How To Save Big On Clothes For The Entire Family

[hotcouponmama]

So you've got a great stockpile of grocery items and household goods, but what about another item we all use everyday? Clothes and shoes don't always come cheap but they can if you are smart about when you buy, what you wear, and how you rotate through your closet.

For a family of 5, with three growing boys, we average $100 or less a month for clothes, shoes, and outwear. Here's how we get it done.

Have a store credit card for all your favorite stores

I have about six different stores I shop for clothes routinely for the family. All of them have a store credit card and the one that doesn't has a decent rewards program. Most stores will give additional discounts to cardholders when they use their card.

Examples are Macy's stores - 15% additional off the last marked price. Other stores will presell sale items to customers who have a card, or offer special coupons and offers in the mail. Target and Mervyns get you 10% or 15% all day shopping passes that can be combined with sales and clearance items.

A word of caution - use the card and pay it off immediately. I will spend on the card what I would have spent with cash, and then pay the card online a day or two after the shopping trip to avoid interest yet still get the deals. Also, opening too many cards in a short time can ding your credit report, so accrue those cards slowly and open them when you are really ready to clean house with their bonus opening offer of saving an additional X%-amount or $Y-off amount when you open the card.

Sweep the clearance racks

Never go into a department, clothing, or shoe store without affording a few extra moments to sweep the clearance racks. The little gems you might find are worth the few minutes of time you use to walk over there and check it out. My favorite find.....a $56 dress shirt for a PENNY at a May company store.

Shop Ahead

This is the part that has saved me literally THOUSANDS on clothes and shoes in the last 10 years. As we kept accumulating kids, and they kept growing at the speed of light, it dawned on me early to keep them ahead in clothes.

Clear out one of the closets in the kids room and turn it into your own little department store. I have one closet that has multiple sizes separated out. My children are currently in sizes that range from 4/5 to 7. I have clothes in the closet that go all the way up to a size 18, a pair of Reebox starter pants that were normally $36 that I got for $3.

If you have more than 1 child, even if you have a mix of boys and girls, shopping ahead is easy to do. You may have an item or two that might not end up fitting which may or may not be able to be used by a sibling later, but even if you hit a quick growth spurt and miss an item you bought, you can always gift it to someone else, or donate it at the tag price for a tax deduction.

Shopping ahead is certainly easier when you have multiple boys or multiple girls. You can buy several pairs of shorts for example, in the same color and different sizes, and at some point, they will fit one of your kids.

Styles, Colors, and Varieties

Paying attention to styles and colors might be a little more important for girls that boys. Boy styles haven't changed much in the last 7 years that I can see.

Try to buy solids, recurring prints/patterns, and colors when you are making purchases your kids are going to be wearing one or two years from now. I avoid fad themes like the current superhero, pop star, etc. cause who knows where they might be by the time my kids wear the shoes or shirt they are on. Buying the basics that tend to stay in style keeps the kids in nice clothes at an affordable price.

For clothes for you and your spouse, the same theory applies. I have a tendancy to like the same styles and cuts of clothes year in year out, so I pick multiples of clothes that will keep me dressed in a classic style. As an example, being in the food service industry, I am very hard on tops. I have a tendancy to ruin shirts. So last week at a clearance sale, I found that with all my stacking deals, the tank tops I found were going to be under $2. I bought 3 of the white ones so that if I marred the shirt at work, having only paid about $2, I wouldn't be sad parting with it.

Shoes are my nemisis when it comes to shopping for my spouse. He goes through at least four pairs of athletic shoes a year. And for branded shoes that are really solid, they don't come cheap when you need them now and get stuck paying full price, or the "sale" price, which really isn't much of a sale at all. And being that he's in a size that can be hard to find during the store "sale" (sale in quotes cause this is where the Nike's are normally $80 and are on "sale" for $65), I learned early on that they don't raincheck shoes, so we were constantly paying full price for shoes. In the shop ahead mode though, DH and I agreed that it really isn't about the color or style, as long as the shoe fits well and the price is right. So now I buy his shoes well in advance of him needing them. At this point, he has 2 pairs of Nike's and one pair of Reebok's stocked in his closet, and for all three pairs combined, I paid half of what I would have bought the one pair on "sale" for.

