My children wear clothes that are covered in bunnies, hearts, stars, and cats. Their wardrobes have a lot of purple, orange, red, and green in them. They look “fancy” (their word, not mine) all year round and if they wear the knees out in a pair of leggings or destroy a t-shirt with paint (on accident, of course) there’s always another pair of leggings or another t-shirt, no big deal.
Of all the clothes I buy my children, 100% are on sale. I do not pay retail for children’s clothes, children being notorious for continually growing. Of that, I would say about 75% of my children’s clothes comes from seasonal holiday sales, usually from 70%-90% off.
Christmas, Valentine’s Day, St.Patrick’s Day Easter, Fourth of July, and Halloween tend to bring with them adorable outfits in holiday appropriate colors, with the mascots and symbols of those holidays splashed across dresses, shirts, and pants.
The shelf life of these items is limited: once the holiday is over, the clothes are no longer relevant, and sold at a discounted price. And that is when I swoop in and buy them because reindeer are cute all year long and red dresses work for Valentine’s Day, Christmas, Chinese New Year… While many stores do this, my favorite is Target because of the swiftness in markdowns as well as the quality of their kids’ clothing.
These are some finds from both Halloween and Christmas clearance this year at Target. Everything in this picture is 90% off.
- Caticorn Christmas Sweater-$1.79. Originally $17.99.
- Reindeer Dress-$1.50. Originally $15.
- Sparkly Time of Year Dress-$1.50. Originally $15.
- Caticorn Christmas Tee-$.60. Originally $6.
- JackO’Lantern Leggings-$.79. Originally $7.99.
- Skelton Dress-$1.40. Originally $14.
- Batman Long Sleeve Tee-$.99. Originally $9.99.
- Batman Long Sleeve Tee-$.99. Originally $9.99.
Total Spent: $9.56
Original Retail: $95.96
Total Saved: $86.40
You can buy a size or two bigger, and be set for the next holiday as well as grabbing basics in your children’s current sizes. Almost all my children’s t-shirts are seasonal clearance. In the winter, they layer them under sweaters, so who cares if it’s a Halloween t-shirt. In the spring and summer, bunnies and four leaf clovers are year round cool.
Most seasonal apparel will go on sale as soon as the day after the holiday. For smaller retail holidays, Valentine’s Day, Easter, St. Patrick’s Day, 4th of July, look for swift markdowns, with 90% usually coming within 3 or four days. for the bigger retail holidays like Christmas and Halloween, the clearance schedule is longer, usually a week to nine days, with markdowns coming every two days or so. This will vary by region and by store, so if you’re new to shopping seasonal clearance, expect to put in a few extra trips to the store to get a sense of their markdown schedule.
Kids are always growing, so it’s nice to have a variety of sizes on hand, because you never know when a spurt will hit. I also love that because I’m not freaked out about the cost of clothing I can let them just be kids: play outside and tear a knee in a pair or pants or get a shirt covered in art project. It’s a lot easier to be the fun, cool mom when those pants cost less than $1.
For less than the cost of one shirt, I was able to get three dresses, three tees, one sweater, one pant. That’s a whole seasonal wardrobe! Spending less money on children’s clothes will help your budget, with your surplus going to something you need, like paying off a bill or saving for a Disney trip. When you buy clothes in the sizes up, you’re also saving money from that future year’s budget! It’s a win-win situation.
Kristen B. is wife to the best Prince around, mama to the spunkiest little princesses, and lover of all things Disney. She started her savings journey five years ago and is now dedicated to making her family’s wishes come true one coupon at a time. She is so excited to take her love of saving to the next level and share her journey with you! Click here to catch up on Kristen’s Savings and join in on your own savings adventure!