How many times have you asked yourself, “How is it possible he’s outgrown those jeans already? I spent a fortune on them, and now they’re useless.” Chances are high that if you’re a parent, you’ve uttered that phrase, or something a lot like it, far more often than you’d wish. Keeping children appropriately clothed is an expensive proposition.

So what to do for your growing brood when we’re all trying to save every penny possible? You get creative – that’s what. You make a vow to yourself: full price, never again. And you stick to it, no matter what. Despite the pull of those adorable little outfits displayed in all of the clothing store windows, soon the pride you’ll feel at all of the money you’ll be saving will override any desire you may previously have had at spending obscene amounts of money on clothing that might be worn once, if at all.

Because that’s one of the most important truths to remember about children’s clothing: very little of it lasts long enough to wear itself out completely. Children grow so quickly that more often than not, they outgrow the sweater Aunt Polly gave them for Christmas after the first wearing. And there goes Aunt Polly’s hard work, right on top of the Good Will pile.

Seek Out Second Hand

Which is why the first suggestion on how to cut back on money spent on children’s clothing is to shop at second hand stores. Before you balk at the idea, consider the aforementioned first. Children very rarely wear out their clothing, more often than not, they simply out grow it. This is truer the younger the child. As such, the quality of children’s clothing at second hand stores tends to be quite decent.

If you’re still the type of person who has a difficult time picturing your children running around in clothing that used to belong to someone else, at least consider buying their play clothes second hand. Play clothes are meant to be destroyed – stained, torn, and worn to pieces, because that’s what kids do with play clothes – they play in them! Think of how much less worried you’ll be about them “destroying” a pair of summer shorts that cost you a quarter, vs. a pair that cost you $20. Not only will you be saving money, but you’ll also be preserving family peace.

Second hand stores, even including stores such as the Good Will, the Salvation Army, and St. Vincent de Paul, are particularly good places for teenagers to explore. More often than not, teenagers these days are more into looking “worn out,” than crisp and clean. We've all heard of the "grunge" look, right? A second hand store is the perfect place to find the look ready-made, rather than having to ruin your new clothing on your own. Also, it gives the teenager with even a minimal amount of creativity the chance to have a blast with very little money, and again, no tension on your part.

When she loves the jeans, but thinks they look better with a hole in the knee, who cares if she puts it there when the jeans only cost you $1? When he loves the t-shirt, but doesn’t want the sleeves, who’s going to stand in his way when it only set you back 50 cents? Think of how much fun she'll have trying to find fabric or learning to crochet flowers or learning to embroider a design to cover the hole in the 25 cent jeans. You might even be lucky enough to be the one to teach her! Any opportunity to build a bridge with your teenager, rather than bomb one, is worth well more than the hundreds of dollars your pocket will be spared.

Buy Ahead - Beat the Crowd, and the Price

Another idea to outsmart the clothing retailers is to buy out of season. When you’re out buying Halloween costumes a little early, or just getting ideas for what you can create for them at home, guess what’s on super clearance markdown? Summer clothing! You know what size little Suzie is wearing right now, and should have a pretty good idea of what size she’ll be wearing come next spring and summer. So, spend $2.00 on a clearance sundress rather than the $22.00 at which it was originally marked. All it takes is a little planning ahead. Depending on the number of children in your family, the savings netted from this little adventure could practically fund Christmas all on its own.

Everyone in the world, with the possible exception of the author of this article, appears to have mastered the art of ebay buying and selling. Why not use it for clothing as well? This particular option works for both adult and children’s clothing. Ebay even goes so far as to become your own, personal shopper. When you inform this revolutionary marketplace of those brands and styles for which you search, it does that searching for you, and takes the time to inform you when it’s found matches for your requests. So, now you’re not only saving money, now you’re saving time as well! And who couldn’t use more money and more time?

When shopping at second hand stores - especially the Good Will, Salvation Army and St. Vincent de Paul - always remember when you go to browse to bring along everybody’s bags of clothing they no longer need or want, and they can be donated. Sure, you could walk away with a good feeling about what you just did for someone else, but you can also walk away with a receipt for the tax deductible donation you just made to a charitable organization, thereby increasing your tax return, and lining your pockets with yet more money.

Hand me Who?

“Hand me Downs” hold a long-standing position in the “how to save money on clothes” lists. What might be worth some extra time, however, is to see how far you can expand this particular notion. Most people stop with the sibling “downline,” rather than exploring other areas of the family. Cousins are worthy candidates, as are step-brothers and step-sisters - even aunts and uncles, in these days of second and third families.

There are also neighbors, churches, day care centers, pre schools, and even the neighborhood school. While it doesn’t seem appropriate to approach people in all of those different venues to request their “hand me down” clothing, it does make sense to start your own second hand stores or co-ops in such places: churches or schools, for instance. Either organization who could benefit from the profits of such a shop, no matter how small. It could be an incredible learning opportunity for a teenager, or a group of them. Say the drama club needs extra funds to pay for programs for this year’s fall play. They can approach the principal of their school, and ask if, and under what circumstances she would consider allowing a second hand clothing store to exist on school property.

If not a group of kids, then a group of enterprising parents, who could use some help in paying for all of their children’s extra-curricular activities could easily make such a shop a success. Were that to be the case, families could benefit financially in several different ways – saving significant money on the cost of clothing, and significant money on the cost of participation in extra-curricular school activities. It's your classic win/win opportunity.

Never overlook your own skills

There is always the option of making or “re-making” clothing, if you have the appropriate skill package, which doesn’t have to be much. If you know how to use a sewing machine, or can do even the smallest amount of hand-sewing, you’re at least in the ballpark. And don’t limit yourself to thinking only about making an entire dress, pair of pants, or outfit from scratch. Think even more often about the “re-making” of the clothing mentioned above.

All it requires is a little creativity. If you have the necessary skills, you have the option of not simply stretching your own family's clothing, but perhaps selling these skills to other families, to make some extra funds.

If you don’t possess the necessary creative skills, maybe someone in your family does, such as a grandmother or an aunt, and it might be just the opportunity she’s been looking for either to simply help out, or to earn a small fee herself. It would help her financial situation, but still help yours, because no matter the cost, it would never equal the cost of an entire new pair of pants or a new shirt, or whatever the article of clothing.

By “re-making” I mean the following: pants that are too short can be easily rolled up and used as capris, use a couple stitches to hold the cuff in place, or cut the pants off and give them a new hem; or, instead of capris, pants that are too short for young girls can be embellished by adding a little ruffle at the bottom. Needless to say, for any pants whose length has been outgrown, there always remains the option of cutting them off, and either hemming them, or simply folding them up or fraying the ends, and wearing them as a pair of shorts.

While this is by no means a complete list of all the possible ways through which families can help themselves save money by changing the way they shop for clothing, hopefully it will serve at least as a springboard to get your own creative juices flowing about how to not just stretch a dollar, but maybe also stretch some clothes!

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