Category: Frugal Living Tips

Raising a baby is far from easy. It’s also far from cheap.

Even if you’re pinching pennies and not yet investing in college savings or life insurance for your little one, the first year of your baby’s life is likely to set you back $20,000 or more.

This makes finding ways to save some cash important for all parents, new and experienced alike.

One great way to do this is by learning how to shop for and choose affordable baby clothing. Keep reading to learn 10 great tips for saving on your little one’s clothes.

1. Keep It Neutral

Whether it’s your first child or your third, it can be tough to stop yourself from buying every cute, patterned onesie or colorful pair of leggings you pass in the store.

One brightly colored, trendy onesie might seem harmless enough. But if you’re also tempted to buy pants, socks, shoes, or other items to match, you’re looking at a hefty price tag for a single outfit.

Instead, stick to neutral colors and patterns for the majority of your little one’s clothing. That way, everything matches. Not only will this save money when buying clothes, but it’ll also make it easier to wash the clothes and save you time when it comes to dressing your baby!

2. Don’t Give in to Holiday Outfit Pressure

From Christmas to Easter to birthday parties, it can be tempting to dress up your baby for photos and family gatherings.

But those fancy outfits can also set you back anywhere from $20 to several hundred. And since your growing sprout won’t fit in them the following year, or even the next holiday to come around, you won’t get much use for your money.

Your friends and family are going to think that your little angel looks adorable, no matter what he or she is wearing. So pick something soft and comfortable for passing around your little one, and save your money for other fun holiday ideas!

3. Mix and Match Onesies and Pants

The best baby clothes are also the simplest. Long or short-sleeve onesies in soft fabrics and pants in the same keep your baby comfortable and won’t restrict their range of motion.

But while neutral colors will save you money, adding a little color isn’t a bad thing either. To stay within your budget and add something fun to your little one’s wardrobe, ditch the old rules about what matches and what doesn’t.

Mixing and matching colors and patterns of onesies and pants can be a fun, inexpensive way to brighten your little one’s look without breaking the bank.

4. Skip the Sweaters and Sweatshirts

When the temperature starts to drop, you likely bundle yourself up in sweaters, thermals, coats, and more. First-time parents, in particular, tend to do the same to their little ones.

But if your baby is too small to be walking around in the cold or playing in the snow, you likely won’t be keeping him or her outside for very long. So before you drop a ton of money on sweaters and sweatshirts you’ll take off of them once you get inside or coats that they’ll only wear for a few minutes a day, think again.

You can just as easily dress your little one in his or her normal clothes, and then bundle them in a few blankets to keep out the cold.

5. Buy Big

Babies grow as much as an inch to an inch-and-a-half every month. That cute outfit you bought one month is likely going to be way too small in just a month or two.

While there isn’t much you can do–after all, you want your little one to grow–you can save some cash by buying clothes a bit bigger than your baby’s current size.

6. Save on the Basics So You Can Splurge Elsewhere

If you still want to buy cute outfits and clothes for special events, there are plenty of other ways you can save.

One great way is by saving on the basics. Basics like onesies, sleepers, socks, and leggings don’t vary much among different baby clothing brands.

So skip the expensive options and opt for bulk packs, clearance finds, or bargain brands. That way you can splurge on the cute outfits instead!

One great area to splurge on are accessories like headwraps. These are cute accents for any outfit and can be adjusted so that your baby will get months of wear out of them. Learn more about headwraps here!

7. Don’t Buy Ahead

Maybe you want to snap up that cute winter coat before it sells out at the store, even though it’s still warm outside. Or you want to shop last season’s finds on clearance racks to save some cash.

But buying ahead for clothing for future seasons is a big mistake. If your little one grows faster than expected, you may find yourself with items that are far too small, and that you’ve had too long to return.

When you’re trying to stick to your baby budget, make sure that you’re buying clothing as they are needed, and not a moment sooner.

8. Consider Shopping Secondhand

If you’ve had more than one child, you know that hand-me-downs are a great way to save some money. So why not save some cash by shopping secondhand as well?

Shopping yard sales, secondhand stores, and online shops like eBay are great ways to score great deals on gently-worn baby clothes. After all, no little ones stay one size for long, so it’s likely you’ll find lots of great deals on items that weren’t worn more than a few times.

Just be sure to wash the items before dressing your baby in them.

9. Let Your Little One Go Barefoot

There are few things cuter than tiny baby shoes.

But not only can these be expensive, but your baby also doesn’t really need them. When babies are learning to walk, its best to let them do so inside, barefoot. Shoes can make them unsteady. Plus, like clothing, babies grow out of baby shoes very fast.

