Back To School Already?
Posted by michelle on Aug 6, 2012 in Saving Money | 62 comments
Never fear…I did mine and will happily let you cheat off my perfect A+ plan!
Clothing Exchange
Thankfully, I have a lot of mommy friends who love to get together and drink wine, err I mean root through kids’ clothes. Call up some of your girlfriends and offer to host a clothing swap! I guarantee everyone will leave feeling richer. Bring your clothes that are clean and free of holes and stains, but don’t bring anything that you would feel uncomfortable parting with. No one wants you to feel like you’re being robbed! Putting your initials on the tags is a good idea if you decide you will eventually want the clothes back, too.
Ebay and Craigslist
The fantastic thing about children’s clothing is it usually fits! In women’s clothing, there are so many places that have “flattery” sizing that unless I’ve bought from the store before, I have no idea what size to buy. We all know those places that make us several sizes smaller than we actually are just to make us feel better, like our bodies more, and potentially buy more because of it. It totally works, too. The great thing about kids’ clothing is that *usually* my child is the same size in every store! Amazing how that works, isn’t it? Therefore, I feel a lot more confident buying clothing online for my kids than for myself. Also, kids grow so fast that a lot of times you can find barely-worn pieces for insane discounts!
Winterize!
I talked about it for women in a guest post on Mo’ Money’s blog, and I showed you a few examples over here. For kids, the same rules apply. Summer shirts and dresses can be layered in the winter, so don’t pack them all up just yet. Tights and long-sleeved t-shirts are usually less expensive pieces, so if you can make an outfit work with a few inexpensive tweaks, go for it!
Hi Grandma
This year, my mom is buying my oldest son a book bag to debut in middle school. We were fully against this at first, since there’s nothing wrong with his bag! It’s in perfect condition….well, except for all those signatures from his 5th grade classmates last year. Sigh. Why he let people sign his perfectly-good backpack thus making it impossible for us to reuse it is beyond me. However, I never thought about the future when I was a child, either, so I guess I’ll cut him some slack. I told my mom that it was very nice of her since we were trying so hard not to spend over a certain amount this year on back-to-school gear. I would never tell my children (or anyone!) to ask someone for a brand-new backpack just because of some signatures on it, but when my mom told me that my son was complaining and she wanted him to feel confident in 6th grade, I immediately felt like I myself was going into 6th grade all over again! I remembered having the wrong shoes, because they were L.A. Gear and everyone was, like, so totally over those that year. I remember that all the cool kids were wearing Converse All Stars. In retrospect, it was so stupid that I wanted a pair of canvas flats with virtually zero support instead of my comfortable L.A. Gears that I thought were so cool only a week prior. I was a lot like my 11-year-old in that I cared way too much about what other people had, and that I felt my worth was reflected in the shoes I wore or the stupid book bag I carried. When I realized that he really thought that carrying his old book bag with 5th grade signatures on it would make him the class geek forever, I had to let her buy it.
Breakdown
Bible, I haven’t bought my kids any new clothes for this coming school year yet. Not one pair of pants or shoes or even a shirt. I have a cousin who is a few years older than my oldest son, and he gave us a ton of brand name, gently-used clothes. Since my middle child is only a few years younger still, he got my oldest’s outgrown clothes. I just went through their clothes and I think we can actually make it this winter on the lot we already have. This is one of those happy-dance moments of which mommies can only dream. Don’t worry…we’ll find a way to spend the money we’re saving. My oldest is also starting band this Fall! Do you have any idea how much a baritone costs? It’s pretty much insane. In fact, since I’m not proud, does anyone HAVE a baritone that they’re not using? Hey, doesn’t hurt to ask. Happy back-to-school to all!
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I cared about what other people thought waaaaaaaay longer than sixth grade, but it was still an awesome gesture of your Mom. Congrats on getting through back-to-school on a budget-I’d definitely be excited to.
I’m being a bad girl and taking advantage of the sales tax holidays next weekend to shop, so we will see how that goes.
L Bee and the Money Tree recently posted..Fashion Bloggers piss me off.
L Bee, I cared way past 6th grade too! I wish I could instill in my kids what I never had: confidence! My 8-year-old actually has it naturally. He doesn’t care in the least what you think about him. Therefore, he IS a cool kid.
Ooooo I loved sales tax holidays when I lived in states that offered them. In PA, there’s no sales tax on clothes and therefore no tax holidays accompanied by awesome sales. Plain old back to school sales for us.
femmefrugality recently posted..Frugal Cooking 206
Ours was this past weekend. I didn’t know until recently that it was a state-by-state thing!
It is INSANE to see how much instruments cost. I just sold my old saxophone (at least 15 years old) for $400 on craigslist. I like the idea of the clothing swap with your friends…not gonna like, pretty brilliant thought.
