I am now an aunt. My sister was a name brand junkie at the time she was pregnant. I wanted to buy clothing that she would use, but I wasn't about to pay name brand prices.Since I routinely find things cheaply and resell them online, I applied my shopping skills to buying baby clothing. I bought name brand clothing lines such as Disney, Carters, Child of Mine, Oshkosh, and Baby Gap for as little as .50 cents per outfit! I also found cheap or affordable car seats, strollers, baby bottles, shoes, baby formula...you get the picture.

Below are some of the tactics I use to keep myself in good standing as an aunt as well as ideas that I have learned from others. You may use them to keep your wallet and your relationships in good standing! This listing starts with free options and moves into options that require spending money, though not as much as you would pay if you purchased at full retail.

1. Get clothing free from your friends and relatives. Plan a party (nothing heavy, just chips and dip or punch and cookies) and have every one bring what they don't need anymore and trade. You may not want to bring the kids as their will be some serious trading going on, and you don't want the kids around pitching fits when you trade away some of their favorite shoes, clothes (or toys). Some kids only want their “favorite” toy or shirt when you are about to give it away. You might want to set up rules for the trade, like pulling numbers or something like that. You don’t want the adults to start fighting. Try to invite people who have kids that are in the same age range.

2. Ask for clothing as gifts for your kids for birthdays or other occasions. Or ask for a gift card to a store that sells mostly clothes so the kids have to get clothes (don’t leave them a choice of anything else).

3. Shop and thrift and charity stores. This is where some of the best deals are if you can get there first. Infant outfits can be had for the change in the bottom of your purse if you shop when thrift stores are having a sale or a special promotion. The local Salvation Army sometimes has an "all you can get in the bag for $5.00 sale." Call your local thrift store and ask about their sales (also ask them when they take markdowns).

4. Shop garage sales. Bring your own boxes and bags. You don't want to miss out on something because your hands were full and the homeowner ran out of bags! Bring some stain remover with you. If you get the stains out of the clothing at the sale, you don't have to pray about it until you get home, and I don't think the home owner will be upset. Whatever you clean you will leave with and that is the point of the sale.

5. Contact church groups or other charitable organizations to see if they give away clothes. Don't think that the clothes they have are old and faded. Many lines of children's clothing (the higher priced name brands) are made to last. Most of the time infants and toddlers grow out of the clothes before they can wear them out. Most groups don't ask questions, they give you the clothes or shoes when you ask for them.

6. Shop at consignment and resale shops. Consignment shops are great when you have to buy clothes RIGHT NOW because your kid grew like a weed and you can't wait for the mall sales! They are also great places to find reasonably priced toys, videos and CDs. Consignment shops sell used and new clothing for people who don’t want to do the selling themselves. The owner of the clothes and the owner of the store share the profits. Resale shops generally buy clothing outright and resell them. At any rate, both types of stores usually start their prices at 50% off retail and work down from there as the season goes on.

7. Stay out of the Break the Bank Boutique (if you can’t afford it). I’m talking about the children’s clothing stores that charge you $60.00 for a suit or dress that you couldn’t fit on a Teddy Bear! A friend of mine went to one of those boutiques and saw a dress that she just couldn’t afford. I made the same style of dress for her and charged her ¼ of the retail price! She told me that I should go by and look. I did look and I couldn’t believe it! The “boutiques” offer cute clothes and yes they are cute and different, but in this economic climate, don’t tempt yourself and don’t fool yourself. Don’t go into the Break the Bank Boutique unless you can really afford it. Your children will love you just the same.

8. Ask all types of stores about their promotions or groups that you can join to save money. Some stores have programs that track the dollar amount of your purchases and when you get to a certain amount, they give you a coupon to use on your next purchase. Be sure to ask if clearance and sale purchases count (if they do, that's great). Be sure to ask if you can use the coupon or promotion on your next SALE or CLEARANCE purchase.

