November Sunflower Expert Power Shopper – No matter what your tax bracket, I'll help you get the best value for your money!

I must admit, I’m not a good shopper when it comes to groceries. That’s my husband’s gig. However, when it comes to children’s clothing shopping – I’m the BEST little Mama Shopper out there. Whether in the store, or online, I find the best deals! So if you have kids, or are having a baby, check out my tips!

How do I start my shopping “trip” online? My favorite store: Old Navy. If you sign up for their emails, you get the 4-1-1 on when they have huge sales, especially their clearance sales. They have baby sales, clearance sales, extra percentages for those with the Old Navy Credit Card and free shipping when you purchase a certain amount (which they sometimes lower with special codes, but normally when you spend $100 you get free shipping).

A bonus: You can combine orders from Old Navy, The Gap and a couple of other stores and get free shipping when the combined orders hit $100. So if you find some items in Piperlime, or The Gap, that you love, you can add it to one cart and get the free shipping.

First tip: Wait for the great emails offering discounts from Old Navy.My favorite one is the 50% off clearance items. I live for that sale. RIGHT NOW, Old Navy has a sale going on that ends on September 30th. You can get 20% off EVERYTHING you purchase AND get free shipping on orders for $75 or more. Great deal. Load up if you can! The code is: ONSAVE20

Second tip: Head over to your cash rebate sites. For 4% you can shop through ShoptAtHome, if you want to earn 3.2% head over to Big Crumbs, for 3% you can head over to Mr. Rebates……and continue to look for coupons through the cash rebate sites. Look to make sure the coupon codes will not cancel out the cash rebate, but rather work with the cash rebate site to earn you the most for your money! You never know, there may be a free shipping code. You never know until you hunt it down! I can tell you, the ONSAVE20 will work with each of these cash rebate sites I’ve listed. WAHOOOOO. PS-If you have a Discover Card, as I do, check out ShopDiscover and you can earn 5% cash back on your purchases at Old Navy. I have used coupon codes in the past with them, it has worked, but if you’re not sure, call customer service.

Third tip: DO NOT head to the regular departments. Go straight to clearance and sale items. It’s amazing what great prices you can find there.

Fourth tip: IF you cannot wait for the amazing coupons, then shop when the seasons are changing. If you know your child’s growth, you can stock up at the end of a season for the next year. My daughter was and still is pretty true to the Old Navy sizes. My son, he runs a little bigger, so I buy less for him and things that run larger so I know it will fit next year. I also LAYER. I will purchase lightweight shirts at the end of summer, which I then layer on top of long sleeved onesies. They take me through the fall, spring and then summer comes and the lightweight shirt no longer needs the onesie under it, but still fits him.

Fifth tip: This isn’t a shopping tip, rather a cleaning clothes tip! Launder clothing in the gentle cycle of your washing machine. DO NOT put your children’s clothing in the dryer if possible. If you do, use the delicate cycle. If it’s still damp, just take it out and hang it up in their closet. They’ll dry out and you’re not putting a lot of wear and tear on the clothing.

Last tip: Have a boy first. HAHA. I had a girl first. Very difficult to re-use clothing when you have a girl first. But we did salvage some stuff since my daughter loves orange. Guess where I found tons of orange? Boys section! So it worked out there.Seriously, if you have a boy or girl and you plan on having another child, I recommend trying to buy the bulk of your baby clothing so that it can be used again no matter the sex of your children. Obviously, you want to get some girly stuff for the little ones, or very boyish sweaters and slacks for your baby boy, but to save some money, keep those gender specific outfits to one or two for holidays and pictures. It’ll help, I promise!

Hopefully this helped a bit with shopping for clothing for your new baby!

PS-This kind of shopping can be done at any store you prefer. The Children’s Place, Baby Gap, Babies R Us, Target, WalMart – just follow the same process! Find the coupons, go to your cash rebate site with the best rebates, head to the sales and clearance section of the website and shop wisely!

Another PS-If you want to earn for college, go through Upromise.com and earn 10% towards college savings.

*The cash rebate site links are referral links.