10. Choose Unisex Colors and Styles

Planning to have more children after this one? Save yourself some money in the future by choosing mostly unisex colors and styles.

This will make it easy to pass them down to your future babies.

Finding Affordable Baby Clothing

Now that you know a few tips for saving money, it’s time to start shopping for affordable baby clothing for your little one.

Wondering where to start shopping? Check out this list of the best baby clothing companies to help you get started.

What happens to your kids if something happens to you?

As a single parent, this thought can be terrifying. No one wants to think about dying. But when little ones depend on you, you can’t help but wonder what would happen if you were no longer there.

That’s why life insurance is important. When you’re the sole provider for your kids it’s even more important.

With the right life insurance policy, you can provide for your kids even when you’re not around. That would assuage a lot of worries, wouldn’t it?

Money is always pretty tight, though. Every cent counts. You may be wondering if you can really afford to buy life insurance.

Let’s take a look at some options. And then we’ll look at some reasons why you can’t afford not to buy life insurance.

Term Vs Whole Life Insurance

When you’re pinching pennies to provide basic needs for your children, every cent counts. You know that life insurance is important but you don’t know if you can afford it.

There are two general types of life insurance policies. Term life insurance and whole life insurance. The main difference is that term life insurance is good for a set term. Terms typically run from 10-35 years. Whole life insurance covers you your entire life.

Thus, a term life insurance policy is a lot cheaper. There is less risk that you’ll die during the term so the company can afford to offer a plan at a cheaper rate.

Term life insurance policies are very affordable. The peace of mind alone that a life insurance policy will give you is worth far more than the premium.

You can find more information about term vs whole life insurance and get a quote here.

Why Life Insurance?

Okay, so life insurance is affordable and gives you peace of mind. But what does that really mean? What do life insurance benefits cover and how will it put your mind at ease?

Let’s look at some of the reasons why life insurance is important for single moms. You can pick and choose what you want your specific policy to cover but here are some common options.

1. Death Expenses

It may surprise you to know but dying is very expensive. The average cost for all end-of-life necessities (not just the funeral) is a whopping $11,618!

You barely have two pennies to rub together on any given day so it can’t come out of your savings. Who’s going to pay for your death expenses?

With a life insurance policy, you don’t have to worry about that question. The policy will cover your death expenses.

This makes things a lot easier on family members. They have enough to worry about during such a difficult time.

2. Pays Off Debts

Are you still working diligently to pay off your debts? What happens when you die? Do they just go away? In some cases, they do. In others, they don’t.

For example, say you are paying off a mortgage. If you die, the house would most likely have to be sold to pay back the debt. Thus, in addition to losing you, your kids would have to leave their home.

A life insurance policy can pay off your mortgage. Your kids’ new caregiver could come to live with them instead of having to be uprooted during such a tumultuous time.

3. Covers Estate Taxes

The government is only too happy to have a tax for everything and that includes your estate. Of course, as a single mom, you might not have much of one. But what you do have you want your kids to be able to keep.

Estate taxes vary depending on the state you live in. Plus, if the estate is worth less than a certain amount (that varies by state) they won’t be levied against your estate.

But, if estate taxes do come into play, your kids won’t have to worry about them if you have a life insurance policy that covers them.

4. Covers Your Kids’ Expenses

Your mom, sister, cousin etc may be totally willing to look after your kids if something should happen to you. But, as you know, kids cost money.

Can your mom support your kids on her fixed income? Probably not. Your sister or cousin may already be stretched thin caring for her own kids.

A life insurance policy will ensure that the money needed to take care of your kids is there.

Life insurance policies don’t typically pay out to your children. That makes sense as they wouldn’t know what to do with the money anyways. Instead, you can name a guardian or create a trust that will pay out the money at specific intervals that you can choose.

Regardless of how you want to set it up, you can rest easy knowing that the necessary money will be there.

5. College Expenses

You can even include college expenses in your life insurance policy. Your premium may be higher with this option included. But if a college education is something that you really want for your kids, it may be worth it to you to include it.

Final Thoughts

It’s not a pleasant thought, but one day you’re going to die. You hope it’s when you’re old and your kids are already raising kids of their own.

But you don’t get to choose. You can eat healthily and exercise all you want, but you don’t get to choose when you die.

Take away the fear that your kids won’t have what they need by buying a life insurance policy. You can hope your kids will never need it, but it will be there just in case. That’s why life insurance is so valuable.

For more great personal finance and budgeting tips be sure to check out our blog.

