I poked under the children's bed and in their closet to find all the cold-weather clothes. They tried most of them on. Now I have three groups: outgrown things nice enough to consign, mostly worn-out things for the thrift store, and a list of needed items.
 |
| They made mustaches, with no idea that these are trendy right now! |
My local kids' consignment store is picky about what they take. They want namebrands, barely worn, in perfectly clean condition. The first time I tried to consign my stroller, they told me it was too dirty; boy, I scrubbed that thing and consequently, they took it and paid me $45.
Genevieve has two pairs of outgrown patent leather shoes. They had little scuff marks all over them. A little googling led me to try wiping the shoes with nail polish remover. Success! With minimal effort, the shoes are now bright and shiny. In the box they go with scrubbed-up snow boots and outgrown clothes, all threads and fuzzies carefully trimmed off.
My plan is to consign the outgrown ones and put the money towards replacement items from the consignment store. Conveniently, this store pays cash up front with no appointment necessary, so I always scrounge around for a few nice items to consign when I go shopping there.
What the consignment store doesn't take, I will drop at the thrift store or see how I feel about selling it on ebay.
4 comments:
Yes, a busy squirrel, I love it.
Children need clothing so often, and they outgrow things so quickly, I think this is time well spent. I find myself scouring second-hand stores and department store sale/clearance racks when my children need clothes. The extra effort pays off.
I've been going through clothes too, so far mostly for my girl as she is the one in school. It is getting cold here, but I live far in the north. I have a hard time getting rid of things for sentimental reasons, even though that is a bit ridiculous. My nearest consignment store works much differently than that, yours does sound handy. I have mostly only bought a couple items off the clearance rack at this one, and bought the odd 'grab bag' which is a garbage bag full of clothes and shoes for $2. You always find some useful items - but time and space is needed to weed through it all, then the extra stuff needs to be donated. Shauna
I absolutely agree that this is a good place to spend your time. I can't help a little shake of the head when some folks tell me they can't afford children/staying at home. Well, no, not if your child's clothing budget for a season is the same as my whole family's for a year!! Once you know your shops, you can be efficient, and you do have "extremely very high job satisfaction" as I once heard an Indian gentleman on the radio say.
I am all for spending my domestic time in this manner. I am a bargain-hunter for children's clothes also. My daughter currently needs NOTHING b/c we were given so many clothes--I literally will buy her nothing for the next year except possibly pajamas. I did purchase brand new shoes last week for both children--I buy one pair of nice shoes in the fall they can wear through the fall/winter. We take full advantage of hand-me-downs and the 'nice' consignment store for nearly everything. I have also purchased jeans, Easter dresses, etc. on ebay. And I sell some clothes on ebay, too, after we're done with them--especially cute holiday-themed type things. (Everything else I pass along to someone else.)
Honestly I don't think you can over-state the money that can be saved by being very careful about clothing purchases for children. I can't imagine buying it all new--as some people do (I have a relative who would never let her child wear a used article of clothing!!). It would cost a fortune.
My babies in their hand-me-downs happen to be very well-dressed, if I do say so myself!
Post a Comment