For good or bad, I take a certain pride in knowing that I buy almost all our family's clothes second-hand. I truly enjoy thrift-store shopping, repurposing, and using clothes until they are worn or no longer fit me. Thrifting is like a treasure hunt for me!
Also, our budget requires us to be incredibly frugal with our clothing purchases. Add to it that I have the world's fastest growing daughter and buying second-hand is imperative.
As Chloe is growing older and taller, I've found it increasingly more difficult to find used clothing, shoes and outerwear in her size. Shoes are the worst! Chloe has inherited my clod-hopper feet and is already in a size 13 or 1. It was so disappointing this fall to open up her bin and see 11's and 12's I had bought ahead of time that were hopelessly too small.
Hence, my quest for a winter coat for Chloe began. I searched all the thrift and kids' consignment shops in the area to no avail. In fact, I was utterly appalled at how much consignment shops charge for USED coats! Hello, $30 or $40 for a used coat?!? I realize supply and demand is at play here but that's utterly ridiculous.
I turned to ebay next and was equally disappointed in the price and selection.
Reluctantly, I tried Target. Turns out for 20 bucks I scored a super warm lined puffy coat for Chloe in her fave color blue. I had a $5 gift card and since the 6/6x was a tad snug I went with a bigger size so the coat will (hopefully) last two seasons.
It felt strange to buy Chloe something brand spanking new but I must say I'm pleased with the bang I got for my buck. Yet another wonderfully satisfying Target experience. :)
Where do you find affordable outerwear for your kiddos?
9 comments:
target rules! i have found good deals on coats during old navy's end of season clearance. my sis snagged some jackets last year for only $12.
great job! it definitely is a trick buying ahead of time - yikes.
I need to purchase a winter coat for Michael too! Thanks for the tip. I may be checking out Target this weekend;). It's so neat to think that God cares about even the smallest details - like being able to purchase the winter coat in Chloe's favorite color.
Last year, I scored a couple of winter jackets for Julia (one for this year and one to grow into) at Walmart for around $5/each--but they're nothing special, kind of Walmart-y. :) They will keep her warm though, I guess that's the main thing. My best coat deal was at Marshalls. One year they had nice kids' coats clearanced for $1 and $2 each. I got one that fit Sam for 2 seasons, and another that fit him last year and should fit again this year. (Thankfully I have slow growing kiddos!) We've also occasionally been gifted with hand-me-down coats. Glad you were able to find such a nice coat at a good price for Chloe!!
Although I miss the seasons so much, I have noticed how much less demanding it is on our clothes budget. The girls can wear their clothes -- always summer -- until they outgrow them instead of having to put them away when they still fit but the season has changed. In the year we've been here, Krista has gone from 12 months clothes to 18 months and now 2 T, but Kayla is still wearing the 4Ts she was wearing a year ago when we got here although she will soon be ready for 5T and I have already pulled some out because both times I've gone into the trunk and changed out Krista's clothes to the next size, Kayla has wanted something "new" to. :-) Still, I must say I miss not only the seasons themselves but pulling out sweaters and winter stuff.
So excited you found the blue Target coat! I understand what you mean about feeling strange buying something brand new. I feel the same way, but you're right in that sometimes there isn't the right size at the thrift shop or the article you need in hand me downs. How neat that the brand new coat was a better price than the consignment stores!
That's interesting what you said in your comment on my blog about the water because I've been focusing on that too wondering if I was dehydrated at times. Especially after Sunday when I had Braxton Hicks contractions for 2 hours. After drinking water and resting, they went away. I will try to really keep track of how much water I'm drinking and see if that helps with the headaches.
And how interesting about the deli meat. I remember when I was pregnant with Kayla that my midwife said the deli meat from the deli was okay but not the packaged deli meat. Another friend told me that same week that her doctor had said no deli meat at all. But with my second pregnancy (and obviously this one), nothing was said about deli meat. Hmmm....
I gotta say, this is why I don't do thrift stores. I rarely find things that are worth the extra trip there. I can usually find such great deals at Target or Kohls that I pay less for brand new than what I would have paid for used.
I have however found awesome deals on maternity clothes at a thrift store here in KC. I've been really impressed with those.
Good fine, Alicia!
I try to buy at the end of the season for the next year. Last year I got Gav's coat for this year at Old Navy for around $10. I got Charlotte one at Target last year for around the same price. I did get Gavin some snow pants and boots at Once Upon a Child last week! I got him lands end boots for six bucks!
We had this huge mom's sale here in Cincinnati back in September (over 100 moms selling their used items) and I found 2 jackets for Eli for this winter - $10 each. One was more of a fall/early winter coat, and the other is a winter coat. Both in great condition! One was JCPenney brand and the other was GAP. It's so hard to buy in advance for Eli. I tried doing that for this summer, and wound up with clothes he can't wear - we'll just save them in hopes that Baby Ethan can wear them :-)
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