25% off. I ended up getting 3 girls each a pair of Sketchers Twinkle Toes for $87, with tax, without ever leaving the house! I saved about $40 just for googling a few things.
Now onto DIAPERS!
The cheapest way to diaper is to cloth diaper. The cheapest way to cloth diaper is to use flats and covers. But with so many cute All-in-Ones and covers and woolies, you can end up spending a lot of money. But if you want the basics, just get a dozen flat diapers and about 6 one size covers that will get you through infancy to potty training. You can buy, sell and trade diapers on Diaper Swappers
If you are interested in cloth diapering and can't afford it, go to:
Cloth Diaper Foundation/
If you want or need real diapers, then the best thing to do is find the sales and combine them with coupons. Target clearances diapers occasionally, and with the clearance prices, plus coupons you can usually score Huggies or Pampers for about $5. Amazon also offers great sales on diapers. For example, right now there is an Amazon sale going on, and if you sign up for continuing diapers (but cancel as soon as you make the purchase), you get 30% off diapers, plus free shipping. Combine that with a coupon code to save 20% (found in Parenting magazine or google) and you can get diapers for about 8 cents a piece. My rule of thumb is to NEVER pay full price for diapers. NEVER!
