Try a Back-to-School Clothing Swap

My favourite part of starting school was the trip to the store for my new outfit.

I would go with my Mum and wander around the store, and pick several items to try on and model for Mum. We would pick out my new outfit, to be worn on the first full day of school. I was lucky enough to get an entire ensemble: blouse, skirt, socks or tights and shoes every year until I finished high school.

Parents are faced with a long laundry list of expenses when a child heads back to school - classroom supplies, electronics, sports equipment and clothing. To help save money, many parents are turning to an old school method of keeping costs down - the clothing exchange.

For many Canadian families, especially those with more than one child, swapping gently-used clothing can be a time and money saver. Children's growth spurts are entirely predictable and just like adults, kids have their favourites and items they don't like. So how to save money?

In the US, Thredup.com has made it easier to swap clothes, especially after finding that the average American family can spend US $1000 a year. You put together a box of gently-used kids clothing - baby, child and pre-teen sizes accepted - pay for shipping to Thredup. Once it's received you can choose the same amount of items and have it shipped to you for free. One for you, one for someone else.

Participants can choose favourite senders and rate senders on their style, punctuality and and quality, similar to eBay or Amazon. ThredUp encourages participants to also create a private swap group, so you can include friends or family members from across the country.

In Canada, we're pretty low-tech for the clothing exchange. Checking through Google, many towns and cities have clothing swaps through community centres, schools and parenting groups, making it easy on parents to be able to sort through their items and find new clothing for their growing brood locally. For those looking to find a group online, check out Meetup.com's groups for clothesswap.meetup.com to find a local group.