Be flexible about styles and colors as it helps you land even better deals. If you find an item you really like, be sure to get multiples in lots of colors and sizes. A recent find was Easy Spirit Sandals. I slipped them on and they were instantly comfy. Normally $60, they were $11.99 a pair - I bought one in every color they had. And truthfully had I waited two days, they were going to be an extra 15% off, but because each store only had one or two my size, I wasn't waiting to see if they would still be there. Sometimes it's good to snipe them while the getting's good!

Be organized

Once you've got a clothing stockpile going, be just as on top of rotating it as your would a food stockpile. Kids grow quickly sometimes so you want to make sure you are getting the best bang for your buck. Having a stockpile is worthless if you don't get the savings out of the clothes for lack of using them. For the few items that I have missed in the last 4-5 years though, the savings outweighed what I forgot to have the kids wear.

When to Buy

Clothing sales are cyclical, which makes it even easier to stockpile clothes and shoes cause you know when to watch for the sale, and by sale, I don't mean the 30% off type, but the deep bargain basement, almost free-type sale.

Early August - Summer clothes, sandals, swimwear, exercise clothes, lighter wear tennis shoes. Sun dresses, short lingerie, and silky jammies. Most retailers want all this entirely gone by about the middle of August. So mid August, look for sales that are 70% or higher off original prices. These might be even sweeter when combined with store card offers.

Mid to End of October- The last of the "must have" school clothes are going out right now, making room for winter clothes and jackets. So look for starter sets, football cleats/jerseys, nicer short-sleeved tops (like polo-style), and a jeans clearance if they overbought for the school sales.

Right before Christmas - Department stores are going to be anxious to move EVERYTHING that is left over from the fall because they have to get ready for the after Christmas sales and all the Christmas stuff they keep rolling out for buyers before Christmas ends. Most May/Macy's type stores will have some racks with clothes that are marked 80% off original prices, with the additional 10-15% off with store coupons/cards. Last year, I picked up 15 pairs of men's shorts in the middle of winter for $3 or less. They were normally $36 or higher.

After Christmas and up to the end of January - Look for heavy winter coats, rain coats, boots and outerwear to be 60% or higher off. In January, I bought 8 pairs of hiker/rain boots for the boys for less than $50. The biggest foot I have for my boys is a size 2, but I bought these up to size 4, so we'll get alot of use out of them. Also, men's sweaters can be bought for next to nothing. They overstocked them at Christmas, and along with dressshirts, they can be had for less than $5. Slippers are the other overstocked holiday item. Normally $20-30 a pair for nice ones, I have gotten them as cheap as $4 in this time range. They make great gifts so stock up for next year's holiday gift giving!

March - Winter clearance is in full swing right now. Dark colored clothes, wool items, loing sleeve tops and black tennis shoes are all clearanced right in this time range to make room for spring and summer items. Fashionable boots for women (not the hiker or snow type) are usually being discounted now as well. Basketball gear (clothes, shoes, etc) is being moved out for baseball stuff. I have lots of luck buying men's athletic shoes on the cheap right about now.


June- Spring fashions are now being clearanced hard to keep rolling out summer clothes. Lots of floral patterns, men's polo type shirts, men's lighter colored dress shoes. Formal dresses and shoes are going out right now too as there isn't much formal a teen needs to go to this time of year with school being out.

July - End of July, look for baseball stuff (cleats, pants, socks) to be on deep clearance. I got those stretchy baseball pants for the boys for .50c a pair. Also, women's dresses and spring suits (think mother-of-the-bride) type dresses seem to be going out right now. The first wave of summer clearance is starting now, but wait til August for the good stuff - you might loose a few deals, but you'll see better ones in a few weeks.



LAST THOUGHTS

The clothing stockpile method is something that takes a little time to get into. After a full season, there isn't much you should need to buy off sale or at the "sale" rates. That isn't to say that we don't splurge and buy things like an outfit for the first day of school, or something special for picture day, etc. But for day to day living and work, there's no sense buying this year's clothes at this year's prices when last year's clothes are so much like the ones from this year, except 70-90% off in price.

Set the parameters for the types of items you want to stock. Fortunately, my guys don't really care how I dress them, so just about anything is fair game.