9. Learn how to sew. The tables have turned! It is now cheaper to sew infant and toddler clothing than it is to buy it. Simple patters for boys include shorts, tops and rompers. The same can be made for girls including pillowcase dresses and wrap pants. You can find fabric on sale for as little as $1.00 per yard and sometimes less when the fabric store really wants to get rid of it. You can buy patterns on sale at Hancock Fabrics when they have a .99 cent pattern sale. Keep the patters forever. Children's clothing hasn't changed much. You can decorate dresses with scraps of ribbon. You can borrow a sewing machine or buy the smallest ones on sale for between $50- $60. All in all, it is cheaper to sew small kids clothing than it is to buy it (especially if you are talking about name brand children's clothing). If you just can't sew, barter with someone who can. Find the seamstress or tailor in your family and buy them some of marked down fabric or sale patterns as payment for sewing for you. One note though: if you are bartering for a garment, don’t ask for a complicated garment. Sewing can be a lot of work and shouldn’t be taken lightly (in other words, no fifteen piece garments that require 30 button holes).

10. Hand me downs. Ok, maybe the kids getting the hand me downs won't like it. Can you change the look of the garment? Some kid out there won’t wear his brother’s hand me down jeans but if you took the same jeans and beat them with a brick he would give up one year of his allowance just to wear them once. Go figure.

11. Shop at the flea market.

12. Shop at outlet stores. Outlet stores sell items that are over stocked or outdated, but not out of style. So what if it's "last year’s style." Children's clothing doesn't change fast enough for anyone to notice.

13. Shop on the internet. Of course there is eBay, but take a look at other sites. Even mall stores have an online store and some have an online clearance section!


14. If you do go to the mall or the “regular stores” don’t go until the end of the end of the season. You can buy clothing a year ahead of “schedule” and pay up to 90% off of the retail prices. As a rule, I don’t shop at the Mall stores until the sale is on sale.

15. Shop the clearance racks first. Stick to what you are looking for, you just want to see if you can find it cheaper on the clearance rack. The clearance rack is usually in the back of the store or in an out of the way place. If you don’t see it, ask about it. One day my brother went shopping with my Mom because he needed some shirts. My Mom went to the clearance racks and he shopped the regular shirt section. They found the same brand of shirt at drastically different prices. The only difference between the shirts was the color! The clearance rack shirts were at least 10 dollars cheaper. My brother left the store smiling with more shirts and more money in his pocket.

16. Be careful when shopping at the “mart” type stores. They have good prices, but they don’t always have good quality. I have noticed that the “mart” stores have cute clothes, but the fabric is too thin (especially the girl’s dresses). It’s like they are making the clothes to wear out faster. I don’t have proof, it’s just a theory. Feel what you are buying, hold it up to the light and see how thin it is. How thick is the denim in those jeans? How long are they really going to last. Buying cheap stuff over and over is a waste of time and money. Buy what is going to last.

17. Keep distractions to a minimum. Don’t go shopping in six inch heels. Teach the kids how to behave in the store so you don’t have to keep telling them to “Be quiet and put that down.” Time is of the essence. You are trying to get the deal before the next guy gets to it.

18. Okay, you’ve tried all of the above and you kid is growing like a weed and you can’t keep up. Or the other bargain seekers beat the racks bare. You just have to buy it and pay full price. As a last resort, check the news paper, the internet and anywhere else you can think of for coupons and sale offers. Using the coupons and sales, then buy what you have to buy.

19. Don’t be blinded by the word “SALE.” Just because there is a sign hanging from the ceiling with the letters “S-A-L-E” on it doesn’t mean that you are going to get good prices. Don’t worry about what percentage markdowns are being taken, the bottom line is can you afford the price that you are being asked to pay.

20. Stick to fashions that can be worn long or worn a little too big as long as the kids don’t look sloppy. Buy your son’s T-shirts a size or two bigger that he needs. Buy his jeans one size larger and belt them up and turn up the legs if they are too long. Let him think he is cool.

For girls up to age 10, the pillowcase dress is all the rage. This style of dress originated years ago when our great grandparents threw away nothing. Flour sacks and “one of” pillowcases became little girl’s dresses. This garment ties closed at the shoulders and can be worn as a top as the girl gets taller. It can be worn for 2 to 4 years! If the ties wear out, replace them with new ribbon! If you don’t know what a pillowcase dress looks like, I'm sure you could search the web and find pictures of them and see how cute and useful they are.

Well, I hope this information will be as helpful to you as it was to me! This is how I shop and so far I am the best aunt ever!