Kaboutjie SA Mommy Blogs by Lynne Huysamen
Let’s face it, kids are expensive. There are school fees, medical bills, food for growing bodies and of course clothing, and this all adds up over time. Children grow at an alarming rate – in the first 2 years of their lives they will outgrow their entire wardrobes a total of 7 times! From 2 years old you will be replacing your child’s wardrobe every 1 – 2 years plus you will have to stock up on both winter and summer clothing. Unless you are rolling in money you will need to figure out a way to budget and keep costs as low as possible.
***Disclosure – This post is sponsored by Keedo.***
Keedo supplies stylish clothes, shoes and accessories for kids, with free deliveries on orders over R750.
Buy Quality Clothing
This single tip is going to save you loads of money in the long run. For saving money it may sound counter productive to buy more expensive clothing that is good quality, but it will benefit you long term especially if you have more than one child so you can pass the clothing down to the next child.
I’ve bought many clothes that were cheap thinking that it is fine because it does not have to last long, however when an item of clothing doesn’t make it past the one month mark without the hems coming undone, buttons falling off and seams splitting it hardly seems with the price does it?
Keep in mind that kids are hard on their clothing – they are climbing trees, playing in the mud, riding bikes and painting. You need to buy clothing that can be washed often and will still keep their shape. The fabric must be high quality so that it does not hold stains easily.
Make sure that you can return any clothing that you have purchased if it has not been worn, if the clothing has defects or if the clothing falls apart. Keep in mind that buying quality clothes from a reputable kids clothing company usually has a good returns policy.
Make sure to visit Keedo for high quality and stylish clothes that last. Take advantage of their free delivery to your door for orders over R750.
Buy A Size or Two Larger
When I was growing up I remember everything that my granny bought me was 1- 2 sizes too big and I would wear the clothing with the arms rolled up. I always thought my granny was a little strange doing this but now that I have kids I totally get it. By buying clothing one size up I can sometimes get 2+ years wear out of each garment instead of just one season.
The first year the clothing is baggy and a bit big, the second year it fits like a glove and if I manage to squeeze my kids into that garment for a third season what a bonus.
Buy Gender Neutral
This may not be applicable if you have only girls or only boys but when you have a pigeon pair like I do then buying gender neutral clothing is a big bonus so I can pass down my daughter’s clothing to my son. Buying gender neutral clothing is becoming so much easier now with the gap closing between traditional girls and boys clothing.
It is now much more acceptable for a boy to wear pink or a dress than it was when I was growing up. However my kids are still stuck on what is considered appropriate in their eyes for girls clothing and boys clothing. For this reason I try to buy as many things as I can that are gender neutral.
Buy Practical Clothing
While buying a few funky, fun and fashionable items is great make sure to make up the majority of your kids wardrobes with practical, functional clothing items. In winter your child will need a raincoat, a warm jacket, a pair of gumboots and other warm clothing. In summer you will need to make sure that your child has a swimming costume, a sun hat and plenty of light cool clothing for the hot days.
Have a list of all the important clothing items your child needs for each season and replace those when necessary before buying any clothing items that are not necessities. Frills and bows are pretty but they will do nothing to protect your child against the cold.
In winter you can also make use of a lot of the summer items by, for example, pairing a summer dress with thick stockings and wearing a long sleeve top underneath. You can layer summer clothing during winter to make up some warm and funky outfits.
Layering clothing during the spring and autumn months is also a great idea since often the mornings are chilly and the afternoons can get hot. Your child can then take layers on and off as needed throughout the day without getting too hot or cold.
Look Out For Sales
Keep your eye out for sale items, especially at the end of season when left over items are being sold at really good prices to make way for the new seasons garments! Yes your child won’t need summer clothing going into winter, but remember the tip to buy a few sizes extra and grab some things to store for the next season coming. Long term you will benefit and you will always have something tucked away for the next season.
Check out Keedo’s sale for up to 50% of selected items – now is the perfect time to scoop up some awesome deals!
Sell Second Hand Clothing
When your child has outgrown clothing keep all those sizes together and sell them as a bundle online or in a second hand store. There is a market for good quality second hand clothing and if you buy quality clothing as suggested you will easily be able to sell any old items.