As a mom, we know that you love dressing up your child in the latest styles and trends.

But when it comes to the top looks of the season, it can be incredibly tough to find out where to buy cheap baby clothes. You don’t want your child to look less than their best (or have to buy from unethical companies.)

Still, sometimes it can be tough to justify the sky-high prices of children’s clothing.

In this post, we’ll tell you everything you need to know about how to get the best kid clothes without having to spend half of your paycheck.

Whether you thrift, clip coupons, or look for giveaways online, follow these steps to ensure that your child always looks like they just stepped off of the runway.

1. Scour for Coupons

The best way to score the best kid clothes for a fraction of the original price?

Head online to coupon sites (and sites like our own) that are dedicated to compiling all the latest coupons, giveaways, and deals all in one place.

Look for sites that collect coupon codes, offer you advice about upcoming sales, or tip you off about how to score freebies from your favorite companies.

Also, take a look at how to save on shipping costs when you’re browsing through the websites of your favorite children’s clothing retailers.

For example, this company, Kids With Style, offers completely free shipping on orders that are over $75.00. Make sure that you focus on hitting the free shipping minimum when you shop online by buying in bulk, like before the start of a new school year or holiday season.

2. Sign Up for E-Newsletters

Of course, if you really want to get the best kid clothes for half the price, we strongly suggest signing up for the e-newsletters of your favorite clothing brands.

You may receive a discount of anywhere from 10-50% just for signing up in the first place. Plus, you’ll also be among the first to learn about flash sales and in-store events where you can score the same clothes for less.

You may even be able to get coupons for things like you or your child’s birthday. Plus, if you can get your friends to sign up for their newsletter as well, you may get a discount code sent to you.

This way, you can find out about the trends in the bestchildren’ss clothes while also learning how to save!

3. Re-Create the Looks for Less

If you’re struggling with where to buy cheap baby clothes, then it’s probably because you haven’t yet explored the best option of all: thrift shops.

As a mom who loves to save, you have a hard time justifying shelling out some serious cash for clothing that your child may outgrow in less than a year.

And while you want to score inexpensive baby clothes, you also want your child to look stylish.

This is where thrifting comes into play.

After all, you’re not the only parent who has clothing that their child has already grown out of! You might be surprised by the high quality of design and brand names that you can find in your local thrift shop.

Check out this awesome guide for some incredible life hacks about how to thrift for children’s clothes. Remember that, if you don’t want to hit the thrift store, you can always hit up your mom friends for hand-me-downs!

4. Write Your Favorite Companies

You might be surprised by just how effective letting baby and kids clothing companies know how much you love their products can be.

If you have the time — and want to score some freebies — take the time to write to the brands you love and tell them why you love their clothes. Even if they don’t hook your kid up with a new wardrobe, they’ll likely send you a free piece or a coupon for a percentage off your next purchase.

You can also offer to write an online review in exchange for free products. You’ll get to test out the hottest trends on the children’s runway without having to pay the price!

5. Promote the Best Childrens Clothes on Social Media

Are you a popular mommy blogger? Do you have a larger following on social media? Do you run your own children’s product company?

If you have any kind of a strong digital presence, then you should leverage your Internet fame (no matter how A-list or D-list) in order to score free stuff from your favorite kids clothing companies.

Reach out to companies and offer to write a blog post on their best-selling clothes if they send them to you for free. Offer to upload a cute photo of your child wearing pieces from a new collection, and promise to promote the brand for a few months afterwards.

You’ll likely be surprised by how many children’s clothing companies ask you to become an official brand ambassador. Plus, the more times you do it, the more clothing companies will start to take notice.

Need More Ways to Save on the Best Kid Clothes?

Whether you’re on the hunt for inexpensive baby clothes, or just want to make sure that your six-year-old looks sharp for school picture day, we hope that you’ve learned it’s possible to get the look for less.

By hitting up the thrift shop, visiting coupon sites, or even just leveraging your own social media following, you can get fabulous deals on the best kid clothes.

Of course, we also know that children’s clothing isn’t the only thing that you’re looking to save some serious cash on!

Whether you want to find ways to cut corners on baby food, diapers, or even vacations for you and your other mom friends, we’re here to help you to make it happen.

Spend some time on our website and blog to find out more about how to spend less and experience more.

Buying clothes for kids can be an expensive affair since they grow way too fast, especially during school holidays.

Fashion moves faster now than ever. This means clothes your kids couldn’t wait to wear just the other day may join the junk heap sooner than they did while you were growing up.

You like to see your kids grow but, then again, you hate the idea that they need new clothes every now and then. And it’s even more expensive if you’ve got a large family.

