It is unbelievable how fast babies grow out of baby clothes. Just take a look at the sizes on the tags: 0-3 months, 3-6 months, 6-9 months- every 3 months you have to spend money on more clothes!
Depending on where you purchase them from, that can come with a hefty price tag. I am always looking for great quality clothing and the ability to still save money on baby clothes.
Here, I have 6 of my main money-saving tips for moms to save big on baby clothes all year around.
This post contains affiliate links which means that I will make a small commission if you purchase a product after clicking on any of them, at no extra cost to you.
Rakuten Extension
Rakuten helps you find coupon codes and cash back savings at your favorite stores. It can be used through an app on your phone, browser extension on your computer, or on their website.
I prefer the browser extension because it helps me remember to use it and get savings. The first time I used it, I got $15 cash back.
When you sign up to use Rakuten, just make an account using your email, make a purchase through Rakuten from the store of your choice, and Rakuten will send you a check with $10(as a thank you for using them for the first time) plus the “cash back” you earned though purchasing what you were going to buy anyway.
This is a super easy way to save extra on baby clothes, putting money back in your pocket to buy other things you need..like diapers.
Honey Extension
Honey is a browser extension much like Rakuten, but it applies tons of coupons to your cart upon checkout at your favorite online stores.
For example, when shopping online at Old Navy recently, when I was finished adding items to the cart, I pressed the Honey icon at the top of my browser screen and it got to work finding the best coupons and applying them to my cart to get me the best savings possible.
I ended up saving $14.40 on my purchase using the Honey extension. The most I have saved on one purchase using Honey is $50. Who doesn’t get excited about saving $50 when shopping? That being said, it is a great way to save money when buying baby clothes.
Shop Sale Or Clearance Only
I never, I repeat, never, buy baby clothes at full price. It isn’t worth to me. What I do instead is sign up to my favorite baby clothing stores email lists and wait until they have a big sale.
They will alert you via email so you don’t miss out, then while you’re already buying baby clothes on sale, apply coupons from Honey or Rakuten to get cash back if it is available that day for the specific store you are shopping at. That’s savings on top of savings on top of savings for brand new clothes!
Thrift Store
Before my baby was born, I shopped at thrift stores to see if they had any cute baby clothes for really cheap. I ended up finding some really nice quality baby clothes for only a dollar or so per item at the thrift store! Just look out for stains.
I found all kinds of footed onesies, short sleeved onesies, pants, even nice bibs there. Just wash them once you get home and they are good to go! Sometimes you will even find items with the tags still on.
ThredUP
If you want to shop thrift clothing but aren’t able to get out and about or would just like to shop online, ThredUP is an awesome online thrift store. They pride themselves in being eco friendly and helping you save on gently used clothing from the brands you love.
ThredUP has baby clothes (and women’s clothing) from stores like Carter’s, Osh Kosh, Old Navy, Gap, H&M, and more. Their filtering system makes it easy to find the items you are looking for (because if you don’t use a filter, it’s easy to sit scrolling thousands of items for hours like I’ve done before).
Same with a normal thrift store, there is the possibility of finding nice clothes with the tags still on it, but even then, ThredUP lets you know what kind of condition the clothes are in or if they have stains or not. I recently bought $146 worth of clothing on ThredUP and only spent $65. That is incredible savings.
Consignment Sales
Many cities and towns will put on a children’s consignment sale once or twice a year. These are typically held at a state fairgrounds style area or an arena setting where they can fit racks and racks of kid’s clothing, toys, baby gear, nursery furniture, and more- that people are trying to get rid of.
Consigners (regular folks selling their own used items) will put a price on the items they bring to sell and if you purchase their items, they will typically get a percentage of that sale. It’s a win-win for both parties. You get what you need for a good price, while the consigner makes some cash back from baby items they don’t need anymore.
The kid’s consignment sale held in my local area always has great finds. I’ve spent a few hundred dollars there before and came home with an entire year’s worth of clothes for my child.
Buying those baby clothes at the kid’s consignment sale saved me at least $1000 when you take into consideration they were mostly brand name clothes.
Buy Clothes A Season Ahead
When seasons change, stores usually have big sales to sell all the leftover inventory of last season’s clothing. Use this time to purchase all your children’s clothes for this time next year. For example, when all the summer clothing goes on sale, figure out what size clothing your child will need for next summer.
My child is 15 months now, so next summer she will need 24 month and probably some 2T clothing. You can find these sales at mostly any baby clothing stores. The best sales I’ve seen have been at Carter’s, Osh Kosh, and Old Navy.
Conclusion
The best way to save on baby clothes is to only buy clothes when they are on sale, also in conjunction with the money you are saving on sales items, using the Honey or Rakuten browser extensions will save you even more money on baby clothes.
Shopping thrift clothing is always a great option to save on baby clothes as well and be earth friendly by keeping these clothes from sitting in the landfills.
I hope these tips save you hundreds of dollars and maybe even make money buying baby clothes!
