Anyone buying your DC's clothes for next year?

[gbailey]

This winter DD had fall/winter clothes that I had purchased when stores were trying to get rid of their winter inventory last year. I did a great job of estimating her sizes correctly even though some items were a little big. I've been doing the same thing for the past two months. I was able to get her adorable sweaters for $2.99, jeans for $4.99 and a bunch of other cute necessities like tights, hats. Is anyone else doing this? DH thinks it's funny but I save us a lot of money by doing this.

[daytripper75]

I do it every year! I have a bin in the bottom of each of their closets to hold on to the too big items and I try to keep a list of things they still need for my purse in case I find a good deal.
It's so satisfying, isn't it?

[iowaorganic]

Last week I was a target and on a whim went through the toddler clearence- I struck gold! I bought tops for DD for next year for $1-2 each, pants for DS1 for $1.75 (I bought them in 3 different sizes!), shirts for DS for $0.98, and a dress outfit for DS for $5.00 (pants, shirt, and sweater). I spent about $45 total- but a huge bag of great clothes.

Every summer I am a mad garage saler though. I always stock up- but little boy clothes? Those are almost impossible to find in decent shape at yard sales.

When DD was 1 year old I had yard saled the summer she was 6 mo old and ended up only buying up to a size 12 mo. Well she outgrew those during the winter and we had to go shopping and pay *gulp* retail. DH quickly found the love of yard sales after having to purchase a bag of little girl clothes for $80.

[ArtsyMomma]

I can't estimate my kids sizes, so I rarely buy ahead

My kids are all about a year off on the average size IE: My 7 year old wears a 5T or 6T - and the 6T is pretty big.

[Sarah W]

I did. The Children's Place is having a huge sale and I bought several long sleeved shirts for her. You can wear LS for a pretty wide span of months here, so I had no problem at guesstimating. They've got shirts for $2, you can't pass that up.

[gbailey]

Originally Posted by iowaorganic

Last week I was a target and on a whim went through the toddler clearence- I struck gold! I bought tops for DD for next year for $1-2 each, pants for DS1 for $1.75 (I bought them in 3 different sizes!), shirts for DS for $0.98, and a dress outfit for DS for $5.00 (pants, shirt, and sweater). I spent about $45 total- but a huge bag of great clothes.

Every summer I am a mad garage saler though. I always stock up- but little boy clothes? Those are almost impossible to find in decent shape at yard sales.

When DD was 1 year old I had yard saled the summer she was 6 mo old and ended up only buying up to a size 12 mo. Well she outgrew those during the winter and we had to go shopping and pay *gulp* retail. DH quickly found the love of yard sales after having to purchase a bag of little girl clothes for $80.

Wow! The deals you got at Target are great. I got some too but not nearly as good as yours! I got a few pairs of pants and jeans for this time next year for $3.50. I did get the Hanes sweatpants for $1.98 and the tops to match. I still haven't found a good deal on a winter coat though but I have my fingers crossed.

[gbailey]

Originally Posted by Sarah W

I did. The Children's Place is having a huge sale and I bought several long sleeved shirts for her. You can wear LS for a pretty wide span of months here, so I had no problem at guesstimating. They've got shirts for $2, you can't pass that up.

I got two of her sweaters from there. I was so bummed when I purchased a pair of 99 cent sandals on line only to be told they were out of stock. Did you know you can go to the children's place store and get free shipping codes to use for the website? Anytime I visit the store, I get a few free shipping codes so I can place my orders online

[happyhats]

I mostly shop ahead through yard sales. I love me some yard sales and am jonesing for them already! I look through the racks when we go thrift shopping as well, and I plan on going to the jbf sale this march. DD is thirteen months old right now, but is wearing 18 months, and some 24 months. I'm so glad I shop ahead because she'll have random growth spurts and just change sizes overnight. Right now I'm focusing on more 24 months, 2ts, and 3ts. I doubt I'll shop for anything bigger than that but if it's offered to me for free from friends and is in good shape I take it! I have limited space so I try to only keep a size, maybe two sizes ahead (she's often in two sizes at once, like now).

[marimara]

I do it for my dd. January is always the best time to do this every year. Old Navy ,Target, Sears, LL Bean at end of summer for jackets/coats, Lands End markdowns, you name it, all have their major markdowns around the 2nd-3rd week of January. I leave the tags on so if they don't fit I can resell online or at a resale place (consignment). I'm talking major cheap, like I got fleece pants for next winter at about $1.50 a piece at Sears, shirts for $3 at Old Navy, $25 coat from LL Bean. I look around constantly to keep it on the cheap..

[Amys1st]

For dd1 only, I buy next year's coats right at the second markdown. So I have a columbia coat and snow pants bought half of what I would pay next fall. They also are so great, I pass them to dd2 and they stay perfect enough that I pass to another friend and her dd wears them as well.