The truth is that it’s very easy to spend a small fortune on children’s clothes since you don’t always have an idea of what their sizes are and what’s in fashion.

However, you can still save a tidy sum of money when shopping for children clothes. Here are some tips on how to shop for clothes on a budget for your children.

Buy Off-Season

There are some items that you know your kid will need every year, such as seasonal clothing, jackets, and sweaters.

The perfect time to purchase those things is at the end of every season, but be sure to purchase them for the next year. Often in early spring you’ll notice summer clothes on sale, when the weather may not be appropriate for tanks and shorts.

This is when you should search the clearance and sales racks for sweaters, coats, long pants, and other winter outfits that are being cleared by the stores.

This cycle repeats every season, so always know when stores are getting rid for the next season’s clothes. You can save loads if buy kids clothes for the next year.

Accept Hand-Me-Downs

Most hand-me-downs are absolutely free! Speak to your family or friends who’ve got kids bigger or older than yours and see if they can give you outgrown clothes.

You can get so many clothes that you end up not buying clothes for your children for a few years. However, this doesn’t have to stop you from snapping up some great deals at thrift stores and yard sales here and there.

Shop Secondhand

Kids outgrow things so fast that they often are pretty much new even after they have been outgrown. While browsing through racks can take some effort, you can snag some real gems at very low prices if you’re up for it.

Great places to find used clothes include thrift stores, garage sales, and local online stores. You can also shop at both brick-and-mortar and online consignment stores to find brand-name attire at reduced prices.

And for some great deals on retro shirts and tees for your kids, be sure to check out companies like SE Apparel.

Buy in Bulk

There are websites and stores that offer discounts if you clothes in bulk.

When you buy in bulk, you can snag discounts. That’s the idea behind wholesaling!

Let’s Show You How to Shop For Clothes on a Budget

You don’t have to break the bank to ensure that your kids look amazing, so long as you become creative. There are lots of bargains to be had no matter the ages of your children.

Want to know how to shop for clothes inexpensively with your kids? Contact us today and let us know. We’d be glad to help.

Wedding planning is such an exciting time!

It can also be an expensive time. The average wedding costs over $35,000!

Between venue, wedding gown, flowers, and caterers, it’s easy to rack up a big bill. If you have to have 12 bridesmaids, then you’re going to want to find beautiful bridesmaids dresses at reasonable prices. Check out these 5 tips or finding affordable bridesmaid dresses.

1) Start with the Budget

First things first. What will be your budget? Just like you set a budget for your wedding gown, you want to have one for the bridesmaid dresses as well. If you want, discuss this with your bridesmaids.

Find out what their budget is and stick to it. You can find inexpensive bridesmaid dresses. You don’t want to overwhelm anyone with a big price tag if they can’t afford it.

Also, don’t forget to accessories to your budget. Shoes and jewelry can add up too. Consider gifting each bridesmaid with some accessories they can wear for the day. Bonus, if it’s something they can wear on other occasions.

2) Discuss Styles

Discuss style options with your bridesmaids. Assuming that your bridesmaids aren’t all the same shape and size, you should choose styles that flatter each lady.

Be flexible. You want them to feel beautiful on your big day too. You can get dresses that can be tied different ways or choose one color and find dresses that flatter each figure. Read more about buying bridesmaid dresses with confidence and ease.

3) Be Patient

It’s good to be patient when it comes to finding the best deals on bridesmaid dresses. Don’t buy the first dress you see. If you find one that you like, check back to see if it goes on sale or look for promotional codes to get it at a better price. Obviously, you don’t want to wait too long for one dress. Have a few options in mind so you can find the most affordable bridesmaid dresses.

4) What Is the Return Policy

Before you buy bridesmaid dresses, it’s important to check the return policy. All sales final? Must return within 30 days? These things are important to know because if something comes up or the dress doesn’t fit, you don’t want your friends stuck with a dress that they can’t wear, so only buy dresses that you can return.

5) Remember to Have Fun

This may be the most important tip. Have fun! You are getting married and your bridesmaids are some of the most important people in your life. Enjoy the wedding planning process. Pop some champagne and have fun picking out beautiful dresses with your beautiful bridesmaids.

Affordable Bridesmaid Dresses Are Possible

It is possible to find inexpensive dresses. Finding affordable bridesmaid dresses is a great way to keep the costs of your wedding down for you and your bridal party.

If you pride yourself on frugality, you can still have a beautiful wedding without spending a ton of money. Check out our blog to find more money saving tips for not only your wedding but also everyday life.