Jason recently posted..Blog Income and Site Statistics – July 2012
Jason, I think we’re going to rent. We don’t even know if he’ll stick to it, so I’m definitely not going to spend $800 on something he *might* do for a couple years. Thankfully, the school has one that they will let him use while there, and we’ll just have to rent one for home use. They’re too big to carry to and from school daily.
$400?!? Sounds like I have an old trombone in the attic that is going on Craigslist this week:)
Greg@ClubThrifty recently posted..Why I Prepay My Mortgage
Great idea, Greg. See you on craigslist! We’ve got a bunch of stuff listed right now.
If that thing is worth more than $20 bucks then it is going on craigslist. Just plan on getting it down from the attic tonight =)
You can learn to play “When the Saints go Marching In” on the piano. Ha,ha!
Holly@ClubThrifty recently posted..Money Matters: Do Your Own Thang
I’m with you, Holly! If it hasn’t seen the light of day in more than a few months, say goodbye!
I agree, why spend money on new clothes when you don’t have to. They’ll only put a hole in them on the first day back at school anyway!
Great Work Michelle!
Money Bulldog recently posted..Save Money ~ Raising A Baby On A Budget!
Hopefully not the first day, but yeah–my boys do sometimes wear holes in their jeans way before I’ve gotten my money’s worth! Annoying!
My kid is still a baby and he doesn’t care what he wears.
I’m not looking forward to future back to school shopping at all.
Joe @ Retire By 40 recently posted..Stay at home dads of the world UNITE
Don’t. They can be dreadful. We’ve experienced tears from the big guy already over a pencil box. A PENCIL BOX!
Sounds like you’ve got a great plan for the back-to-school situation!
L.A. Gear…wow, that brings me back! I had a pair of those. They were white, grey, and black with 3 pairs of shoelaces. They laces were also white, grey, and black. Everyone had them. Do they even make those anymore? LOL
Mackenzie recently posted..An Accident Waiting to Happen
Sweet, Mackenzie! Mine were turquoise, my favorite color in case you can’t tell by looking at my site, with sparkles on the laces. I thought they were so cool…until I saw that all the cool girls were wearing All Stars.
I don’t have any thoughts or advice as far as the best way to deal with back to school on a budget, but I can say that even as an adult I myself want to go to back to school shopping. I love the idea of “renewing” and “reinventing” yourself in the fall. While others think New Year’s is the time of reinvention, I always think of it like it’s my first day of another year of school, and I want the shiny new wardrobe to go along with it. Weird, huh?
Budget and the Beach recently posted..Week in Review-8/5/12
I get the reinvention, definitely. I think all seasonal changes are a great opportunity for that. Being in California like you are, it is probably a more unique outlook than some of your friends. Since there’s no need to swap out clothing, that is! Here in the Midwest, I think a lot of people think like you and look forward to the changing weather and the *excuse* to start anew.
My parents started giving me a clothing allowance when I was in 4th grade. This taught me a lot about how to be careful about my spending. I got $40 a month for clothes and that worked out pretty well. We kept it in an envelope and I couldn’t spend it on other things. At age 16, they stopped giving me any kind of an allowance to encourage me to get a job.
Chase
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That’s a great idea, Chase! That way, kids start to learn the value of the dollar and might even start taking care of their clothes. Okay, that might be a bit far-fetched, but a mama can dream!
The clothing exchange idea is my absolute favorite. It’s not only a great way to save on shopping for school clothes, but it’s great for all year-long shopping as well. This certainly helps in the savings category for the budget conscious mom.
Your new blog theme looks fantastic. Congratulations on doing such a wonderful upgrade.
Anthony Thompson recently posted..Dividend Reinvestment Plans – A Stock Investment Program for Tightfisted Shareholders
I really like clothing swaps! Thanks for the compliments on the new site! Andrea does a great job of putting together all the things we like.
This post comes at a great time – we just did tons of this shopping this weekend! My daughter got five new jeans each for $6 on clearance at 77 Kids. That is really cool that Grandma chipped in! My MIN also did that for us by buying the kids new shoes. It’s just something they like to do!
My Money Design recently posted..Book Review: Rich Dad Poor Dad by Robert Kiyosaki
Grandmas are great for that stuff, for sure! The way kids grow out of shoes, it’s a good thing we have help. The jeans deals you talked about sounds great! If we needed any, I would be running right out to the mall for that price.
My kids are still little but it’s never to soon to start thinking about the first day of school. Like the part with “social suicide”, brings back memories from my youth. As a boy a didn’t pay so much attention of my “look”, but my sister instead, God, she didn’t leave the house if her clothes and hair didn’t look cool.
gekko recently posted..Don’t do it!
