Back to school time is rapidly approaching.  Most people start the back to school buying spree in August.  One of the things your child will definitely need is some new clothes.  There are lots of ways to save money on clothes but first you have to make some decisions and realize that you don’t have to buy a whole new wardrobe to get the school year started.  I remember going clothes shopping for back to school and my mom always bought fall stuff.  Those items were always too hot to wear for the first few days of school since our schools always started in August.  So, you can put off buying some of the clothes for later in the school year.  Here are some ideas to help you save money on your child for back to school clothes.

Make a Plan

The first step to back to school clothes shopping is that you need to make a list of the items that your child will need to have.  Make the list and that is your plan for getting what you need.

Go Closet Shopping

Before you go out and buy a bunch of new items, go and check and see what your child already has sitting in the closet.  Take the list you made of the items your child needs for back to school and  see what you can find on hand in the closet that can be used.  This is also a great time to get rid of items that do not fit anymore.

Make a Budget

Decide how much money you have to use toward your child’s back to school clothing.  Make the money you set aside go as far as you can, buying only what your child needs. Set a price limit for certain items that you plan to buy.  For example, you will not pay more than $10 for a shirt etc.  This will help you stay within your budget. The most important thing is to stick within your budget.  You can always get more items later when you have the money on hand.  I like to use cash only because you will end up paying more money in fees with the credit cards and the clothes may not get paid off until next year’s back to school.

Comparison Shopping

There will be lots of sales to get shoppers to come in the stores to buy back to school items.  Make sure you do some research before going out to find the best deals for the items on your list. This will help you get the most for your money.

Consider Used Clothing

Kids grow up fast and sometimes don’t wear clothes for very long at all.  So many of these clothes are still in great shape and can be reused.  One way to find used clothes is garage/yard sales.  I have fond lots of name brand clothes and gotten bags full of stuff for the price I would have paid for one item at a name brand store.  You can also go to stores like The Goodwill and Salvation Army.  These stores have nice used clothing for a fraction of the cost of new items.  You can also check online for used clothing at places like e-bay, craigslist, and Freecycle.   There are lots of nice used clothes at really great prices at those sites.  Another thing you can do is find other families with kids around your kid’s ages and have a clothing swap.  This is a great way to recycle clothes and save a ton of money.

Shop Off-Season

Another great way to save money on clothes is to shop at the end of the season when stores put those clothes on sale.  This will take a little planning to figure out what size your child will be the next season, but you will be able to save a ton of money. You will also need to find an organized way to store these clothes to place them until the next season.

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