Top Tips on How to Save on Back to School Clothes

It is back to school time and you know what that means…. back to school clothes shopping. Shopping for back to school clothes can be very expensive especially if you want all the latest and greatest styles. I love to get great brand name back to school fashions but I also love to do so at a discount. Wondering how you can save on back to school clothes too? I have 10 tips on how you can save on back to school clothes. If you follow these tips, you can save lots of cash.

1. 1. 1. Take Inventory

         – Before you ever head out shopping, the first thing to do is to go through your children’s current clothing and see what you have and what you need. Check what still fits and if you have hand me down clothing from one of your children. Did you buy anything ahead at great discounts? You might be surprised by how much you already have. Once you take inventory you can then allocate your clothing budget across the items you need to purchase.

      2. Repurpose

         – See if any current clothing can be repurposed. Too short girl’s dresses can often be worn as tunic once you add some leggings. Short-sleeve graphic tees work great all year round. Just add a long sleeve shirt underneath and it transitions to cooler weather. You might even want to buy some spring/summer items with big discounts now that can be repurposed for fall.

      3. Shop Early

         – Don’t wait until the typical August back to school clothing sales instead take advantage of sales year-round to get amazing discounts an back to school clothes. If you are looking for a cute first day of school outfit remember that it will most likely still be warm on the first day so pick up a cute outfit a fraction of the price during summer sales.

      4. Shop Late

         – For cooler weather clothing, wait for sales and discounts that usually occur in Late September or October. Plus this also gives kids an opportunity to figure out what the styles are before you go all out and discover that the clothes you splurged on are “soooo last season.”

      5. Shop Online With Coupon Codes

         – Use the online coupon code database to find percent discount coupon codes on clothing and free shipping. Your best savings will be when you can stack a online coupon code on top of a sale price. If you do that you can  usually can find  in season clothing for 50% off or more. I never ever pay full price for children’s clothing. You can almost always find an online coupon code and stack those savings with a sale.

      6. Shop In Store with Coupons

         – If you are buying in store, be sure to check for a coupon. For example, I rarely anything at Gymboree without using a Gymboree coupon. Magazines are great sources of coupons and well as directly from the store. This leads me to the next tip.

      7. Sign up for  Discounts

         – Be sure to get on  favorite stores email lists and follow them on Facebook and Twitter so you know about all their sales. Sometimes special coupon codes and sales with only be announced this way.

      8. Shop Children’s Flash Sale Sites

         –  With Flash Sale sites,  you can often find high end brands for much less. You need to be a member but membership is FREE. They often carry hand-picked, boutique items as well as brand names for moms, babies and kids at up to 70%off retail. Many of these sites will offer special back to school deals on apparel, backpacks, educational toys, lunch fixings and tools and everything else you need to send your kids back to school. New events launch daily but only last for a short period of time often 72 hours or less. My favorite kids flash sale site is Zulily. Be sure to sign up with Zulily to find out about all their sales.

      9. Consider Gently Used Clothing

         –  Ebay, online used clothing stores or  local used clothing stores like Plato’s Closet. Some of my favorite online sites are Thredup and MoxieJean for back to school clothes. When you use the Thredup link you will also receive 40% off your first order  when you use coupon code NCJ40. If you sign up for MoxieJean emails, you will get a coupon for 25% off your first purchase of designer baby & kids clothes. (You could sell some out your outgrown clothing to fund this year’s purchases as well)

 

 

1. 1. Use Discounted Gift Cards

      – Buy discounted gift cards for for favorite stores and save even more. You can stack triple savings on clothing by using discounted gift cards, coupon codes, and shopping sales. I like to use Raise.com to buy discounted giftcards online. If  you are a new customer, you can save $5 off $75 with code RAISE75AF. This is on top of their already discounted prices.

 

 

Be sure to check out all our other back to school tips and back to school sales information.