Oh gekko, I’m afraid I’m still like that. My boys and my husband all lie to me, I swear. They don’t even look at me before yelling in unison “YOU LOOK GREAT. LET’S GO!”
I’m not going back to school (hooray!) and have no kids of my own but I like the back-to-school season to pick up cheap things for myself. Often, I can get cheap tank tops in back-to-school clothing sales and also printer paper and lined paper for the office.
CF recently posted..Recipe Idea: Easy Slow Cooker Potatoes
Great tip, CF! Even if you’re not going back to school per se doesn’t mean you can’t take advantage of the great sales.
Thankfully I’m not going back to school, yet I look forward to it, as all the kids go back to school, adults come out to play, so it’s generally the time I take my vacation time down south.
I liked the clothing swap idea, it’s pretty brilliant, that’s until the “brand-names” come into play, as I’m sure kids will want brand names, and not all parents buy brand name clothing.
Eddie recently posted..Entrepreneurs – Don’t Let Stress Hold You Back!
True, Eddie. Some kids won’t wear anything that doesn’t have a brand name slapped on it. My kids have their own styles, but they don’t really care about the names, more the look and feel of the clothes.
Also, definitely feeling you on the back-to-school-back-to-life for young parents! Jeff and I have been in full-on parent mode the past few months and are looking forward to the boys being back in school to be honest!
A clothing-swap party is a great idea! I remember my mom doing that when I was little. My brother-in-law recently got to borrow a bunch of his sister’s kid clothes since their kids are a year apart.
Jessica @ Budget for Health recently posted..5 Ways to Drink More Water
THAT is why cousins rule! My sister has kids really close in age to mine and it’s so much fun watching them grow up together. Unfortunately, they’re a little bit too close in age for us to be able to swap many clothes. The boys wear the same size!
Awesome tips! looks like your kids will by stylin’!
Ornella @ Moneylicious recently posted..7 Key Ways to Parlay Your Money Toward Your Success
I hope so! Confident kids probably get better grades.
We’re definitely not there yet, but I remember the days as a kid were stressful. Buy a bunch of clothes that might fit both my brother and I that we can’t wear for another month. Also, I had no fashion sense, so I looked like a goob all year
Sounds like you’ve gota sweet plan goin’ on so your kids look better than I did! It’s really important, you know.
Jacob @ iheartbudgets recently posted..What To Do When You Blow The Budget
Jacob, I don’t allow my kids to look like goobs!
Oh man, those years were tough ones! I went to a private school so we wore uniforms, but your shoes and your winter coat were all people needed to see to decide whether you were cool or not. It’s nice that you are compassionate and understand your kids’ need to feel like they belong but even better than you’ve found frugal ways (like the clothing exchange) to get them what they need.
Shannon-ReadyForZero recently posted..Weekly Shout Outs: Go for the Gold Edition
I also went to a private school, Shannon…which is why the shoes was such a big deal for me! Since we weren’t allowed to express our style in many other ways, the shoes could make you…or break you.
So true
Shannon-ReadyForZero recently posted..Success Profile: The World-Traveler Who Destroyed $37,000 in Debt
I remember back in band class my mom just rented my saxophone. I guess it depends on how passionate they are about their instrument and whether they’d want it long term.
As for clothes I remember all about needing to have new clothes to be ‘cool’. That would put a lot of financial pressure on the parents since they don’t want to disappoint their kids. At the same time though they want to be practical and not blow a bunch of money each year. It sounds like you’ve found some good ways to avoid that.
Modest Money recently posted..Mistakes to Avoid When Buying a Home
Jeremy, the school sent us home a list of things we need to buy…and the baritone was among them! We are allowed to rent it, but we need to buy valve oil, a mouthpiece brush, slide grease….all kinds of stuff we’re responsible for.
If I’d had kids I would dress them, and shop for them, and go completely broke.
My friend went school shopping for her daughter this last weekend. She said it was exhausting. But she is not a shopper. 
My another friend complaints every year how expensive is school shopping for her son. But she likes to buy him only brand clothes. The boys is a brand snob. I, honestly, think it is too much even for a 16-year old. But I guess I don’t have kids, so who am I to judge. 
Aloysa @ My Broken Coin recently posted..My Not Quite Traditional Marriage
I love for my kids to look cute and fashionable, but I’m trying to teach them that if you’re good-looking…you can make anything look cute! Good thing I only make gorgeous children!
I LOVE clothing swaps. I first went to one in college, where we had about 6 or 8 friends all bringing clothes to try on and exchanges. We were all different sizes, but that meant that some of the clothes that no longer fit us were perfect for others and vice versa. I still have one pair of running pants from that first clothing swap, which was over 12 years ago!
