How many pairs of jeans do you reckon you have bought, or will buy, your child from birth to college entrance?

40? 80? Every family will come up with different numbers, but the point is:

A lot.

Now do the math: Take the average price of a pair of jeans, from the adorable 12-month ones to the I-can’t-believe-these-designer-prices the 14-year-old simply MUST have and multiply it out.

Yikes.

Now imagine if you could replace half or even two-thirds of those new-from-the-mall price tags with resale-store price tags. How much money could you save in 18 years?

Now add into that nice chunk of change, the income you could receive by recycling the outgrown pairs (or the pairs she decided were “too dorky” for her peer fashionistas) by selling them to a resale shop or consigning them.

Pretty impressive. Now add in the backpacks and jackets and all.

Turns out both buying from, and selling to, resale shops could provide a nice college cushion for your child’s higher education.

Not to mention that, all along, you’re sneaking in a real-life education about budget skills to your sons and daughters, so there will be fewer of those “Ma I need money” communications from them once they’re IN college.

Photo from pixabay.com