BEST BABY BARGAINS

I’ll admit it.  I love getting a great deal on anything and everything.  Paying full price—I won’t do it.  Especially after having Caroline, I quickly realized how important it is to search out great deals on baby clothing and supplies.  Kids grow out of clothes so quickly, and often the clothes get ruined with stains and tears.  It’s also frustrating when you find the perfect holiday dress and they only wear it once.  So, I’m constantly looking for great deals and thinking ahead to buying a year or two in advance.

I know I’m not alone.  Most parents catch on to this thrifty lifestyle eventually, and it’s worth it.  I know everybody has great tips for saving money here and there on baby supplies, and this got us talking in the NBC 4 newsroom.  So I went bargain hunting.  Tuesday and Wednesday on First at 4 we are focusing on bargains on baby clothes.  Today I’m on the hunt for great play clothes…you know, ones that I won’t freak out about if Caroline gets them dirty or ruins them.  Just comfortable and cheap clothes to play in this summer.  So, we made it a challenge to find the best play clothes for under $20. 
And tomorrow we’re focusing on getting the most money when you go to sell your child’s clothes and toys.  It’s a clean out the closet and get paid kind of story.  :)

Here are a few of my favorite baby bargains:

1.) We buy diapers and wipes in bulk.  I can’t even imagine not doing that.
2.) Beg, Borrow & Steal.  Ok—we don’t steal, but we definitely borrow.  It’s my best tip to new parents—share with friends.  We borrowed a “jumparoo” and other toys from friends and borrow clothes from my niece.  Plus, it’s one less thing you end up sticking in the basement when your child is done with it. 
3.) Discount stores—I love them and also check out resale shops, too. 
4.) Buy in the off season.  I know it’s hard to think about buying a winter coat in the summer, but if you find one, it’s cheap.  And once winter rolls around you won’t be paying full price for a new winter coat.

No, I haven’t made baby food, but if you can do it, good for you. :) It’s healthy and cheap.

OK everybody—what are your favorite baby bargains?  Let’s share!

Okay…posting again!!  It’s funny you wrote about this today, because I happened to end up in a shopping center with a Once Upon a Child.  I was supposed to be there for work, but I took a side trip into the store.  They had TONS of cheap clothes and in good quality.  I tried to look for a cheap water/sand table, but I couldn’t find a nice one.  I also bought some books, each for a dollar.

Before we had our son, I scoped out Craig’s List and E-Bay and was able to find a lot of stuff for cheap prices.  And, you are right, they only use them for a short time, so we may as well pass them on.

My brother was nice enough to lend us a bunch of big items, so we save on that, too.  I also made his baby food which was fun and surprisingly easy.  And, although not my main reason for doing so, breastfeeding is free!!

My advice is to pay close attention to prices when you are not shopping second hand.  For example…

My best friend and I love to shop at Kohl’s.  They have great clearance!  However, different locations have different mark downs.  We live an equal distance between two stores.  So we call ahead to find out what percentage the clearance is going for.  Often times, and item that is 60 percent off at one location is 80 percent off at the other. 

When you buy off season, hang on to the receipt and leave the tags on until you need it.  Kohls especially is great about making price adjustments.  So, if you buy something on clearance and find it has been seriously marked down at a later date, they will usually give you the lower price. 

My claim to fame thus far is (by using the two tips listed above) I was able to get a $60.00 Oshkosh parka for my son for $2.24!!!  :)

Bargains…. gotta love them especially when you can find a good one for yourself or your child.  I have to agree with Ellie when it comes to buying clothes in the off season.  You can find great bargains on the clearance racks and you would be surprised what great clothes they have if you catch them early.  Also, check out Once Upon a Child.  I didn’t think about ever shopping there, but indeed if you take the time to look you can find brand new clothes with tags still on them that have never been worn.  I just got a real cute outfit for my son that was a Reebok outfit and it is too cute!!  Kids grow so fast so you would be surprised what great clothes you could get at the gently used stores.  Beware that there are some clothes that are more worn then others, but others that are in GREAT shape!!  They also have some great toys too, but I would just be sure to disinfect the toys before allowing your child to play with them and stick them in their mouth.

You guys are the best.  I knew you’d have great ideas.  Oh—my best “score”—(not the cheapest, but my favorite one) is Caroline’s Christmas dress for next year.  It was one that I LOVED, but it was full price, so we passed it upfor this year, but my dear mother-in-law nabbed it on the day after christmas sale…just bought next year’s size.  So it’s a gorgeous dress that was a ton cheaper.  Nana is a great shopper!  I agree Lisa—the off season sales are excellent.  I usually head straight for the clearance rack just to see what I can find.  :)

Thrift stores, yard sales and church rummage sales are great to find bargains!  Also, the Mothers of Twins Club in Columbus has a twice yearly sale on newborn-teenage stuff, everything from clothes to cribs.  Just be careful and check recalls.gov to make sure anything used has not been recalled.

