Good Stewardship Habits for Mom

I found some dresses for my girls this weekend at a consignment shop, and I'm almost finished outfitting my children for spring and summer. I include these thrift store posts on my blog for one important reason. 

My desire is to highlight the good stewardship inherent in choosing thrift stores and consignment shops to outfit ourselves and our families. God has been gracious to us, and he desires that we use our financial gifts responsibly. He asks us to help support the poor and needy, and the widows and orphans. One way to do that is to decrease our own financial burden so we can free up money to give.

Buying good quality clothes makes sense, especially if you have smaller children to hand them down to. There is also the possibility that you can help the poor by donating to Goodwill. Good quality clothes last longer and fade slowly so they can be handed down (or over) at least three times, provided Mom or Dad use spot remover promptly, and/or try covering a child's clothes before serving berries, mustard, juice or chocolate.

I found the following listed brands at a consignment shop, and these are the same brands I find at Goodwill. When I can't find what I need at two different Goodwills, I then go to the consignment shop. Goodwill hasn't had many dresses for my girls for the past year, and finding jeans for Peter has been very difficult there as well. 

Goodwill charges $2.50 per child's garment, and consignment shops typically charge $2.50 to $7.50 per garment, and more for outerwear. 

Here is the count for my last consignment trip (many, but not all, are pictured below):

Lands End - 5 garments

Hanna Anderson - 3 garments

The Children's Place - 5 garments

The Gap - 1 garment

Gymboree - 5 garments

Jumping Beans - 1 garment

Crazy 8 - 2 garments

Old Navy - 2 garments

Talbots - 1 garment

Rothschild - 1 garment (outerwear)

Sonoma - 2 garments

Arizona - 1 garment

Carters - 1 garment

Tommy Hilfiger - 1 garment

Green Dog - 1 garment

Maggie & Zoe - 1 garment

Urban Pipeline - 2 garments

Timberland - 1 garment

Misc. garments with label removed or missing - 4; and 3 sandals, not pictured

Total with a 20% off punched card to redeem = $253 for roughly 46 items

I don't typically spend that much at once, except after a tax refund. It's usually more like $30 to $60 per trip, with either a 20% or 35% off coupon or punch card. When you donate to Goodwill (at least around here) you are given a 20% off coupon. 

I could consign my items, but I want to bless the Goodwill shoppers who may not be able to afford consignment shops. Heck, I can't always afford consignment shops! I appreciate the families who donate good quality clothes to Goodwill.

I prefer dresses to be below the knee, and I find that Land's End, Hanna Anderson, and Gymboree usually make them that way. I only buy sleeveless if I have a sweater in mind to go over it. The sleeveless dress will be worn for Easter with a white sweater. One reason is to prevent skin cancer later because our shoulders are vulnerable, and the other is that sleeveless can sometimes be immodest depending on the cut. The dress on the left looks too busy with all the color, but it is very becoming on Mary.

The flowered dress may be worn with pink leggings. That's how I make the shorter ones work for my girls. I also put shorts under them in the summer because my girls still don't sit appropriately when they have a dress on.

Beth loves anything that looks like ballerina clothes. The hot pink number (too loud for me) comes with black leggings (it's Hello Kitty). She doesn't usually like black, but the definite ballerina look delighted her and it looks cute on her.

I don't ever find any shorts that seem appropriate for Christian girls, so I buy my girls cropped pants. There are 2 or 3 other jeans or cropped pants not pictured, with flower embroidery. 

Are you all ready for spring? Do you have a good consignment shop near you?