What better way to find some extra income to buy new clothing than to sell all the old clothing that your child has just outgrown? True it won’t cover all the new purchases, but it will take the punch out of it a bit.
Keedo Giveaway
Stand a chance to win a R500 Keedo gift card by entering your details into the form below.
Double your chances of winning by leaving a comment below this blog post sharing your tips and tricks for saving money when it comes to buying your kids clothing.
The winner will be announced via blog post on Thursday 19 July 2018, as well as notified via email.
Please note that this competition is only open to residents of South Africa. Please be sure to check our competition terms.
This Competition Is Closed For Entries
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Buy a few cheaper priced, plain items of clothing that your child can wear to daycare to avoid “smart” clothing becoming ruined with stains.
That’s a great tip to add @ashirae I also send my son to playschool in old clothes it totally makes sense since he is playing and doing so much there. I also have old clothes for messy activities that we do at home like painting and working in the garden!
I love the article about the tips for buying children’s clothing. It is such useful info. I fortunate to be a very thrifty mom as I was clever in keeping some of my first borns baby clothing and it got used up till my last child😅 However I love shopping and since being a full-time SAHM I’ve had to get creative so I love buying second hand as well making my kids something unique, so winning a R500 Keedo voucher would be splendid if you know what I mean😊😉
Keeping clothing to pass on to your next baby is such a life saver @china13. I didn’t expect to have a second child so I had given away almost everything from my first born when I fell pregnant with my son which really wasted a lot of money when I had to buy new things for my second!
Well.. I have a few tips when it comes to the shopping for kids clothing.. although its getting a bit more difficult now. My son and daughter are just over a year apart, so I buy neutral colour tracksuit pants.. my daughter is older so I can pass the pants onto my son (I just cut the label out lol). I also shop a lot online, Mr price has a great markdown section and I get quite a bit there at fabulous prices. It is the luck of the draw so you need to check pretty often.. Also Spree / zando etc. have these promotions where they will offer you R250 to spend.. no minimum purchase and all you end up paying is R50 delivery – for R250 worth of things. They just had one of those one day specials in this week, and I got loads for the kids, its only one per person, but I got my whole family involved. Got a gorgeous jacket windbreaker.. cost was R199 and all I paid was R50 for delivery. That is a pretty great deal.. And of course the woolworths sale.. after about their 2nd or 3rd markdown.. I’ve been very lucky to buy pj’s for like the next 2 years 🙂 One has to shop smartly. And lastly we have an “auction” page for our area via facebook which is used to sell clothing.. I’ve sold quite a bit of my good condition kids clothing on there.. it really does help 🙂 That’s all my tips and secrets 🙂
Oh that sounds awesome @lynn0505 – I never knew about that special, I will have to keep my eyes open! I also try to buy lots of gender neutral clothing but my daughter is now 6 and obsessed with pink, purple, frills and tutus… so well its not working out so great anymore! But I do what I can when I’m able to.
Thank you for such wonderful tips and an awesome chance for winning a Keedo voucher.
Kids grow so fast and it definitely is costly to buy clothes at every growth spur. I normally buy a size bigger.
When it comes to quality that can’t be negotiated as cheaper quality clothes tend to fade faster.
The one trick that I had to save monies was when purchasing pants for my son, some of the pants has the extra elastic with button to fasten at the waist line but those which don’t I send them to a local dress maker who makes these additions, therefore I always buy a size bigger and have never had an issue of the pants hanging on my little one.
That’s a great idea with the waistline @ron03 – I bought one pair of jeans for my daughter like that but I never thought of asking a dressmaker to make them like them for us.
And yes you are spot on with quality, I have at times bought lower quality items thinking it might save me in the long run but when it falls apart after 2 washes it just goes to show, quality is really important!
I’m lucky in that I have 2 boys. Although the age gap is quite large I kept most of my elder son’s clothes. It definitely helped when I had my second especially as he came 3 months ahead of time and we were not ready at all! I also buy a size bigger so that it lasts longer.
