Winter clothing can be pricey and really add up, especially when you have growing children who need new clothes every year. Here are ten tips for saving on winter clothing you may want to use this winter.
1. Start in the closets. Go through each family member’s clothes including those in storage, find out what can still be used, and make a list of what you’ll want to replace. The more clothes each person can reuse or hand down, that’s less money you’ll be spending.
2. The earlier the better. Some department stores have considerable discounts on winter merchandise before the colder weather actually arrives. You can often save as much as 40% off winter coats. Look in the local newspapers for coupons for additional savings on some merchandise.
3. Check online to see if there are outlet malls in your area. You may have to drive a little way to find them, but you can often save quite a bit on name brand winter clothing.
4. Buy ahead of time. You’ll often find winter clothing on sale up to 75% at the end of the season. You can buy winter clothing a size or two larger than you currently need and store it for later use.
5. Visit consignment stores. These stores are set up to sell other people’s gently used clothing. While they may sell things according to season, you can still find good deals on winter clothing that you can use right away.
6. Find yard sales. Depending upon where you live, you can find yard sales well into the start of the school year. Yard sales are a great place to purchase used winter clothing at pennies on the dollar. Of course, you’ll want to carefully look over each item for tears, worn places, or missing buttons. If an item is torn, you’ll want to decide if it’s still worth buying it knowing you’ll have to make repairs.
7. Make your own. Some winter clothes aren’t difficult to make. Use the upcoming colder weather as an opportunity to teach your children to sew. Material and patterns aren’t that expensive and knowing how to sew is a good skill to have.
8. Check online. There are online sources such as Craigslist or Freecycle where you can sometimes get free winter clothing. Of course, you’ll be expected to sign up for an account, but that usually only takes having an email address.
9. Look at online auction sites. Auction sites such as eBay or uBid allow individuals to sell their own items. Of course, you may find something you really want and have it snagged out from under you at the last minute, but that’s part of the excitement of online auctions. Regardless of the possibility of losing what you’re bidding on, these sites give you an opportunity to get great items for little money from your wallet.
10. Have a clothes swap. Do you have friends or family that has children who have outgrown clothing? Have everyone gather together clothes their kids have outgrown. Then meet and let everyone go through and take what they need out of the clothes there.
You know it’s expensive to clothe your family, but it doesn’t have to break the budget. Use some of these ten tips for saving on winter clothing and you may find something extra to smile about come winter.
