Children grow quickly, too quickly. Parents always lament this all too well known fact. It seems like little Johnnie and Suzie are newborns on Monday and by Friday they are packing their things to head to college. In the meantime parents spend a great deal of money providing essentials for their children. Feeding them, taking them to soccer games, sleepovers, and clothing them. It seems like children can outgrow their clothing in a matter of weeks, especially newborns. Mothers who want to keep their new babies decked out in the latest and greatest can spend a small fortune, or more likely a large fortune clothing the little tike.

So how can someone keep their precious little bundle of love outfitted in designer baby gear without taking out a second mortgage on the home? Thrifty moms and some ingenious retailers have helped to answer this question in spades. Used clothing stores is a great way to find gently worn, quality name brand clothing at a fraction of the price you would pay if purchasing new. Basically, these stores offer to pay people for their used children’s clothes.

People take clothes that their children have outgrown to these stores by the bag, bucket and box full. Next a knowledgeable attendant sorts through the clothing checking for tears, wear, fading and other signs of deterioration. They select the clothing for which there is a market and pay the owner. Sometimes they may even work out a trade or store credit. So as your little one outgrows that wonderful onesie, trade it in on one a bit bigger at your local recycled baby clothes retailer.

Another possibility is to jump online and look for advertisements to local yard sales or garage sales that advertise clothing is the size you need. This is a great way for those who enjoy bargaining with people to save money and have a little fun. You can pick up some items for pennies compared to what it would cost to buy new. You just need to be a little discriminating. Since most newborns outgrown their clothing in a matter of weeks, chances of finding something that has very little wear and something you like in the size your child needs are fairly high.

If you’re a bit of a packrat and find yourself trying to figure out where to store another box of clothing your children have outgrown, you might consider having a yard sale of your own. You could make a bit of extra money and get some storage space out of it as well. Who knows you might even find a buyer for all those old license plates you’ve been hanging onto for the last several years.

If you’re not the type to want to purchase someone else’s used clothing, there are still other options. One thing that may help you to save a bit of money and doesn’t require you to leave the comfort of your computer is going online and checking out what might be offered through your favorite online auction site. Not everything on these sites is used in this category, some are brand new. People acquire these items by purchasing t reduced prices from big box stores items that have been overstocked.

You may wish to employ all of these methods; it is really up to you. If you do, who knows, you might save enough money to buy something nice for yourself.