[xmysticprincessx]

I always buy ahead for my kids. When they were babies, I got tons of stuff at garage sales since there were sooo many baby clothes for next to nothing. It seemed like finding clothes in 3T and up in decent condition for a decent price at garage sales was pretty hard, so I've been shopping a lot of sales at Old Navy, Sears, TCP, etc the past couple years. TCP outlet usually marks everything down to $3 and then $1 or $2 at the end of the season. I got a lot of cute things for dd a couple years ago that way.

I scored at Old Navy a couple weeks ago. They had an additional 1/2 off all clearance, and I also used a $10 off $50 coupon (from the website or oldnavyweekly.com) and got clothes for the kids for garage sale prices or just barely above. I got lots of shirts for $0.50 (Christmas ones) to $2 each. I got fleece pants for $1.50 or $2. And the best deal are the winter coats that were normally $40+ that I got for about $4 each!

I also buy shoes ahead for the kids. Payless often has some great clearance deals. If I find a shoe I like but they don't have the kids' size, I have the clerk look up the size I need in their computer. Sometimes a local store will have that size, sometimes they don't. If a local store does have it, Payless prints out a slip with the store location plus a coupon for $3 off that pair of shoes! So if I found a $6 pair of sneakers and a store 10 minutes away has it, I pick it up there for $3 with the coupon!

[BetsyS]

That's good to know about Payless!!

I like to buy ahead, too. My 3 year old wore 3T pants at the beginning of fall, and now he wears 4T. So, I'm thinking that I'll buy mostly 5s for next fall/winter, with a few 6s, just in case.

Boys are easy, though, at this age. All his pants are jeans or khakis. All his shirts go with all his pants. So, even if I miss the mark on size a tiny bit, he can wear a short sleeve shirt over a long sleeve shirt or roll up a pair of pants or whatever. It's not as big of a deal as if every outfit was separate nad needed to match.

[StormySar]

We stocked up last summer at garage sales for the oldest boy and girl for under $20 :-) we bought their coats this year a couple sizes too large so they'd fit for the next year or two, at a thrift store. All clothes get handed down to the younger ones as they grow into them.

[crunchy_mommy]

I frequently buy ahead... my DS is so young & growing so quickly, so I focus on multi-season clothes. Lightweight pants, t-shirts (that he can layer with long-sleeve shirts or sweaters), hoodies... I have strict guidelines about what a "good" price is, usually everything is $1-2. I can't imagine ever spending more than $5 on an outfit so shopping ahead works great for me!!

[mbm]

I bought way ahead too! It's temperate where we live, so lightweight long pants and long sleeve shirts/onesies will almost certainly be worn at some point. For the hot summer, I'll probably sew, or rely on hand me downs. Yard sales aren't too good around here.

At one store we found cute pants originally marked $35 (!!) which were x % off, plus y % off because of the after Christmas sale, plus my mom had a coupon, plus she used her card to save 10%... At the end of it they were $2.50 -- a much more appropriate price for toddler pants, eh?

[air]

I did some shopping ahead for my daughter at Old Navy and Gap Kids. I only went for the sales rack and I had a gift card. Other than that I have storage totes full of clothes for the next 2 years that were all free hand me downs from the parents at my sisters day care. All great clothes, brand names and free. I struck gold

[dancebaraka]

yup. i basically do almost all our clothing shopping between black friday - january. i gotta say i get the best deals

[Pumpkin_Pie]

I do it all year long for DS. I have pants and shirts in a couple of sizes up pretty much at all times. He has followed the sizes all along since he was a newborn. He is almost 3 now and is solidly in a 3T for most things. I do occasionally put him in 4T's but I have to cinch in the waist of adjustable pants and roll the cuffs of pants and shirts.

If I find a really great deal at a retail store, I will buy ahead, but usually I just wait until I score at a thrift store.

Actually, I just remembered the winter after DS was born (January I think??) I was at Walmart and found organic pajamas in sizes from 12months all the way to 5T on clearance for under $2 each. I don't generally shop at Walmart (not for clothing anyway), but organic jammies for less than $2 was a steal. I bought three different designs in each size all the way up. He is still wearing those now two years later.

[RoundAbout]

I always buy up to 2 sizes ahead at thrift store and yard sales. I rarely spend more than $1 per item so I figure a few wrong guesses won't kill me. I stick to basics like polo shirts, shorts, jeans, and khakis. My 3 yo DS is really tall and skinny (4T length with a 2T waist) so I definitely keep that in mind for shopping for pants. Right now we live in Hawaii and have almost the same wardrobe all year round which definitely helps. But we're probably moving next year so I know it will get harder when I have to buy coats and sweaters and things.

[annethcz]

It's a little harder to buy ahead now that my kids are older and they care what they wear (well, at least the girls do ).

Today I stocked up on winter gear. Sears has Land's End winter clothing 50% off the already reduced prices. So I bought 3 pairs of boots and 2 winter coats for less than $100. It feels so good to know that I have that done already.