Emily, that’s awesome! I would love to do one with my girlfriends for our own clothing. I wonder if that would work as well as for the kids. We’ll have to try it!
Clothing exchange is a great idea. Kids go through clothes so fast so its great to be able to exchange with friends who have kids that are different sizes. It really cuts down on the clothing part of the budget.
Sean @ One Smart Dollar recently posted..Aiming for Gold in the GoBankingRates.com Personal Finance Olympics
Thanks, Sean! The clothing part of the budget can really break you. I recently read that the average American family spends almost $2000 on clothing a year! The average American family must not read my blog…
I still do clothing exchanges! In fact, those clothes I bought just recently have been my first really new clothes in a few years. Mostly I just get handmedowns from people who have never worn them (serioiously, I have recieved awesome clothes with tags still on them!) or worn them a few times but need room for more clothes. Yes, please I’ll take them! I managed to get a whole new work wardrobe when I went from being casual in a call center to business casual in a matter of weeks.
bogofdebt recently posted..Scrooge McDuck and Money Lessons
I need to make some more shopaholic friends…in my size!
A clothing exchange is a great idea!
I do that with my neighbor across the street. We both have little girls and they are never exactly the same size so it works great. It also saves a ton of cash.
Great post. Have a great day!
Holly@ClubThrifty recently posted..Money Matters: Do Your Own Thang
We have a couple little girls across from us that are older than our daughter…could be very beneficial for us anyway!
I just read that if you are buying technology for school, don’t do it now. The best prices historically have always been between Thanksgiving and the New Year. If the old computer will hold out a little longer, wait!
AverageJoe recently posted..Don’t Be the Emperor With No Emergency Fund
Thanks for the great tip, Joe!
Back to school is a killer! In Ireland (where we are) the cost each year for new school books is around €1,200 ($1,600) for three kids (which we have) school age… PAINFUL!
Fortunately, partly due to everyone feeling the pinch a group of parents have set up their own website where books are now passed along/shared and sold at a discount to make it all a little less painful.
It’s great to see you can get the kids back to school without buying new uniform! Very cool
Neil
Wow, that’s crazy. I had no idea Ireland back-to-school was so expensive! The parents that started that website–what a great idea!
I think renting a sax is a good call. I can’t believe how much they cost, for a kid no less. There has to be some way to make money off of this… hmmm… I wonder if there’s a cheaper, but just as effective, metal that you can manufacture kids/practice saxes for 1/3 of the cost… You’d buy a cheaper metal one for home use for $100 right? A lot of people would. Now you just need to find a way to manufacture one for $50 and then find the quickest route to your local credit union to cash all those checks!
Miss me? And all my wacko ideas…
Nick recently posted..Sometimes it’s about way more than math
Did I ever, Nick?! I love your wacky ideas! I would love to sit and bounce ideas around with you some time. Greatness usually starts with a wacky idea, you know?
Yeah…holding off on kids for 7 or 8 years. They seem so expensive! Seems like there are definitely ways to save money when it comes to paying for their clothes and whatnot (as you mentioned), but it also sounds time consuming figuring it all out. I’m tired just thinking about it.
DC @ Young Adult Money recently posted..Should You…
Kids are completely exhausting, and it has little to do with the things you mentioned even.
What is the random “Bible” thrown in there? Is that how you praise the heavens?
Kathleen @ Frugal Portland recently posted..I’m not spending money ever again!
HAHAHAHAHAHAHAA…uhm no. Not praising anything! It’s just something people say. Like “swear to God” or something. You so silly!
I’m a teacher and have a few tips for parents on both clothes and getting your kids ready for middle or high school.
1. Wait for clothes. What was ‘in’ last year may not be this year.
2. Don’t wait, especially for middle school to ‘color coordinate’ their school supplies. Folders, spirals for each class should be one color: i.e., math ‘blue,’; science, ‘red’; language arts, ‘green’; and so on.
3. Tell your child to make corrections to work in one color, different than their homework color. Say they write homework in ‘black.’ Make corrections in blue or red. Added notes for themselves in third color, perhaps green. Gives them a ‘legs up’ when studying for tests, they can ‘see’ their weak areas.
4. Hold off on clothes and expensive additions in school supplies. Find out when school starts what’s ‘hot’ and regarding school supplies, the teachers made those lists out under duress in the Spring, by fall they’ve had time to re-think. Save yourself the $$$.
5. It’s late for this year, but remember: School supplies hit the retailers during the 4th of July period. From that point on there are bargains each week. 2 pocket folders for a penny. 5 subject notebooks for .29 cents. Buy by the week,not all in one fell swoop. Last week at Walgreens, 24 Crayola crayons, .29.