4/26/18

Managing Kids' Clothes is Serious Business

If you have multiple kids and distinct seasons where you live, you know the enormity of the task of switching out kids wardrobes each season.

They are growing.
The weather changes.
You want to save hand-me-downs for younger or future, unborn children.
Maybe they need new clothes, and you have to decided what they need, how much of it, and how much to spend.

It's a lot.

I am by no means an expert on this topic, but I have refined my system to the point that I don't feel completely overwhelmed. FYI, in case you are new around here I have 4 children, 2 boys and 2 girls.


These are my best tips and guidelines for managing, buying, organizing, and dealing with your kids' wardrobes.

1. Realize that your kids don't need excessive amounts of clothing. There is no set number, but you probably need less than you think. Yes, you need enough that if the laundry backs up for a couple of days, they will have plenty to wear. But you don't need much beyond that.

Less is probably enough. The benefit is that it's less to manage and you will save so much money if you have the mentality that your kids don't need closets bursting with clothes.

Maybe you need to do a big purge. That leads to my next point.

2. Shop your own stuff. Decide what you definitely want to keep. For every seasonal switch out, I like to get all (yes, all) my kids' clothes out and put them in a huge pile. This way I can evaluate and get a really good inventory of what we have. Then I pretend I'm at a consignment sale and I "shop" our own clothes. From the oldest to the youngest, I put together a little wardrobe for each child for the new season. This is actually really fun for me. As I do this, I make a list of what we need to buy.

3. Set a budget. Children's clothing is a major budget buster for many of us mamas. They will only be little once and we want them to look adorable during these glorious and precious days. And so we make emotional purchases. Maybe we feel pressured because of how our friends (or strangers on Instagram) dress their kids.

I get it. MiniBoden is my love language.

A budget will give you freedom to spend and have fun with the allotted money, but it also gives you a limit. This limit will help you discern what clothes you love the most and want to buy, and it will also keep you from being a hoarder and buying too many clothes.

4. Now that you have a budget, buy only what you love! If you want to buy 2 more expensive outfits vs. 4 cheaper ones - go for it! Enjoy dressing your children in clothes you love. Of course keeping in mind that kids are hard on their clothes.

5. Limit your storage for sentimental items and hand-me-downs. We are all constantly are talking about how our homes don't have enough closet space. No, y'all! We have too much stuff.

This is very personal, I know. Maybe you want to have more babies. Maybe you can't part with all the baby clothes. Maybe you feel guilty because you spent a lot of money on these clothes and you might sell them.

I'm not telling you how or that you have to do it, I'm just putting the idea in your head. Limit your storage. Don't keep more than you can comfortably store.

For example, I have ONE medium sized box for sentimental baby clothes. I could have saved triple that. But why do I need 3 boxes of baby clothes to keep forever? I don't.

Keep your favorites. The same goes for clothing you are storing for your kids to grow into. Keep your favorites.

In summary...

Less is plenty.
Shop your own stuff.
Set a budget.
Buy what you love!
Limit your storage.

That's it!

Okay, hit me up with your questions and tips!


Would you look at those angels?!
3 of them are wearing hand-me-downs

10 comments:

  1. Love your ideas, SB. And your kids look adorable - always!

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  2. Yes, such a big job every season! Mini Boden is my love language too and it’s so hard to have restraint sometimes but the more years I get into motherhood and see how hard they are on their clothes (and how particular—and literally wear the same 3 things each season) the easier it is to have restraint. The less we own the less there is to manage and the saner I am! We’re also fortunate enough to have friends who give us lots of hand me downs so I use the money I would spend on my kids on my own wardrobe! Pregnant and/or nursing for 5.5 years and counting now and never the same size!!

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    Replies
    1. I totally relate - easier to have restraint as the years go on and I gain a more realistic idea of what my kids actually wear/don't wear. And YES, mama needs to focus on her wardrobe and not fret too much over the kids!

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  3. This rule isn't hard and fast, but one thing that helped me is to buy clothing that is part of a complete outfit. If I buy a dress, then I also buy the matching leggings. Ditto for shirt/shorts combos. This helps me buy fewer clothes and I have less stress about what they are wearing for the week.

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