Monday 30 September 2013

Week 12: sharing - is it quids-in for parents?

The overwhelming answer is, yes.

It's estimated that the average parents spend £327 on clothes for their one-year-olds.

Not us: I've scratched my head thinking of new items we've bought for Gwen this year and, apart from tights and socks (or presents from friends and relatives), everything she wears is second-hand. She never looks shabby; at this age, children grow out of clothes so quickly that even third- or fourth-hand clothes can look brand new.

Austin and Gwen wear clothes passed on by their older cousins; NCT friends; D's boss, whose daughter sports some impossibly chic garments; and anonymous benefactors, who put notes on sites like freecycle saying they'll leave a bag of children's clothes on their doorstep for whoever replies first (I've always found these to be in good nick, and there are often some good-quality brands included).

I get a regular shopping fix at NCT nearly new sales, but I reckon that, at those, I've spent no more than £50 on Gwen over the past 12 months. Throw in £30 (probably an overestimate) for her hosiery, and that means we've forked out £80. That's £247 less than the average parent.

Ker-ching.

The people behind sharing website Streetbank (which has just launched a whizzier new version of itself) estimate that, in London, the average Streetbank member has over £7,000 worth of stuff available to them from neighbours within a 1-mile radius of their house. I can well believe this, given the books, ladders, gazebos, furniture, cycle repair, cups of tea (!) and whatnot that people have offered, through Streetbank, to loan or give away in our area.

And that's just the beginning. We also save money by gleaning items off the street, through online forums, the aforementioned freecycle, and networks of friends. Over the last couple of months alone, we've managed to furnish our house with a double bed, a single, and a bookcase/display unit that would all otherwise be clogging up landfill sites. They look as good as new, and, if bought from retailers, would have cost hundreds of pounds.

We're not alone: Jen Gale of My Make Do and Mend Year has kept a running tally of the money she's saved over the year of her experiment in buying nothing for a year. It's worth a look, to see what unnecessary spending can be avoided with a bit of effort. And Frugal Queen has documented her success at paying off a huge mortgage, through dramatically changing her lifestyle.

Of course, we're lucky enough to live in an urban place that - while not being full of wealth - does have enough money around for some people to feel able to give away possessions that have served their purpose. And we have regular access to the internet, which is something often lacked by the people most in need.


But, if you know where to look and have the means to do so, there's plenty of free stuff out there, up for grabs.


This week, I gave away some toddler clothes to my one-year-old nephew. Like all thrift-o-philes, D and I dress our daughter in gear that has been outgrown by her older brother. But a few items are too boyish for even us liberal-minded parents to stick little Gwen in. A top sporting a scooter with a registration plate reading 'BOY1', for instance. So, these items are winging their way to Gwen's cousin.


Now, back to scouring the streets for more goodies.....






10 comments:

  1. Well done frugal friend. I must admit to spending very little on O & R's clothes over the years. I am the youngest in both mine and my husband's family, so our children are the youngest too. This means plenty of hand-me-downs. Like you, we have bought new socks and undies, but up until O was about 6 90% of his clothes were second hand. As the rate of growth slows, so do the hand-me-downs we found. This is because his cousin Ben would wear trousers until they were threadbare and not ready to pass on, so I'll be interested to see whether you find age makes any difference with this as A & G grow. Really enjoying this blog, Nell, it's so interesting xx

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  2. Thank you! We're finding exactly the same as you with Austin's trousers. No more hand-me-downs, and his own develop holes and tears after a couple of months. Really glad you're enjoying the blog xx

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  3. My second son is wearing all his brother's old clothes. I've barely bought him anything new. This week I bagged up all of the clothes EB has grown out of, plus some of Pip's stuff which I don't think will be worn again. I was amazed at how much there was - 3 bin bags worth. I did consider selling it via the NCT but to be honest, I don't have the time to conform to their strict standards of individual labelling, ironing each item etc - I'd rather just give it away to benefit a good cause.The school were raising funds via a textile weigh in but I decided that maybe the worthier cause was the Fara kids shop. I haven't delivered it anywhere yet, so it's made me think more carefully about where I send it. Mini Boden has it's value - even when it's second / third hand!

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    1. I was pleasantly surprised to find a few mini Boden items in my last freecycle bag of girl's clothes. I did a little happy dance....and you're right, all those bags and bags mount up. We were practically sleeping on top of them until I sorted it all out the other day.

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  4. Good stuff! I must admit I hardly spend anything on kids clothes, I always have managed fine on hand me downs but now Kitty is school age I'm finding they have 'dried up' but I keep my eyes open at local parent group sales. Haven't heard of Streetbank before, off to have nose x

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    1. It's worth a look. I'm not sure how much is available beyond London, but round here there's a load of weird and wonderful stuff up for grabs....

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  5. Almost everything we got was second hand, and ebay has brilliant bargains for nicer clothes. I am finding now that my daughter is a pre-teen though that there are things she craves in terms of latest fashion items so it's getting more difficult

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    1. Ah, I was wondering when that would kick in. Better get as many freebies in now, then, while my two are too young to notice!

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    2. Hi Nell, this is a great post about how the sharing economy is really benefiting parents, but I find it a bit skewed towards town/city dwellers. And those who have extended families. As you know we set up www.relike.co.uk to address some personal circumstances which were namely: a need to save money having become a single-income family with 2 babies,make a bit of money on clothes we have already bought, cut down on fuel-thirsty shopping trips (all malls and highstreets are a car drive away), give to charity PLUS a desire to get good quality handmedowns from (and hand-down to) strangers - because cousins and friends' children are the same age. I admit they may be very specific circumstances, but I am wondering if your piece about how easy it is to save is very town-centric where offerings are more common and distances shorter? Just a thought - it would have been great to have seen a mention of ReLIKE as a pioneer of collaborative consumption on a national scale that makes long-distance sharing much easier. Thanks

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    3. Hi Eyal, it's true - my experience is a very urban one. It's true that people living in the countryside don't have access to as many free resources. There simply aren't as many people living nearby to make sharing stuff on the neighbourhood level work.

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