Bank some money aside. I don't always buy $100 a month. It comes in waves with the big sales, so I know I need to have a few hundred to play with when the time is right. After Christmas is a tough time financially for most people, but that's when some of the best clearance stuff is out there. I usually spend between $300-500 in those weeks, and again, it's on stuff no one might even wear for the next year or two. But if I can get a boatload of clothes then, it's worth it.

Watch for everyday items to be clearanced out at any time. It could be anything from socks to underwear, but the everyday essentials have no rhyme or reason to them for coming on clearance. I bought some underwear for the boys in July. In August, they were clearancing them out and I swiped up 10 more packs for the price I had paid for the 3 packs I needed when I didn't have them. So keep your eyes open for those deals.

Pay attention to what's going on in your hometown with stores. Two good examples for me:

At Christmas last year, Mervyns in one location went out of business. The store had to close by 12/31. The deals were insane. I got 60 pairs of boys socks for this coming school year for $8. I learned recently that all the Mervyn's in Oregon and Washington will be done and gone by January. Since they will be offering extra %% off when you use their card, I will be sure to have that ready.

Another example is store owner changeovers. The Meier & Frank stores here (May company) got bought out by Macys. Macys is getting rid of all the M&F brands to make room for brands that are exclusive to Macys. Some of the M&F brands just got put on the shelf but are already being clearanced because of the change over, so great deals to be had there.

So with a little savvy shopping, and a willingness to plan ahead and spend today's dollar for tomorrow's deal, you will never pay full retail, or even full "sales" price on clothes again.

[kurlisola]

I've found that the best deal on Jeans is on Black Friday. I want to say that I got some at Penneys for $8 last year (I like their boys Arizona brand). I'm definately loading up again this year.

Also, if you have a TRU with a clothing section inside. Once, when Solen was about a year & Alexandra was a newborn, they had a sale, an additional 50% off of clearance. I happened to be there right after they marked alot of stuff on clearance & nothing was gone over. I loaded up on about $400 worth of clothes for $80. I got sizes all the way up to 3T. Great deal.

[MaryMary]

Great post, HCM.
I wanted to add the following:

Department store cards are not really necessary, most of our newspapers publish these 15-20% coupons for general public, not just cardholders.

Do not buy kids shoes in advance unless you have a backup plan (another kid on your list). If my kid wear size 1 now, I'd hesitate to buy size 2 sandals for the next summer, she had already proved me wrong.

Good clearance sales lately start earlier and earlier every year. Kohl's and Old Navy good clearance were gone by the end of July. They still have lots left, but mush shallower discounts then it was a few weeks ago.

[hotcouponmama]

Great post, HCM.
I wanted to add the following:

Department store cards are not really necessary, most of our newspapers publish these 15-20% coupons for general public, not just cardholders.

The May stores usually do the coupons for the general public, but the Macy's stores, at least what just took over our May ones, are not going to run coupons and their extra bonuses are going to be for card members only.

Then because I have a card, I get extra coupons that aren't for the general public in my statements and with their mailings. A recent example is Mervyns sent me a 15% all day shopping pass that was good one day within a specified range. So the deals were:

70% off original price, then an extra 10% off if you used your card, and then an extra 15% off with the shopping pass.

$10 item became $3 at 70% off, then $2.70 for using my card, then $2.29 with the extra shopper pass. Spread over 40 items, the extra .71c on every $10 bucks added up!

I will say also on shoes, I have 3 boys, so they will fit at some point any one of them, and certainly for people who's feet have stopped growing, stocking shoes is a no brainer. But even if you have just one child, or only one of each, sometimes for the prices, it's worth hedging your bet.

Two Christmases ago, I got boy's Nike's for $6 a pair. I bought them big and this is the year they fit my oldest. And had they not fit, I wouldn't have felt bad donating $50 tennis shoes I only got for a few bucks.

With sandals, it can be a bit tougher, but I bought a pair of Nike sandals for my son with the size 2 feet now, in a size 4 for next summer, anticipating that his jumbo feet are going to sprout by then. Again, a few bucks for something I would never dream of paying $32 for a kid to have a pair of sandals.....I am having better luck gauging their feet than I would at the casino, so fortunately, my bets in the shoe department are paying off!