Checkout freecycle columbus or craigslist.com

We buy our diapers in bulk too. If you catch a good sale at Babies R Us or Toys r us, they allow you to use their coupon plus the manf. coupon.
We also found a sale on their brand diapers, where we got 200 diapers for $30 and they are great.

I am also blessed with a lady at our church who gives me her son’s youngest clothes.

Thrift stores are great I get pants for my 5 year old for $1 to $2 and they look brand new.  We have a new Goodwill by Meijer’s in Powell, I find it to be very organized and clean

I get all my diapers at Sam’s Club.  The Members Mark brand are better than Pampers or Luvs (in my opinion).  I also get their members mark wipes then cut them in half.  Who needs a whole wipe?....well sometimes but just use 2 halves and you are still good!

I love going to Children’s Orchard in Pickerington.  Susan (the owner) has bag sales at the end of the seasons and you can fill up the bag for $5 all you can fill.  The trick is rolling and stuffing as much as possible! 

My kids love the dehydrated strawberries in Special K.  Well, I now make my own.  I can not get them to eat regular strawberries but they will eat these all day long.  And also kiwi.  They love them. 

Garage Sales are my big savings.  I am know as the garage sale crazy with my family and friends.  Every year I set out to find deals at the garage sales around town. 
As a mother of two, I find ways to get the clothes and fun toys that my kids want and need. 
This year’s “BIG” buys have been a Little Tikes 2 seated wagon that I got for $25 and retails for around $70, a Little Tikes swing set that retails for about $450 and got it for $100, a Step 2 Play house that I got for $75 and retails around $300, and a Step 2 Dining Table and chairs for $6 that sells for $60….and it is still only June!
I paid $206 I could have paid $880.  I saved $674!!!  That is more than 2 months worth of groceries at this house!
Last years “BIG” buy was a dehydrator that retails for around $60 and I paid $5.00 for and it came with extra accessories.  My daughters love dehydrated strawberries and kiwi!  I also got a Little Tikes climb and slide that retails for around $70 for $30, a Little Tikes bookcase / toy box that retails for $90 and I paid $8, and a Leap Frog Learning Table that retails for $40 and I got it for $5.
I paid $48 and I could have paid $260!!!
I purchase all of the jeans that my daughters are going to need for the next year at garage sales instead of paying retail prices.  You can’t beat $0.25 - $1 for a pair of Gap or Old Navy jeans.
You have to take the time and find the good garage sales.  I spend my Thursday nights on Craigslist and in the Fairfield County Advertiser looking for the garage sales I want to go to.  I have even contacted people before their sales to see if I can come an check out their bigger items that disappear quickly.
That is one of the major ways I pinch a penny for my family.  I have been laughed at by people because I have a bag of change that I collect over the entire year to go to garage sales with when the season comes.  Hey - every penny spends!

My mother-in-law finds the BEST bargains possible for the kids. I am sure all know of Paddington the Bear, well my mother in law found a dress with a petticoat and hat set, blue with a cute plaid red trim, rather funny because the red plaid is actually my Scottish Lineage tartan. So she sees the dress originally $35.00 waits for a sale, it drops to $20.00, well she also gets “Kohls Bucks”, so se buys the dress at 20.00 founds out she gets mor money off then with her credit card and kohls bucks only spent $3.50 for the dress..talk about a deal. Although I absolutly love Once upon a child, I find cute clothes and so deals.

I am known for finding the kids great toys and clothes on Craigslist. You can usually find a big bunch of stuff for a great deal, take what you want, and resell the rest at a garage sale or at Once Upon a Child (which I also love). I order all of my diapers from Amazon.com and even do my Christmas shopping on Amazon. They have the best prices on toys and offer free shipping on most items when you spend $25 or more. Can’t beat it for new items. I am fortunate enough to have a friend a few months older than my daughter that we benefit a lot from. We get great hand me down clothes and toys. And, I also have been saving ALL of my baby gear since we are not done having children yet. I literally have about 10 tubs of clothes in the basement as well as toys, high chairs, jumperoos, pack n play, etc. That way what I have to buy for the next ones is minimal. Oh, and I agree with the previous comment about how much money breast feeding saves! I nursed my daughter for 13 months and never ONCE had to dish out my hard earned cash for formula! It was great! We saved a TON that way.

You are all so good at saving money—I love it!  Keep the money saving tips coming!

Hi!

Do you know of any other baby bargain sales in the Columbus area besides the Westerville one?

Thank you,
Tim