For instance, today I hit the yard sale circuit in search of some bargains. I happened across a sale that was selling tons of children’s clothes. In the past, I wouldn’t even have stopped at such a sale. I would have such a snobby attitude! “Who buys used clothing at a yard sale? Who would even try to sell it? Just donate it to Goodwill.” That was the old, wasteful, ignorant me.
Today, however, was a great affirmation that my newly found frugal attitude is going to bring me better things. Here’s what I picked up at the sale:
1 Ralph Lauren Polo Heavy Jacket $1.00 (Retail $95.00)
1 Old Navy Sweater $1.00 (Retail $15.00)
2 Ralph Lauren Polo Shirts $2.00 (Retail $25.00/each)
1 Prospirit Polar Fleece Pullover $1.00 (Retail $12.00)
2 Izod Hoodies $2.00 (Retail $50.00/each)
1 Gap Button Up Shirt $1.00 (Retail $25.00)
1 Faded Glory Polo Shirt $1.00 (Retail $5.00)
2 Garanimals T-Shirts $2.00 (Retail $5.00/each)
1 Nike “Baltimore Orioles” Official Team Gear T-Shirt $1.00 (Retail $16.00)
1 “How to Train Your Dragon” T-Shirt $1.00 (Retail $13.00)
1 Peak A Babe Jogging Pant $1.00 (Retail $15.00)
That haul translates into a full winter wardrobe for my son (minus a few pairs of pants) for only $14.00. Amazing! I checked each item for stains, rips, etc. and found nothing wrong with them. In fact, they looked hardly worn at all. Something to keep in mind about kids clothing is that they grow so fast, sometimes they don’t get a chance to wear an article of clothing too many times…and since that’s true, why pay top dollar for something that’s going to be very temporary?
My attitude adjustment has gotten me some incredible bargains and has enabled my son to wear designer brands and higher quality clothing than he normally would on my usual “Walmart” budget!
“You can’t buy his clothes at yard sales forever. When he gets a few years older, he’ll want new clothes.” Yes, this thought has crossed my mind, but I hope to instill some of my frugality in him to get him excited about a bargain. Failing that, I’ll just tell him I went to Nordstrom and picked him up some Ralph Lauren…how will he know he’s been “faked?”
The Fake-It Yourself Breakdown:
14 Articles of Boy’s Clothing from Yard Sale, Designer Names($14.00)
Fake-It Cost: $14.00
Compare to Retail Cost of Clothing ($356.00 Total)
Total Fake-It Yourself Savings: $342.00 …that’s 96% off of retail!
I LOVE this!!!
ReplyDeleteOne of my good friends is super thrifty and in turn it has rubbed off on me. The deals you scored are top notch.
Thank you so much for sharing them with my readers.
Great finds!
ReplyDeleteI have the same fear about my kids being snobby about resale when they're older. Luckily they're only 3. :) If they ever get snooty about it I guess I'll tell them to buy their own clothes. lol
ReplyDeleteit funny but as the kids get older they actually get excited about the finds at thrift stores. My 21 year old love to shop at thrift stores to see what bargains she can find........she hates paying full price for things!
DeleteDo not worry about it. I grew up pretty comfortable and as I have left for college I have tried to become completely independent. Therefore, I left the life i had become accustomed to and have a lot less money. I LOVE thrift shopping and seeing what awesome things I can find. The best part is going back home and showing off my high-end designer labels and bragging about how cheap I got them.
DeleteYou sound like me!!! I have 3 girls and I scored their whole winter wardrobe for a grand total of $92.They each have their own 5 drawer dresser stuffed to the gills.95% of it is brand name.
ReplyDeleteGreat for you! I shop consignment for my son often. I never seem to find good yard sales, and it isn't worth the time and gas for me to trek around for disappointment. I probably save 60-75% off retail.
ReplyDeleteBonus: someone else has pre-shrunk, pre-faded, pre-softened the clothing. Isn't it amazing!
When my girls became teenagers, shopping at Goodwill for their clothes was no longer accepted. So instead I started buying clothes off season on the Clearance racks.. I could get Name brand Summer clothes for cheaper during winter then I could at Walmart in July. It might of been out of Style for the New School year, but by the end of the first month- all the kids were wearing their old favorite clothes anyways. Now that my Middle daughter is married and on her own, she nows shops Goodwill and loves when she scores a new outfit.
ReplyDeleteAlways thrift stores. Salvation Army near me sells mens jeans, designer or not, for $5-6 usually, but then on sale, sometimes all pants are $2, sometimes T-Shirts are like 3 for $1. And yep, I wear Polo and Hilfiger and Aeropostale and all that fun stuff. If you're willing to drop a little more money (like a whopping $4 or so a shirt) you can get more "specific" and buy usually nicer condition and better name brand clothes at consignment shops.
ReplyDeleteSo yes, he can do it forever. It's quite fun. I wish honestly my mother bought me used clothes like this when I was younger, I was always "short" on clothes, and my clothes would get in bad condition, and she'd be buying me like crappy looking $10 jeans from Walmart, then meanwhile I could have gotten awesome Hilfiger jeans for like $4 at Salvation Army. Oh well, c'est la vie, but again, totally possible for him to do this for the rest of his life, or you to do it too for that matter.
I shop like this on a regular basis. My daughter had a dance at school and I went to our local Salvation Army and I got her a nice "dress up" dress (she is in 6th grade) for $5. It was very pretty.
ReplyDeleteI was raised shopping at thrift stores! I am in my 20's and about to be come a mom myself,and if MY kids ever tried to get snobby about thrift stores, they will be welcome to get a job and buy their own clothes. I am amazed at the entitled attitude kids have these days! When I was a kid, clothes from a thrift store/yard sale were far better than hand-me-downs I had to wear from my brother!
ReplyDeleteWhen I had my first summer job at 15, I used most of my earnings to buy my school clothes at thrift stores, on my own.
My 17 year old daughter is huge on name brand fashions. She has a job so for the most part I let her buy what she wants. But now that it's "her" money she likes to get better deals. She has found ever upscale consignment store in town and does a lot of TJ Maxx shopping. Both of my girls wanted to go thrift shopping recently. So while we were at the "Pound Store" (clearance goodwill store where everything is in boxes and sold by the pound) a woman found a Coach purse. Don't know if it was real but it looked nice. Now the girls ask every Saturday if we can go back. Just never know what you may find.
ReplyDeleteI had to laugh when I came across this. When my son was in his teens (25 yrs ago) he wanted the then new Air Jordan tennis shoes. I told him I would give him 35 dollars towards them. The rest was up to him. He did figure out away to get the money. Same went for the popular Starter brand jackets of the day. I always shopped the clearance departments of all the high end stores when he was a baby and got some fantastic deals. He learned from that. Now as a 30 something professional he still looks at the cleardance depsrt first. He also finds what he wants and waits for it to go on sale at online stores as well. We did have our issues with "name brand" things but not as much as you would think. I also shopped at thrift and outlet stores. I just washed them , put them in the drawer and if he wanted to wear clothes that's what he got. Usually it wasn't a problem and he learned early on if he wanted it bad enough to pay for it himself he had to save his money. I also bought my own clothes the same way. He didn't suffer so I could have "new" stuff. LOL I still shop that way. These days there are some fantastic clothes at thrift stores.
ReplyDeleteI have always bought 2nd hand clothes for my 3 girls. My youngest is 6yrs old & I go to RerunsRfun or Once upon a child. For my teenagers, I go to Plato's closet. Research the names above, because going all over town to garage sales takes a lot of time & gas. hth
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