[cutenirish]

Kohl's clearance is good in March as well :) I know one store has killer shoe sale in Oct near Columbus Day (got lots of great shoes for work there). Also good sales on clothes in July (DH got shorts for 11.xx a pair reg 44 a pair) HAPPY BDAY TO HIM!!! The store is The Bon-Ton! I love that store!!

[BzyBee DH]

Do not buy kids shoes in advance unless you have a backup plan (another kid on your list). If my kid wear size 1 now, I'd hesitate to buy size 2 sandals for the next summer, she had already proved me wrong.

OOps, should have checked to see who was logged in...it's really me...BzyBee

I also have not been able to buy ahead on shoes. DS is hard to fit and we are starting to have the same problem with DD. There is no way for me to figure a pair of shoes will fit them or not. Even if the shoes are deeply discounted, there is a good chance we will end up paying more for well fitting shoes down the road.

Given that we have one of each sex, I do not buy too far in advance...usually just a season or two. It is getting harder to predict what size they will be wearing and I only have one shot at it. Bought a bunch of 12 slims for DS in the spring, thinking they would be about right for this fall...nope, he has shot up this summer and is in 14 S. I do have some 16 slims waiting...I doubt he will make it till spring if he keeps growing at this rate.

Great tips HCM...would be easier if I had a few more kids though...LOL

[queenofthehivemomof5]

Great post Julie! I do this a little bit.

My little tips if I may add.

Organizing: We have large Rubbermaid totes labeled with Boy or Girl and sizes.

Example...Boy 18mo, Boy 24mo, Boy 2T, Boy 3T, Boy 4T, Girl 18mo, Girl 24mo, etc.

Also have 2 totes for summer ONLY wear (swimsuits) and Winter ONLY wear (coats and snow boots)

When its time to switch out a size you throw all current clothes into its empty tote and take out the next size.

When you have boys and girls: Buy colors in either gender (red and yellow is what we do mostly, but you can also do green, orange, black, white, etc) this particularly good for things like snow boots and winter coats. Also look for either sex style clothes such as overalls (for little kids blue jean overalls work for either boy or girl) and polo shirts in basic colors.

I have a hard time stockpiling cute little "girly" outfits in the proper sizes, so I stick with jeans and khakis , jean or Khaki shorts, onesies, polo shirts, plain t-shirts, socks, underwear, jammies, ect and fill in sunday dresses and special occasion outfits in season.

Since I don't have any dept stores I check clearances at Kmart and Walmart as well as the little mom and pop boutiques downtown. I am also an avid yardsaler and am always on the hunt for oshkosh overalls for under $3.00! LOL

[queenofthehivemomof5]

Also for moms of teenage girls! Buy next years formal dress (homecomming, prom, etc) AFTER the prom this year if you can! My DD has pretty much stopped growing, and this year we picked up her formal dress for $30. Floor length black and white. Reg price was something like $150 or more. We paid $60 total for dress, shoes, bra, jewelry, and handbag. Go with classic colors, and styles and you should not be out of date.

[cutenirish]

great advice Queen! This is a great thread! I've gotta start hitting salvation army and thrift shops for more clothes for myself gained some weight (or just eat less JUNK LOL) That would be better for me actualy! LOL

[*sparkles*]

These are great tips...but I have the worst luck with these things. I'm a big clothes clearance shopper...always have been. I live in WI where the seasons are VERY drastic so the clothes HAVE to match the season. Before my dd was born everyone said babies are usually bigger then the size on the clothes so I bought ahead of time (clearanced clothes) and was off a season because she was a runt (still is lol). So then I got pregnant with my second, a boy, and started buying those clearance clothes...and now they are a season off! My son is 4 mos old and is now wearing 6-9 mos clothes...most of his 6-9 mos clothes are for the fall....agh!!!

The summer clothes are all going on clearance now and I have NO idea what to get for either of them. I've been getting 3Ts and 4Ts for my dd (who is still in a 2T) and I have been getting 12 mo & 18mo for my son....I'm buying double and spending more.....

any suggestions???? (so some of the clothes I'm buying are used rather then just given away)

thanks, michelle