So two Thursdays ago, the Patriot Ledger gave me $40 and gave me the assignment to see how much I can get for a 5 year-old boy for back-to-school clothing. Since I was leaving Saturday morning for vacation, I was in a serious time crunch. I didn't want to say I couldn't do it - I love this kind of stuff.
I tried a couple of my "go-to" places for cheap clothes: Marshalls, Old Navy, Macy's, Children's Place, etc. Even with all the "back-to-school sales" - there really isn't any good cheap finds right now though. Throughout the year, I've been able to find pieces of clothing under $2 at these places. It's not unusual - but at this particular season, with everyone shopping, you aren't going to find the "great steals". Now granted, the paper didn't say I had to find great steals - they just wanted to see how much one can get with $40. I, unfortunately, didn't have the luxury of time. I checked Craig's List - "free" or "cheap" clothing isn't so easy to find when you are actually looking for it. So I had to broaden my horizons. Here is how I did:
Total for all: $40.67
Walmart in Weymouth
1 pair of sneakers - Clearanced for $5.00
1 6 pack of underwear - $5.27
1 new polo shirt - Clearanced for $3.00
Total: $13.27
Goodwill in Quincy
1 pair of jeans (The Children's Place) - $3.99
2 khakis (The Children's Place) - $1.99 ea
1 sweatshirt (Gap) - $1.99
1 button down shirt (American Eagle) - $1.99
2 long sleeve shirts - $1.99 ea
Total: $15.93
Dollar Tree in Quincy (next to Kamman)
2 3-pair packs of socks - $1 ea
1 pair of gloves - $1
1 winter hat - $1
1 scarf - $1
4 t-shirts - $1 ea
Total: $9.00
This brought my total to $38.20. About two months ago, I scored a winter coat at Old Navy. I added this in put me just over $40 (I'm not sure if the paper will feature this article of clothing since I don't have the receipt and it wasn't purchased in the time frame they gave me.)
Old Navy
1 winter coat - Reg. $29.99, Clearanced for $2.47
Total of all four purchases: $40.67
Things I learned:
- August is NOT a good time to go clothes shopping. All the clearance is picked over or is non-existent.
- When you are on a budget, the best thing to do is make a list of essential items (kind of like a grocery list!). That is what I first did with this assignment. I wanted to score at least 5 pairs of socks, 5 underwear, 1 pair of sneakers, 3 pants, 3 shorts, 5 t-shirts, 5 long sleeve t-shirts, 1 sweatshirt, 1 sweater, 3 pairs of PJs, 1 coat, 1 pair of boots, 1 hat, 1 pair of gloves & 1 scarf. To me, this just seemed like a good starting point of "essentials" for a kid. That way, even if I found a killer deal on shirts, if I used too much of my money on shirts, I wouldn't have enough left to cover other items.
- When you are on a budget, the best thing to do is make a list of essential items (kind of like a grocery list!). That is what I first did with this assignment. I wanted to score at least 5 pairs of socks, 5 underwear, 1 pair of sneakers, 3 pants, 3 shorts, 5 t-shirts, 5 long sleeve t-shirts, 1 sweatshirt, 1 sweater, 3 pairs of PJs, 1 coat, 1 pair of boots, 1 hat, 1 pair of gloves & 1 scarf. To me, this just seemed like a good starting point of "essentials" for a kid. That way, even if I found a killer deal on shirts, if I used too much of my money on shirts, I wouldn't have enough left to cover other items.
- Goodwill can be a good place to find some decent pieces. For kids clothing, all jeans are $3.99 but all other pieces are $1.99. You have to pick through the racks though as the clothing is not separated by sizes. Some stuff is good, some stuff is gross. Unfortunately, the pickings are slim. I got the only three pair of pants that would fit a 5 year-old boy. If another person went there that day or next, they probably wouldn't find any pants for a little boy. It's really hit or miss and I got lucky.
