Clothing Swap

On this Money Saving Monday, I thought I would share on some greatness that I have encountered on in this little town, and if you are around you could join in too, or it could be a great idea for something you could do in your own area as well. I think this is such a brilliant idea, especially for people that want save every ounce of their own money, but still get a little change in the wardrobe getting nice new (new to you) stuff while still cleaning out the closets.

My good friend Jana Bake (who also has a nice money saving sort of blog, that is all about hair and beauty tips that you could use without having to always go to the saloon for the looks, her blog is HERE), has already hosted a few of these, but she is doing another end of July. She hosts clothing swaps. The basic idea of it is you bring clothes to her (or you, if you want to host one in your town), she will give you tickets for every item of clothing or accessory your bring, one ticket per one item (or you could value different items- I've seen it done this way as well, for example, a shirt would be like 2 tickets, but a pair of pants would be about 4 tickets, but either way works great!). You bring/collect the items and trade them for the tickets the week prior to the swap so that there is enough time to sort through the items and make it all nice and organized.

Then the night of the swap your bring your tickets and go through all the things that people brought and pick out new clothing or accessories and pay with your tickets. It works best when you can get a good amount of people to participate and each person participating brings clothes that are still in good condition, but just don't wear it anymore (cuz really, no one wants that over sized t-shirt you got for being a volunteer at some Joe-smo activity, sorry- so bring cute fun stuff and it will go a lot more fun for everyone!).  I participated in Jana's swap she hosted I believe in April, and I got all this wonderfulness:

 Sorry for not displaying the cuteness of these clothes better for you, but I got all these, plus a few more that were in the dirty clothes hamper when I took the picture- sorry I am so lazy. But overall I got about 20 items of clothing, and a few pieces of jewelery as well. And it was such a fun feeling getting all this for FREE! All the work I had to do for the free fun value was just make sure I went through my closet, get out the un-worn lonely clothes, cuz we all got them- and then bring them by a week early. I even offered to help sort the clothes so it would be such a chaotic mess before the official swap! Isn't this such a brilliant idea!? And she still had tons left over that could be taken to the local second hand store as well.

Then not too long after this swap she held a children's toys and clothing swap. Since I only have my little girl, and so far I am gonna hold on to her things for potential future little children, I didn't really have anything to offer this swap, but because I know Jana, and they still had tons left over, she let me come by and pick through the pile without the tickets and this is what I got:

Again sorry for not displaying the cuteness of them all- but I got about 30-40 new outfits for my little girl, and they just happened to be mostly the sizes she was just about to grow into, it was perfect timing and one less MANY things that I didn't have to buy!

And she got these smashing crazy rainbow pants, they are so crazy, but I just love them! (and there is her dashing cousin, he's such a cutie!)

Overall I think this swap thing is simply brilliant and a GREAT money saving tactic. So if you are in the area of Rexburg and would like to join in you could check out the details on this FACEBOOK link (I hope this link works, let me know if doesn't), or you can email me if you want more details. Or if you aren't in the area but love this idea, then it could be a great way for you yourself to host a little party this lovely summer and have some fun sharing the money saving love, and I know you and everyone participating will really appreciate it!

On similar notes, if you are also in the area, there is a great second hand store called Mommy N Me, and they have lightly used baby, kids, and maternity clothes. And I am not sure how often they do it, but I am pretty sure it is several times throughout the summer, they have 25cent Saturday sale. They have a designated area where everything in that area is only 25 cents. It was brilliant!! I got over 30 plus items for only $8- and they were all nice looking, another great addition to my little girls clothe collection for her fast growing little body.  Plus I got this darling little shirt there too:

In case you can't read it, it says "I eat at Mom's" isn't that great!? I love it :)

Ok, ok, so long story short, here is a fun and FREE way to get some new clothes while also getting rid of some old ones! I hope you can join this up coming swap or have one of your own because they really are amazing! :)
Anyway, thanks for coming by and see ya next time!...