Learning to shop without the Seminary clothing co-op

I talked about re-learning good, frugal grocery shopping habits in a previous post, so now I'll talk a bit about shopping for clothes; specifically kids clothes. I've been the same size for about 17 years, so I don't really buy new clothes for myself. I have gotten some great items at the co-op, and updated my closet. But, prior to Seminary, my wardrobe didn't change much.

My kids are a completely different story. They either grow out of or destroy clothing at a fairly rapid rate, and we are constantly replacing items. I used to have the best prices memorized. Ten to twenty-five cents per item was awesome and $1 per bag sales were usually my favorites, because I'm an excellent packer and I can fit A LOT of stuff in a bag. Saturday mornings always began with yard sales...

But, the clothing co-op had my shopping eye jaded pretty quickly. Even at ten cents, I was quick to exclaim "How can I waste this dime when I can probably find something just as good at the co-op?!?"
Now, as we prepare to leave the Seminary, I am struggling to find my treasure hunting, yard sale scrounging personality... I just keep thinking about how much I am going to miss the clothing co-op. When I go "shopping" anywhere else, I have to keep reminding myself that
"THIS STUFF ISN'T FREE!"
It's so easy to forget, and I find myself filling my cart with whatever random thing strikes my fancy, and then backtracking to look at the prices. Yikes! This has me terrified. I have forgotten how to shop... and when I say "shop", I mean get things my family needs for next to nothing.

So, as I'm thinking about this, here are a few of my old habits that I need to re-establish.

1. Yard sales, obviously. But, here's what I look for: 

• High quality brands - I love OshGosh, Old Navy, and Levis. 
• Bulk buying options - like $1 per bag
• Up-sizes - I try to buy the next few sizes up for each child, so that we never have to panic over a growth spurt.
• Good Condition - It's not worth 10cents if it's already all used up; and yes, you have to watch out for sales where people think it's okay to sell stained items.
• Shoes - we always need shoes. I think feet are the fastest growing body part, although I have no scientific proof.

2. Thrift stores. I look for the same types of items, but usually I stock up over time from my yard sale hunts and use thrift stores to fill in sizes that I don't have much of. 

I sort all of the clothes by size and store in bins or boxes. The cheapest way is to recycle and label cardboard boxes, but as my family grows, I am seriously considering investing in some clear, easy open, lidded containers, so that I can see what's in them without opening every container. Because, time is a valuable asset too.

Each container has boy or girl clothes of one size, and when my kids NEED an item, these bins are where we shop. I started doing this when my oldest was born and prior to Seminary, I only HAD to buy item (at retail price) in 12 years, and that was because my oldest boy grew three shoe sizes overnight, in January (no yard sales and he couldn't go barefoot), and I had only stocked for two up-sizes that winter. 

It was a great system. Since Seminary, the availability of new items whenever we need them has become a crutch, and I have not kept up with my clothing storage and organization system. 

My first task after we move? Hitting up the yard sale circuit in my new neighborhood. We will grab a map and spend our weekends learning about our new community as we explore yard sales and learn how to shop the resale market again.