- The Dollar Tree is a great place for winter garb. It really isn't out yet. I lucked out finding some pieces tucked away in the woman's underwear at the Quincy store. Start looking for hats, gloves and scarves at your local Dollar Tree in October.
- When you want (or need) cheap/free clothes, you really can't find them. Like most things in life - when you actually need something - it's much harder to find it when just browsing and whatnot.
- If you are on a budget for clothing, and have the room, I highly recommend what I do. I have 3 big Rubbermaid containers in my attic. Throughout the year as I find great deals, I just buy them and throw them in the bins. Then with the change of seasons, I go through my stash (which feels like Christmas to me). Why this works for me: a. Boy #1 (he's 5 now) has always been true to size. At 6 months, he was wearing 6 month clothing, at 2 years old, he was wearing 2T. Now at 5, he's wearing 5T and a straight 5. Also, I have Boy #2 (who is almost 4). He reuses all the clothes. Although he's a year and a half younger, he's a little beefier so he's always been about 1 size below Boy #1. b. I have the room for this. If you are tight on space, this might not be an option for you and that's okay. c. I have boys. They don't care as much about what goes on their bodies as girls do. As they get a little older, I'm sure they'll start developing their own opinions and whatnot and my method won't work anymore. Why this doesn't work for me: Since I love scooping up bargains, I find that I usually have "too much" stuff when the time comes. As of now, I am pretty stocked up through size 6 clothing and am working on finding size 7 bargains now. My first son won't wear these clothes for another 2 years. A little odd, yes, but that's me.
- While at the Walmart in Weymouth (which is one of the smallest Walmarts I have ever seen), I noticed there was a bunch of clearance. Kids sneakers, TONS of girl clothing, some boy clothing, a TON of baby clothing. Then I hit up the Walmart in Quincy the next day. The clearance rack was a joke. It was practically non-existent. Kids shoes: NONE on clearance. These two stores are maybe 3 miles apart. I've also noticed in life - the clearance racks at all stores - in more affluent/less busy towns are much more stocked than those in the city or more middle-class towns. For instance, when Old Navy goes clearance crazy, the store at the Hingham Shipyard is packed nicely with great finds. I'm never disappointed there. But if I hit up the Old Navy in Hanover - which is much more busy with mall traffic, I never find anything there.
Well anyways, I'm done writing for now. The paper gave 5 women all $40 to see how much kids' clothing they could get for that amount. They gave us a set age & gender. The story should appear in this weekend's edition. I'll share a link when it comes out - I'm interested in seeing what the other women scored. Oh - and all this clothing is being donated to charity. Thanks Patriot Ledger!
So what do you think? Can you dress your child for $40 a year? Is this a reasonable amount set by the state to help needy children?
Well anyways, I'm done writing for now. The paper gave 5 women all $40 to see how much kids' clothing they could get for that amount. They gave us a set age & gender. The story should appear in this weekend's edition. I'll share a link when it comes out - I'm interested in seeing what the other women scored. Oh - and all this clothing is being donated to charity. Thanks Patriot Ledger!
So what do you think? Can you dress your child for $40 a year? Is this a reasonable amount set by the state to help needy children?
1 comment:
$40 is not much - especially if you are trying to find shoes as well as everything else. I've gotten nearly all of Emma's clothing for free from friends, but I have a feeling that happens more frequently when you are ABOVE the poverty line! I do make a point of trying to donate seasonally appropriate children's clothing throughout the year.
When Emma was a baby we were on a crazy tight budget in the UK. Clothes there aren't typically cheap, but I found a charity shop where people donated clothing and baby items were sold for roughly $.40 an outfit. A couple things even had tags on them! But I don't know of a similar place in the US - Goodwill is more expensive than that!
Do you ever shop at Kohls? They aren't good for socks and underwear, but I got Johnny new shorts for $2.40 last week - and I've found similar deals on shirts and pants in the past.
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