5 Fun Ways to Adorn Your Kids Without Burning a Hole in Your Budget

As a father, I am almost completely in awe of how quickly my baby girl is growing up. The rest of the time I worry about what clothes to buy for her, whether she will like them, and so on.

My wife often complains about how expensive baby clothes can be and that we should be looking at other options lest we become the ‘broke’ parents! The task of purchasing clothes for kids may seem like a repetitive and expensive one, however, with the following tips in mind, you can easily shop for your kids in a frugal manner:

• Indulge in some off-season shopping – If you are planning on cutting down some serious costs with respect to your kids’ clothing purchases, consider off-season shopping. When a store brings out its new collection for sale, it simultaneously stacks the preceding season’s clothes in the clearance rack. Multiple stores also give out huge off-season discounts, so you can definitely score some amazing bargains! I, personally, love off-season shopping as it prevents me from burning a hole in my budget.

• Have your older kids store their baby clothes for their siblings -This practice has become something of a tradition, especially in a country like India. If you have kids of the same gender, you can always stockpile the clothes of the elder one and reuse them for when your younger one comes along! Before storing the clothes away, I always make sure to wash and dry them to stave off that cooped-up, musty stench.

• Consider borrowing instead of buying for special occasions – My wife and I realised something way early during our parenthood. It was that our girl rarely wanted to re-wear certain garments. These happened to be the jazzy, lacy ones with lots of buttons and embroidery that my wife and I must have purchased for an occasion or a birthday party. As much as I love dressing up my baby girl in beautiful frills and satin frocks, it just does not make sense to spend a bomb every time you have an occasion coming up! So, consider borrowing from your friends who have kids of the same age or your relatives.

• Sign up with kids’ stores – One efficient way to save money on kids’ clothing is by signing up with multiple stores that offer regular discounts. I also find it convenient to be on these stores’ email list so when they are offering bargain prices, I am usually among the first ones to know! Moreover, loyalty programs by such stores offer additional perks to regular shoppers in the form of special deals and coupons.

• Stick to basic colours instead of patterns and designs – I have noticed this practice to be highly effective as sticking to a few basic colours that can be mixed and matched makes way more sense than purchasing a whole lot of patterned clothes. This practice also keeps you from going overboard while shopping for your children.

These are just some of the ways that I have found extremely helpful when it comes to dressing up my daughter without being too thrifty! Do you have some other practices that help you stay within budget while shopping for your little ones? Let us know in the comments below!