The Year Of Using What We Have. Part 3

I've made a pact (with myself) to not spend any money this year. I'm going to keep a journal and hopefully can bring myself to regularly blog about it.

 This week's lesson in Living Within My Means:Lucy's wardrobe.

We were amazingly blessed to have received a ton of hand me downs. Special thank you's to Kristy, Kayla, Amy, Tommi, and their daughters.  She was also blessed with lots of new clothes from friends and family.  She has now reached the point where the clothes stop coming in droves. Now she may get a few things on her birthday or Christmas or visiting Gammie, but not nearly the quantity of which we received the 0-12 month clothes.

Now that she is in the 18month to 2T range, we will be using a much more stripped down wardrobe. I purchased 5 pairs of jeans at our local Once Upon A Time (baby item resale store) for a dollar a piece before my purchasing embargo. I also have a $5 coupon to spend there.  We will be there tomorrow!

It is hard seeing all the adorable clothes I can't/won't buy, but in reality, I hate thinking of them getting ruined, I'm not a very good stain remover-er, so really this isn't so much an exercise in frugality as it is a glimpse into a simpler life.  Does she NEED more than 2 pairs of shoes? No. Does she NEED a fluffy skirt? No.

Of course, there will be some things she does need. At some point in the next year we will be potty training, which will mean getting undies. This is one thing we will not be buying at the resale stores.  In an attempt to reconsile my quest to not spend money and the need to replenish a growing child's wardrobe I have decided to sell off some of the baby clothes we have acquired.

I have gone through the boxes and boxes of things. I have given away a lot of them. Truly. I think about half have been passed on to other children.  At this point, we have reached a place where there aren't many new babies coming along in our friends and families.  Of those that are still having kids, they are often already drowning in hand me downs and new clothes, too far away to make it fiscally responsible to mail them, or they are having boys!  *I say that to be clear that I am not trying to be selfish or ungrateful to those that gave us these hand me downs.

I have joined a few resale pages on Facebook, a wonderful friend gave me the name of several consignment shops, and I have considered a Blog Yard Sale. I will keep you posted on that. (If you are interested in this please comment or email us, I'm not yet convinced it would be worth it)

So there you have it. The "No Spending Money on Baby Clothes" Plan of 2013.  Wish my luck!

-Alli