Saving money on clothes

Wherever possible, I buy the children's clothes from Trade Me.

When buying in bulk, it pays to buy from someone local, since the postage costs can now be quite horrendous. I usually look at what is available in my area first- it's easy to do, change "Region" to your town/city...it's located in the yellow bar above the listings in the Browse section...clear as mud?

By the same token, I sell their last year's clothes on Trade Me or pass them on to family or friends with younger children. Previously I have kept all the children's clothes up to age 3 when I figure they probably want to have a say in choosing their own clothes.

This winter I probably don't need to buy anything more, apart from some PJ's for J-Man (who tends to spend most of his days in pyjamas), and some more socks for Tombliboo- I haven't checked if last year's socks still fit, and besides that- the child likes to be naked nearly all year round, so we don't need many :0)

I bought a pair of jeans, some leggings, 2 long-sleeve tops, a t-shirt and a pair of winter pyjamas for Princess for $8. The postage was $6, but it still came in less than one (Strawberry Shortcake) pair of PJ's. I've bought similar quantities for Tombliboo for much the same price. J-Man will fit most of his last year's clothes, and I have bought him two new (2nd hand) tops off trade me for $3 each.

At the end of the season last year, I bought each of them one outfit from Pumpkin Patch for this year. I also managed to pick up a new (awesome) wind and rain proof jacket for J-Man for $19, down from $45.

I get mine and dh's clothes from a place called SaveMart- all second hand, and all very nicely priced. Last winter dh got a pair of brand-new looking red tab Levi's Jeans for $28. The sad bit is that it looks a bit deserted atm, so it may have closed down.

If I lived in Wellington, and had fashionable clothes (lol)I would go here.

I used to have a great op shop near home, and hope to again one day. Apart from the smell, op shops are wonderful places to find new (used) clothing. No need to worry about the formaldehyde in clothes, or be concerned about still-more resources being used.

We've cut up last year's ripped to bits (irreparable) pyjamas to use as tissues or rags this year.

Dh has another way to save money n clothes- he still has t-shirts from when he was a teenager. I have plenty of clothes I've had for years and years too, but not quite the same fetish for old t-shirts. I saw recently an article about space-saving, and it said that a photo of you wearing the t-shirt you bought on holiday was a far better use of space than the actual t-shirt. Hard to convince hubby though.