Kids clothes are not cheap. Especially considering how fast they grow, spending too much on their clothes is not a smart idea. Every now and then, we face the situation when we realize that the outfit  that we have bought for our child is not fitting him/her any more. Talking about fashion & style then there has been a spectacular boom in designer kids’ clothes, fashions for children are changing almost as quickly as they are for adults..:) In fact their clothes are pricey than ours. Whether it’s back-to-school season or simply the kickoff to summer/winter, your kids are going to need new clothes. Today’s guest post is on how to keep our budget on kid’s clothing within limit.

Saving On Your Kid’s Clothes…by Anjali Janiya

Last year, the New York Post told the story of Priscilla Monteiro, a mother of two who would spare no expense in dressing her little girls in the finest designer clothing. Her young children would often be seen wearing dresses by designers like Val Max, and Swarovski-embellished shoes, with their outfits costing around $500. The prices of these clothes were staggering to many, with most saying that hers was an extreme case.

However, reports by the Daily Mail say that 46% of moms around the globe would actually have no problems purchasing items worth $100 and above for their young children, despite the possibility that they would outgrow them soon. In contrast, they’d feel bad about spending $200 on themselves throughout the year. It seems like a justified reaction – parents want nothing but the best for their children, and we spare them no expense.

But when we are spending an average of $400 on clothes for our kids every year just before school starts, we start to see a problem. According to the Time, when back-to-school season kicks in, “On average, a family with school-aged kids expects it will spend $630.36… It’s not just backpacks and binders. The biggest chunk of families’ overall back-to-school budget goes to clothes, which around 93% of families buy. Across all shoppers, clothing and electronics account for more than $400 of the average family’s back-to-school outlay.”

This type of behavior is harmful not just to us and our budgets, but to the environment as well. The clothing industry is among the most wasteful across the globe, with Care2 reporting that the average American throws away 62 pounds of clothing each year. Much of this comes from old kids’ clothes, which we throw out once they’ve been outgrown. How do we reduce our spending, and reduce our scrapping?

 

1. Invest in the Right Clothes

When asked why they spent so much on their kids’ clothes, many moms said that they dress their children the way they would have wanted to be dressed as children. While fashion trends and keeping the kids stylish are important, let’s not forget that dressing kids should come down to function, and not just fashion. As Kate Pietrasik, a designer who makes unisex children’s wear for “https://www.tootsa.com/” Tootsa MacGinty said, “Clothes for children should be built for sturdier purposes than the changing vagaries of style – to be passed from sibling to sibling, or friend to friend regardless of gender.” Investing in the right clothes – not just because they’re on trend – means getting more uses out of them.

2. Don’t Fear the Hand-Me-Down

There’s no point in throwing away something that’s still perfectly usable just because your child has outgrown it. There are many ways to use those old kids’ clothes, from passing them down to a cousin to donating them to charities. Just be sure to do your research and see where your old clothes actually go. As the ABC News reports, 10% of clothes donations get sold in goodwill stores, while the other 90% gets sent to textile recycling firms – which really isn’t so bad, when you think about it. At least they’re not clogging up landfills, and we’re reusing textile we’d otherwise throw away.

 

 

3. Up-cycle Everything

If you’re into arts and crafts, your kids’ old clothes will have plenty of uses. From turning t-shirts into teddy bears to using your kids’ old jeans to make mobiles, there are plenty of crafts that have been devised to make the most of old kids’ clothes. It’s time to let your creativity shine as you dig out those old clothes you’ve kept piled in the attic, and make something that your kids can enjoy again.

 

Do you have any other tips for saving on kids’ clothes, and what to do with clothes your kids have already outgrown?

 

 

About Author:

Anjali Janiya is always startled by the amount of clothes her nieces get for Christmas and their birthdays each year, and she’s always wondered what happens to the clothes once they’ve been outgrown. After doing her research, she was startled to find just how much we waste on clothes for kids, and has made it her mission to help parents everywhere cut back on the costs of clothing for their children.