Who else just loves baby clothes?! They can be so. darn. cute. It’s hard to not spend all my baby budget on clothes. Actually it’s near impossible; that’s about all I’ve bought so far. Since I’m currently working, Jared and I have more room in our budget than we did last year, and when we found out that I’m pregnant, I asked Jared if we could make room for baby things. Like I said I’ve basically just bought clothes so far which means I need to start focusing on other things like diapers, breast pads, a noise machine, swaddles, burp cloths, etc. But that means that I’ve found where I love to buy baby clothes from! So here’s my little gather-up of my favorite baby clothing stores, which have cute, good quality clothing, and best of all, it’s affordable. And one of the perks of having a surprise-gender baby? We can reuse the baby clothes we have for Kiwi for the next baby, boy or girl. See, saving money already! 😉

Clothing

Carters
This is an American baby/kids clothing store that is amazing! Their clothes are great quality and they have adorable patterns and designs, including gender-neutral options (but their boy or girl stuff is amazing as well!). They basically always have a 50% off sale going too. I often browse the website and I don’t think I’ve ever seen them *not* have a sale. You can also find the Carters brand on Amazon, but the sales are better directly from the Carters website, in my experience. Before we went to the States for Christmas, I ordered a bunch of baby clothes from here to bring back with us. Just don’t be like me and forget that you’re paying in USD, if you’re from another country.

The Baby Factory
This store has some of my favorite growsuits; the Mobi Minors brand has some really cute patterns and they’re only $10 each. Some of their items are too expensive for me BUT they often have sales and then are more affordable! Last week I found this cute yellow sweater, normally $30, for only $6. That’s my kind of deal! All three items of clothing in this below photo are from the Baby Factory, and all three I bought on sale (the doll was handmade by my mom’s friend).

T & T Childrenswear
If you shop here, do it online, as the prices are significantly cheaper than in store. The prices are affordable and I’ve got some items from here that are cute and seem to be good quality!

SaveMart
This is a thrift store, op shop, whatever you want to call it, in NZ. I’ve been to one in Hamilton and one here in Whangarei and both have been large stores with a great selection! I got these three adorable items for just $10 a few weeks ago. Yes that suit is pink, and no we don’t know the gender; but it was $3 and there’s a 50/50 chance, so I couldn’t pass it up! As for the other two items they look boyish but I would totally put a girl in them, I just need to get some cute headbands if we have a girl so I can girl-ify any outfits like these!

BabyCity
This is another store that’s normally a bit expensive for my taste, but I got some super cute items there on sale last week! The shirt and pants in this photo are both the brand Dot2Tot and they’re super soft. The pants were $4 and I think the shirt was as well.

Other

Ideal Baby Swaddles
There are a gazillion options out there for muslin swaddles, it can be overwhelming. I found these muslin swaddles by Ideal Baby “by the maker of Aden and Anais”, at the Warehouse. There’s not a ton of color variety – I think 3 color options for 3-packs, and maybe 4 or 5 options for a single swaddle (that I’ve seen anyways). But they’re really affordable at only $10/each or $25 for a 3-pack, and I was surprised to find they are really very soft! I would totally get more of this brand if they had more color options, but I don’t want to get duplicates and I’m not a fan of the other color options (too pink or blue, or just not that cute). ALSO this is very important! They are 106×106 cm, or 42×42 in, so they are nice and big! Some of the other brands I’ve seen are only 80cm and I don’t know if that’s big enough to really swaddle a baby.

General Tips for Saving Money

Always check for sales or clearance items! Honestly, anytime I’m shopping for clothes, or pretty much anything, I shamelessly head straight for the sales racks.

Be patient – sometimes if you wait a bit  you can get something on a great sale! Try to find out when the next sales are and hold off until then. (Speaking of which, does anyone know when H&M has sales?! Their baby stuff is toooo cute!) I got some great deals on clothing from Carters and Amazon during Black Friday last year.

Keep track of what you have and what you need. I have a long list of everything I think I need for Kiwi, and I’m keeping track of what clothing I have so I don’t accidentally end up buying thirty pairs of pants in a size that Kiwi will outgrow in a few weeks. That way when I’m shopping I can check and see if I actually need something, or which size I should get.

Don’t be afraid of hand-me-downs. When I was little we had friends who would give us several garbage bags full of hand-me-down clothing from their kids, once or twice a year. It was our favorite day! It was like going on an unlimited shopping spree. I loved going through it and trying to claim the best items before my siblings could get to them. Several months ago I bought a bulk lot of newborn and 0-3 month clothing from TradeMe (which is pretty much like Craigslist in the States) for only $30. Most of the clothing was gender-neutral and in great condition and there were even some merino wool items, which I won’t buy because unless I live in Antarctica — which I don’t — I can’t bring myself to spend $25-50 on one single item that a baby will outgrow in a few months anyways.

Now I’m curious, what are your tips on saving money, or your favorite places to shop for baby clothes? Let me know in the comments!