Kid's Clothes Shopping Spree for Less

Last week I realised that both kids have gone through a growth spurt.  Mini Muffin has grown 2" in the last two months and her 3T shirts are quickly becoming belly shirts.  Little Smiling Man's 12 month sized pants are looking more like capris, and he's popping snaps on his 12 month onesies.  It truly is incredible how quickly these kids grow!

As I started packing away the too small clothes, and pulling out the gifts, hand-me-downs, and previous purchases of the next sized up clothing, it quickly became apparent that neither Mini Muffin nor Little Smiling Man had nearly enough clothing for the coming weeks or months... or until the next growth spurt strikes!

So, on Friday I headed to my favourite consignment store to shore up my supplies of kid's clothes.  I can't even pretend to enjoy shopping, and the thought of consignment shopping has always sent a shiver of fear through me - wading through crowded, disorganised racks of clothing in poor condition, searching for the gems.  Thankfully, about a year ago I found my kind of consignment store.  It's well organised and spacious, and they only buy new or very gently used quality clothing. 

Little Smiling Man scoping out the toy section

They price according to type of clothing, and regularly have clearance sales to keep their store from becoming over crowded with unpopular items.  It's fantastic not having to carefully inspect each item, and the organisation and pricing scheme makes it easy to shop, and even to be picky about brands.  When I have lots of time, I almost enjoy sifting through for amazing finds from Baby Gap, Carter's and Children's Place.

Unfortunately, when I went shopping on Friday, Little Smiling Man was not in the mood to stay still, and was very much enjoying wiggling away from me, crawling around corners, down aisles, and generally keeping me nicely distracted from the task at hand.

As a result, my shop was hurried, and I was less discerning than normal so there were more "expensive" (aka $4) purchases in my pile than normal.  At the till, I had a bit of a shock when the total came to $75!!  That is, until I looked at my huge bag of purchases, all name brand, and started estimating the retail value.  I'm confident that I enjoyed massive savings, for a total of 27 high quality kid's clothing items, and was so excited I had to share!



So, for a grand total of $75, I was able to purchase the following -

Girl's 4T:

Girl's 4T

• 1 sundress
• 1 summer skirt
• 1 overall style dress
• 2 pairs of pants
• 1 fleece jacket (dressy)
• 1 sweatshirt
• 1 hat
• 6 long sleeved shirts

The highlight purchases were:

• Osh Kosh brand dress in new condition - $4
• Dressy fleece jacket from Old Navy in new condition - $4
• Big Hero 6 shirt featuring Honey Lemon - $1
• Disney brand Frozen sweatshirt for my little Frozen fiend - $2

Boy's 18-24 Months:

Boy's 18-24 Months

• 1 3pc fleece outfit
• 1 2pc outfit
• 1 spring jacket
• 1 hooded sweater
• 2 short sleeved rompers
• 2 long sleeved rompers
• 1 short sleeved shirt
• 2 long sleeved shirts
• 1 swimsuit
• 1 hat

The highlight purchases were:

• 3pc Carter's fleece outfit in new condition; we had the same one in the 12 month size and I loved it.  So happy to find another for only $4 instead of its original $20 retail price!
• Spring jacket in new condition - $3
• Brimmed summer hat with chin strap, new condition - $1

With the cheapest items likely running around $8 new, and the more expensive items being in the $20 range, I estimate that the average retail price for these items would be around $14, putting the total value of my purchases at about $380 (not including taxes) and nearly $430 including HST. 

I must say that an estimated 80%+ savings on items we need is not bad for half an hour's distracted shopping!  Next time I'll have to find time to go solo and see what finds I can find!