Mommy Monday: Save Cash on Kid's Clothes

It's Mommy Monday and today's topic is saving money on kid's clothes. 

Kid's clothes can be pricey. But only if you let them. In my house we observe the 90/10 rule. That means 90 perent of our son's clothes are used. They are either hand-me-downs I got for free or things I purchased at Waterfront Rescue Mission and other thrift stores. 

The other 10 percent are things I get on sale at Target or Kohl's. These are items that I want special for my little boy. 

I wrote a whole series on saving cash on kid's items, including clothes. You can get a free Ebook of that series here. 

When children are as young as my son they outgrow clothes in the blink of an eye. I am not going to shell out cash I could be saving for college on tiny little shirts and pants. But that doesn't mean my son looks like a ragamuffin. 

Here are some suggestions I have gotten from readers. 

• Thred Up - This is a great website where you can get clothes, shoes, books and toys. The clothes are always in great condition and are 70 percent off of retail. They also have this great service where you can sell your kids clothes. They send you a bag, you fill it up with name brand, gently used clothing and they pay you.

Thread Up used to have a flat rate, but as Kristen from Trial and Error Homemaking (a terrific blog) points out "Thred Up changed the way they do things. It's more like a consignment store now - where you purchase individual items. For instance, when I went to their site just now, the first item was a plaid shirt in size 4 for $14.49. They list "retail values" to try to justify their prices (this shirt was apparently 72% off). In my opinion, it's not nearly as great of a deal."

Consignment sales- Last January my husband and I went to a HUGE consignment sale in Mobile. It happens twice a year and we made off like bandits. Plus the sale was running a Living Social special so that made it even sweeter. But, a little warning, when dealing with boy clothes, consignment sales aren't always a good deal- I think boys, even as babies, are hard on their clothes. Want to find a consignment sale in your area? Check outConsignmentsalfinder.org.

Here is what reader Sara J. had to say about finding kid's clothes on Cragislist: I wish someone had told me not to spend so much money on clothes! Granted I did get everything on sale when JcPenny still used coupons but they hardly look good after a couple washes and spit ups anyways! I am a military wife so i do not have the benefit of getting second hand from friends and family as we live far away from them but I have used several places for great deals. Goodwill has turned out some great bargains, sometimes getting brand new items that are donated from target. Secondly I have noticed many people selling bags of clothes for cheap on craigslist along with every other gadget you would ever need. Last but not least are garage sales! With a two month old i cannot get up on Saturday morning and grab up these good deals but I do send my hubby occasionally and clothing for .25 cant be beat!!

How have you saved big bucks on little clothes? 

Check out Erin, the other Erin and Iris to see what they have to say on this, Mommy Monday.