Having your baby come 3 months early must have left you so unprepared @tasmin – I was pregnant at the same time as one of my besties and she should have had her baby 2 weeks before me but her little girl had other plans – she arrived 2 months early on the weekend we were going to go shopping together for baby things. She was also caught very unprepared.
My first born is a girl and when I was pregnant with my second I was told I was having another girl so I thought I wouldn’t have to worry much at all, but then a later scan said I was having a boy which had me scrambling for things LOL.
* When I was pregnant, I received a load of good quality second hand clothing form two different ladies plus
of course clothing from Grandma and friends at my shower. This helped me immensely. For the first year, I
didn’t have to buy too many outfits. I paid it forward and gifted the clothes that JD outgrew to other Moms
that doesn’t mind using good quality second hand items.
* Over the last year I bought clothing in advance whenever I had the opportunity. It doesn’t have to be a
bulk amount. For instance, I’ll buy two shirts and a pair of trousers every month.
* Another great way to save is to be on the look-out for end of season sales. You get the clothing at a
fraction of the original price.
* Another thing I do is to enter for competitions. You are not always lucky, but sometimes lady luck smiles
upon me. I recently won a gift voucher from Jet just by sending in my picture with my club magazine and I
end up buying the majority of JD’s winter wardrobe with that voucher. You have to be in it to win it. If you
don’t take the chance, you will never win.
* I buy clothing in the next available size. JD has outgrown his clothes so quickly that this was really worth
my while.
* Be on the look-out for promotions. The other day I bought three pairs of corduroy pants for R99.00 at
Ackermans. So far I haven’t had any problems with the quality or workmanship. I often see combo’s with
two shirts at a lower price than buying one shirt for instance. Or at some retailers when you buy two items
you get the third item for free.
* I don’t go for fashion or designer items that cost an arm and a leg. I buy practical clothes that are cute but
at a reasonable price.
We’ve also been lucky @loupie, with other moms giving hand me downs which really saves so much money in the long term. I don’t mind dressing my kids in second hand clothing, it leaves me with more available finances to buy really lovely things for my kids and to have more outings!
I always buy big size for my boys, and it’s help me to save a lots since I have 3 boys
My first boy is 12 years and his clothes when he was a baby my second baby uses them, so is my third and those clothes are still in perfect condition . Buying good quality clothes is a money saving .
You are lucky they are all boys when it comes to clothing @vhutshiloali1 – that would have saved me a fortune if both my kids could have worn the same clothing. I love my pigeon pair but when it comes to clothing it became tricky!
My tip is to look out for the end of season sales and buy a size bigger. I generally will do this at stores where you can lay bye, so I buy for the next year and have 3 months to pay it off. It’s proved to be so helpful with both my boys and I only only have to worry about a few essentials when the time comes.
Great tip, I am going to do the same as well from now on. Thank you.
Thank you so much for such wonderful idea’s @lynne I am going to use them all. My sister’s and I do hand me downs as our children are a few years apart so we keep clothing for each other’s kids. Woolworths has nice quality clothes and I buy for my kids when they have their end of season sales 65%. I have a girl and a boy so I will be definitely buying neutral colours so they can both use.
such great tips, i always buy at the sales for the following seasons you really get some great bargains also check regular on line for deals Woolworths has plenty every week different ones and Mr price regular has marked down items for the current season and the following, also dont think name brand stores only have pricey things when its the end of the season they mark down alot and it becomes affordable also if you live in bigger towns find out where the factory clothing stories bargins galore
Thanks @stefeg – I never thought to include factory shops! Good luck for the competition!
I buy clothes that be used for both genders so that my kids can use their older brother /sister’s clothes. I also look for slmarked down sales at the end of a season so that they are cheaper.
I like how you suggested to get them a size up! My 4-year-old daughter has grown out of all of her old clothes because of how much she’s been growing, so I’m needing to get a whole new wardrobe for her soon. I’ll make sure to keep these tips in mind as I search for some new clothes for her!
Buying a seize or two up is something I always do! My daughter is in Grade 3 now and she is still wearing the same school uniform from when she started Grade 1 – the only thing I am going to need to buy her are new winter pants soon.