Whew, I just got done putting a load of the girls' laundry into the washer.I never would have thought that I would ever post about children's clothing, but DearDaughter1 is now 2 years old and the free clothing from my baby shower and hand me downs are now over. I actually went into panic mode a couple of weeks ago because I know how expensive clothing is and since DearHubby and I came with clothes in hand when we got married, I have never had to budget for clothing before. Well, last night, I actually felt a little sense of relief as I felt like I had enough Spring/Summer clothing for DearDaugher1. At the end of the 2007 summer season, I was able to buy short sleeved tops for DearDaughter1 at about $1.98 each. I felt like those tops could get me through the season, but I had no bottoms (ie. shorts or skirts). Well, there is a sale this week at Target on Circo shorts, 2 for $7, and so yesterday, I purchased 1 pair of jean, khaki, and forest green shorts. I thought those colors were neutral enough to match all the tops I have. Then, I looked through the clearance section in the Toddler area and found 2 cute Spring/Summer tops good enough to use at church for 50% off. When I got home, I took inventory of DearDaughter1's Spring/Summer clothes, and felt like I finally had enough clothes for DearDaughter1. All we really need now are some dress bottoms, like skirts, for church, but I'm not too worried about that because for now we could make do until we find some cheap skirts or dresses. In addition, besides dressing up for church, we really have no need for really nice skirts or dresses.
For the past few weeks, I've been hitting the sales at different clothing stores to stock up for next winter. It's amazing what you can buy on clearance!!! I bought great long sleeved tops for about $2.50 or less at The Children's Place and the jeans were on sale too! What's amazing is that these tops and bottoms are much better quality than what you can buy at Wal-Mart and they were much cheaper!!! They're also so stylish :) I'm still not at peace about being prepared for next winter, but I'm close enough that I'll just make sure to keep my eyes open for good deals, like garage/yard sales.
I was able to make a trip to the Thrift store also, thinking that I can make up for the clothes I couldn't buy new, but unfortunately, it didn't seem like this particular store I went to had received donations in a while. Their clothing racks were really bare. There was actually a mom who was walking in with her 2 daughters and I should have told her about the sale at The Children's Place.
Oh yeah, another place I went to to get a few good deals was Old Navy.
Growing up, I always thought that people who thought about clothes a lot were materialistic. However, I have never thought about clothes so much than these past few weeks. I'm realizing that it's not materialistic at all, especially when there's a true concern for making sure my children have clothing to wear.
Another thing I've never done with my clothes that I'm doing with my girls' clothing is hand washing away all the stains before throwing them in the washer. That's what I just got done doing before sitting and writing this post. The clothes that DearDaughter1 is wearing now will have to be good enough for DearDaughter2 to wear in a year or 2. The clothes DearDaughter2 is wearing now will have to be good enough for another baby girl, if the Lord blesses us with one. I used to be lazy and just spray a little Shout on the stains, but I found that Shout alone doesn't get out the stains. I've found what works best is hot water, soap, and elbow grease. Clorox helps with the whites. If anyone out there knows how to ease the elbow grease, I would love to receive that tip. Anyway, the point was, I hand wash the stains so that the clothes's good condition will be preserved to be handed down to the next sibling or even to another family in need.
Well, so that's my 2 cents worth about clothing:
1) Clothes can be found cheap, from 50%-75% off retail price, at the end of the season so think and plan ahead and purchase clothes for next year.
2) Preserve clothes' good condition by washing stains before throwing them in the washer and they'll be good to wear for years to come.
2 comments:
My 2 cents - OXICLEAN rocks!!!!!! Seriously, I use it with every load now, and often as my stain pre-treater, too. Try it, you'll like it :)
Hey, I also use Oxyclean too. I haven't owned bleach in my house for at least 10 yrs. If I see a stain that won't come out in the wash I take that item and put it in a basin with warm water and sprinkle it right on the stain and let it soak for a few hours or overnight. Then I throw it in my next load. I actually found Oxobrite at Trader Joes and it has less phosphates, chemicals than Oxyclean has. I also use bibs at each meal and rather get my stains on the bibs than on "good" shirts. My husband doesn't mind that his white socks aren't "white" because he knows that we don't use bleach. :)
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