When Winter rolls around and you realize all your kids have outgrown their outerwear from last year, all you can see are the dollar signs adding up. That’s how I felt when our three boys outgrew all of their winter outerwear this year. Before shelling out hundreds on new kids’ winter jackets and outerwear, I started doing something different.
Buy Used
If at all possible, buy used. Just like your kids, other people’s kids are outgrowing their winter gear as well, and pretty soon, they’ll be all over places such as Facebook Marketplace.
This is where I started this fall when the weather turned cold here in Minnesota.
I started searching for terms in Facebook Marketplace such as:
- kids winter coat
- kids winter jacket
- boys winter gear
- boys winter jacket
- snowpants
- size 2 boots (all my boys needed size two this year)
- 3-in-1 jackets
And so on. I was even able to set up alerts within marketplace to send me a notification in Facebook when someone posted something that matched my query.
I started earlier than most people were posting, or looking, so I feel I got some decent deals.
I was able to get like-new coats, one even with tags on, for my 3 boys for under $50 total!! Through my research before this, I found that I’d likely be spending upwards of $50 each KID if I bought new. And I wouldn’t have gotten the awesome 3-in-1 jackets I was able to score my little guys for much cheaper.
I found them all 3-in-1 jackets, including one with tags on, for just $12 each or less! I just had to drive to the next town over. Well worth it!
Keep safety in mind when you’re getting things through Facebook Marketplace. It’s great to find a great deal, but it’s not worth your life. Honestly, I’m not as safe in this regard as I probably should be. I tend to do porch pick up at people’s houses, instead of meeting in a public place. I also have people pick up items from my porch, though typically I don’t open the door to them, as the item is already out front and either they’ve paid me via Venmo or I trust they’ll leave the money under the welcome mat.
Keep in mind, the safest thing you can do, is meet in a public place, even better, the parking lot of a police station, to get your Facebook Marketplace purchase.
(Note: I am in no way affiliated with or compensated by Facebook or Meta, this is just what I have found to work for our family).
Shop Sales
Luckily, I had picked up some lightly used snowpants the year before, in the size I figured at least two of the kids would need. Turns out, we needed another pair of the same size, so I actually ended up get a pair of overall snowpants, new, during a deal. I am sure if I had been more patient, I could have gotten a great pair of used snowpants, but I was looking early as I wanted to get everything squared away before the first snowfall, and I found a great deal.
At Target, I was able to stack a deal they had with a coupon I had to get a new pair of snowpants for just $18.
For boots, I did a similar thing. Again, I started to early (note for you: if most things aren’t available yet and you have time before you need the winter gear, wait until the first snow and people will start listing their winter gear like crazy!)
Anyway, for the boots, there was a deal at Target for 40% off their $50 boots, so I jumped on it. They still weren’t as cheap as I’d like, but heck of a lot better than paying full price. Plus, I know that we like that brand of boot, as that’s what we’ve used for years, so it made sense to buy new.
Keep an eye out for their deals, plus Target Circle deals if you’re part of that free program (which I highly recommend).
Shop For Next Year, Now
Keep in mind, if you have the space and ability to do so, you can always shop for subsequent years now if you’d like to not have to scramble again next year. I’ve done this in past for snowpants, fleece jackets, extra gear for wet conditions, rain jackets, and other gear for outdoor adventures. When buying used or during deals, it can be nice to stock up for future years.
Having done more of this in the past, it was a nice surprise when Winter rolled around, and I looked in the closet to see that we’re already halfway set! Ha!
Keep in mind, this could backfire if your child or children go from small sizes to a big kid sizes right before your eyes! My sons don’t grow all that fast, so we haven’t had that issue so far.
Recommended Winter Gear
If you want to know more about the Winter gear that I recommend for subzero Winters here in Minnesota, click the image or button below to head over to my other blog for that blog post.
Throughout my parenting journey with 3 kids on a single income, I have become an expert in living comfortably within our means without feeling restricted and I will help you do the same.
I'm a former school psychologist who left my career to stay home with my children, hence the one-income family and needing to adapt to that mentality while still living comfortably.