How to change out your kids clothes

It is that time of year again - time to switch out the summer clothes for the fall/winter clothes.  I just wanted to share with you how I do it.

First, I see if someone can watch my kids because this happens a lot faster when my kids are actually out of my house.  I usually have boxes of clothes that I get from friends at church and also clothes that I have saved from my other children.  Then I take one child's clothes at a time (or one size at a time).  I  lay the clothing on my floor.

 

Then I separate the clothing into categories - pants, shirts, church outfits, regular outfits, etc.

Once I have them separated into piles I see how much of everything I have.  I try to have 5-7 items of each category.  I try to have 5 pairs of pants, 5 pairs of pajamas and so on.  If we have much more than that laundry gets overwhelming.  After I go through the piles I write down what items I might need such as white long sleeved shirts.  Next I hang them in the closet in the categories. And the closet is actually organized (for a while).

Once I have my list of items I need to buy I go to the kids resale shops (or garage sales).  I can find a lot there but maybe not everything so I will shop around for sales at the stores.

I try to stick to my list but sometimes I find something I can't pass up.

Now once I am done going through the clothes I will box up my older son's clothes and save them for my younger son.  I only keep one box per size per season.  I keep these in my younger son's closet.  Since I only have one daughter I pass her clothes on to friends.  As for my younger son's clothes I pass them onto my sister for my  nephew.

Here is what I find about clothes - only keep the nicer ones and a few for play clothes.  You don't have to keep everything.  I have been very fortunate to have friends from church that pass on their kids clothes to me.  Since they are so willing to do this I also pass on my clothes to others.  I know that if I do have more children and need more clothes God will provide so I don't feel the need to keep everything.  We really don't have a lot of space to store everything anyway.  My husband and I are amazed at how little clothes we actually have to buy for our kids.

And my God shall supply all your need according to His riches in glory by Christ Jesus.  Phil. 4:19

For more frugal tips please visit Life as a Mom.