If you mention frequenting charity shops to many people, they might assume you are perhaps slightly odd, or have just decided to be a bit cheap! They are wrong. A charity shop can provide not only fantastic value (provided you are prepared to pay for some soap or washing powder and electricity to wash the clothes!) and a good range of ridiculously cheap baby and kid clothes, but spending money in them can also go a long way towards helping some of the neediest in society or helping to prevent or cure illnesses and disease. Sure, buying a baby grow won’t by itself cure cancer or stop cruelty against children, but it will certainly help the cause!

I have previously blogged about how there are unexpected costs of being pregnant and that you need to be a touch savvy when going out and buying baby items. There are many chains, shops, and salespeople who are there to guilt trip you or take advantage of your joy to make you spend a fortune on goods that you may later find that you don’t need or could have got for a lot cheaper!

With Charlotte off to get her hair cut recently in Leeds city centre, I drove her in and decided that I was going to make my first ‘daddy’ purchase for our little lady, who I have had to fight hard to restrain myself from spoiling before she has even been born! I had wandered into a few of the well known baby shops such as Mothercare and Mamas & Papas and had seen that they had some very cute baby grows and dresses etc that our little one would no doubt look lovely in. Then, I quickly reminded myself that the majority of her clothes are going to be worn only a few times as she will be growing at a rate of knots! With this in the back of my mind, I realised that spending ‘only’ ten or so quid on one item was going to end up being a costly business.

Feeling a little deflated, I walked past Cancer Research. It occurred to me that we have kindly been given a lot of clothes (as well as many other items) by friends and family, many of whom have already had kids. As a result of this, it made me think that eventually some people must find that they have no need for baby clothes and want to pass them onto a good cause and donate them to a charity shop. So, I wandered in, more curious than expectant!

Looking around after I had walked in, it became clear that not only were there lots of clothes in the kids’ section, but there were some really great items as well! Sure, there were some clothes not to my taste, but for a grand total of £3.75 I had found my daughter a lovely little dress as well as two long sleeve t-shirts. While they needed a wash to make them baby safe, they still were in fabulous condition and have saved us a fortune compared to the £30 or so I could have spent elsewhere on the same clothes!

So, next time you are looking for a bargain for your little one(s) you may find that popping into the local charity shop may not be the worst idea. You can see my bargains in the pictures below!