Shopping for School Clothes on a Budget

The beginning of the new school year is fastly approaching. Getting your children ready to go back to school does not need to be stressful. Planning early for your child’s school necessities is essential to stay within budget.

Tips on Shopping for Your Child’s School Clothes

Children seem to sprout up a couple of inches every summer. When school time comes around, a whole new wardrobe may be necessary. Before starting school clothes shopping, check the current student handbook to learn about any dress code changes. 

Make Lists

Lists are a must when preparing for the new school year. Consider picking up a spiral notebook to keep all your needs in one location. 

Check the Closets

Go through your child’s clothing. Use this time to clean out any unwearable items. Making piles of your child’s clothing helps get an overall view of the situation. 

 

• School Wearable: The pile consists of clothing suitable for school wear. Extending their use, summer clothing may still be worn during the warmer fall days. 

• Home Wearable: The pile consists of clothing only suitable for stay at home days. The clothes may look worn.

• Donation: Clothing still in good condition go into this pile. The clothes are wearable but no longer fit your child. The clothes in this pile may be suitable for resale at a consignment shop, garage sale, or simply donated to your nearest charity. 

• Discard: Clothes with stains or unrepairable holes go into this pile.

 

Creating piles provides the perfect opportunity to assess your child’s clothing needs. Make an inventory of wearable clothes to help prepare a shopping list of needed items. Do not forget to check footwear. 

Begin Shopping

After creating your child’s list of necessities, time to go shopping. 

 

• Updating Wearable Clothing: When creating your wearable piles, did you see any clothing that could use updating. Get creative. Sewing on new buttons, dyeing clothes, or adding other embellishments may extend the use of your child’s clothes. 

• Go to Consignment and Thrift Shops: Going to your local second-hand store may result in some terrific clothing finds at a lower cost.

• Garage and Yard Sales: Like you, other parents are preparing for the upcoming school year by selling off unwearable clothing. 

• Social Media Marketplace: Many communities host social media marketplaces. Basically, the marketplace is an online garage sale. Searching different marketplaces in your area may result in back to school clothing finds. 

• Clearance Section: When children start going back to school, warmer days are still around. The good news, many clothing chains are already discounting summer wear to make room for winter items. 

• Ad Deals: Search different ads to find upcoming sales on need clothing items. Use the Internet to comparison shop. 

 

Back to school is an exciting time for your child. Creating lists and searching for the best deals will help eliminate the stress of back to school shopping on a budget.