How I Buy My Children's Christmas Outfits Without Overspending

Christmas clothes are lovely, but they're also one of those things that can become expensive very quickly for something children might only wear a handful of times.

With three children, I've learnt that we really don't need a completely new Christmas wardrobe every December.

We normally have a "new" outfit for Christmas Day, but new to us doesn't mean brand new. It's usually something preloved that the children have chosen themselves, such as a lovely top or dress that they'll be excited to wear.

We normally find a preloved Christmas jumper too, but I deliberately don't buy loads of Christmas-specific clothing. The window for wearing it is so short that it just doesn't make sense for us.

When I start buying Christmas clothes

I start much earlier than December.

At Second Snuggle, we normally do our main Christmas clothing drop in early September and then continue adding pieces throughout the months leading up to Christmas.

I've found that some parents are incredibly organised and start buying early, while others leave it much later.

Personally, I like having time.

I'll often buy Christmas clothing between September and November, when there's more time to find something lovely in the right size.

Sometimes I go even earlier.

If I find something just after Christmas in the next size up, I'll happily buy it and put it away for the following year.

Obviously you have to make a sensible guess about sizing, particularly with younger children, but it can be a brilliant way of finding Christmas clothes for much less.

The brands I look for

There are certain children's brands I particularly like for Christmas clothing.

Boden, Next, M&S, The White Company, FatFace and Joules are all brands I'll look out for preloved.

They often have lovely festive pieces, but I don't feel the need to pay the original price for something that might only be worn a few times during December.

Christmas is actually one of the times when preloved makes the most sense to me.

A Christmas jumper or special dress may only have been worn once or twice by the previous child before they outgrew it. That means you can sometimes find beautiful pieces second hand with hardly any wear at all.

One Christmas Day outfit is enough

I love the idea of my children having something special to wear on Christmas Day.

What I don't think they need is a different Christmas outfit for every event in December.

We might get a special dress or top that they've chosen, plus a Christmas jumper that can be worn for Christmas jumper day, parties or other festive activities.

And that's usually enough.

I'd much rather buy one lovely preloved outfit they genuinely want to wear than several Christmas-themed pieces simply because it's December.

Remember how short the Christmas clothing season actually is

This is the thing I always try to keep in mind.

Christmas clothing looks incredibly tempting when it starts appearing everywhere, but there are only so many days your child can realistically wear a jumper covered in Father Christmas or a very festive party dress.

Then suddenly it's January.

With younger children in particular, there's a good chance the same thing won't fit the following Christmas.

That's why I think Christmas clothes are one of the best categories to buy second hand.

You get the fun of choosing something festive without spending a fortune on clothing with such a short useful season.

Keep a list

This sounds very simple, but keeping a Christmas list in the Notes app on my phone makes a huge difference to how much we buy.

I keep track of what we've already bought and what we're still looking for.

Even better, share the list with your partner.

It stops that situation where you've both independently bought things without realising what the other person has already sorted.

You can also share ideas with grandparents or other family members if they're asking what the children need.

Christmas spending can creep up incredibly quickly when lots of people are buying things without knowing what everyone else has already bought.

Our Christmas present rule

For presents, we generally follow a really simple idea:

Something they need, something they want, something they read and something to wear.

It helps me think about what we're actually buying rather than just adding presents because the pile doesn't look big enough.

Books are always a big one in our house. We'll usually get each child a bundle of books.

For the "something to wear" part, that might be a snugglesuit or some lovely "new" preloved clothing.

Then they have a few things they've specifically requested, and we choose from those based on what we think they'll actually enjoy and use.

Preloved presents aren't strange in our house

My children have always known when something is preloved.

We've never tried to hide it or pretend something is brand new when it isn't.

We talk openly about how much stuff already exists in the world and why we don't always need to create demand for more.

More importantly, we talk about using our money for things that genuinely give us joy rather than things that are exciting for five minutes and then forgotten.

My children are completely happy receiving preloved things because it's normal to them.

As they've got older, we've also moved more towards experiences.

Grandparents and other family members sometimes give experiences rather than physical presents, which I love. It can be harder for very young children to understand, but from around five we've found ours start to really appreciate it.

A day out or experience together can become something they remember for years.

Christmas doesn't need to mean more stuff

I'm not anti-presents and I'm certainly not trying to create a perfectly minimalist Christmas.

I love Christmas with the children.

I love choosing things they'll be excited about, finding their Christmas Day outfit and seeing them open their presents.

I've just learnt that more doesn't automatically make it better.

The same applies to Christmas clothes.

One lovely preloved outfit they've chosen, a Christmas jumper they'll actually wear and perhaps some clothing they genuinely need can be more than enough.

And if I can find those things second hand, save some money and give beautiful children's clothing another Christmas rather than buying everything new, that feels like a pretty good way to do it.