To ask how much you spend on DC clothes?

We’re going on holiday next week and I’ve just spent that much on each child at Next. I always buy big so it lasts longer.

£300 seems a lot and I feel like I spend a lot on my kids clothes! I would be wary of buying too much ‘summer’ clothes if you live in Britain as it’s not even very warm yet and at best we’ll probably have 3 months of summer when she can wear the clothes? I wouldn’t buy that much all at once, you will run the risk of having a lot of unworn stuff. Maybe a couple of nice bits new and then a bundle on Vinted will save you a fortune.

Goodness these comments have shocked me.
I assumed I saved a lot of money by buying second hand but £300 a season is mind boggling to me.
I visit local charity shops regularly, browse facebook market place and buy from a website for second hand kids clothing. I make a point to buy bundles where possible as they are usually the cheapest option and then top up on specific items that might be needed.
I also buy in advance if I see shoes/coats/waterproofs in the next size up that are at a good value so I have them when needed.
I am supremely unfussy about what I put my child in though, she gets gifted 'nice' outfits as presents for birthday/Christmas so I know not to bother buying anything like that myself.

Someone has to buy stuff new for other people to be able to buy it second hand. If no one bought new clothes, there would soon be no second hand clothes to be had.
I’ve got 3 children but don’t ever buy all their stuff for a ‘season’ in one go, I’ll buy bits as and when they’re needed/I see them. If I sat and worked it out it probably wouldn’t be far off £300 per child when you include things like sandals/swimwear/waterproofs etc. It’s up to you what you spend.

I've always been pretty restrained in this area (admittedly I have boys which means a) less pretty things b) I can pass things down) but I only spent £200 twice a year until recently when I upped it to £300 as eldest is 14. Their feet seem to grow abnormally slowly for children, they're not overly fussed on clothes and my recent introduction to Vinted means I can still buy branded cheaply! We are financially comfortable, it's just not a big priority spend area of any of us (well, don't ask me what I spend on MY clothes )

2 DC ages 2 and 7

I've always found asda George really good. There's always loads of stock both online and in store of all sizes (there's 2 big asdas within 3 miles from me) so I'd try George again. Next is ridiculously expensive.

At that age I never spent much on clothes as they just get covered in stains from food, play, pens, and more "dubious" stuff... I used to mainly buy stuff in the sypermarket for the next season when it was in the sale. Would get the winter stuff 6 months bigger than needed, when thr started bringing out summer stuff and vice versa. Tesco quite often have stuff heavily reduced with 25% off on all clothing, so that comes off on top of the sale price, and you can get while outfits for a few quid! Very rarely did I buy full price stuff at that age, unless it was a wedding outfit etc.

£300 is crazy. Bundles from eBay are the way to go. And then I've got odd bits from Sainsbury's and charity shops on top of that.

Look through the things you've chosen from Next and work out what you can get secondhand/from Vinted, particularly if they're going to be wearing it to nursery as it'll likely get stained. I'd reckon on 5 dresses, 5 t-shirts, 5 shorts/leggings, some swimwear, and a couple of light layers (e.g. a hoodie/cardigan) for cooler days.

Relax a lot about outfits, it doesn't need to coordinate and they'll probably only wear it for a few months unless you size up to last next year as well. To be honest I just look for a mixed summer bundle and get it all in under £20, because I don't have the time or energy to do it any other way, but I'm glad someone's buying stuff new because there'd be nothing to buy secondhand otherwise!

Seems like an awful lot to me, but then my DC wear mostly hand me downs. Probably spend £100 a year each.

That seems quite a lot to me but I have 3 girls so there’s been a lot of handing down. I always check vinted now before I buy anything, in case I can get something similar.

Buying in Next is your mistake. I buy in Primark, as it only needs to last a season by the time they have grown and/or trashed it! Kitted out all three of mine for summer this weekend for around £300.

I also try to buy big so they'll get a couple of years out of clothes.
So each year / season I'm buying some new stuff and they also have some stuff from last year.
I always have an evening going through the cupboards clearing out too small, and decide what they need for summer.

Winter is less of an issue as its summer clothes with the addition of boots, hoodies and jackets.

The uk has much cheaper clothing I think. Things like supermarket clothing doesn’t exist where I live, so basics are Zara or h and m (online), as nearest store a hour away doesn’t actually stock kids clothing.

I find John Lewis has nice basics and often sales.

I also like petite bateau for boys pants and pjs. But I buy in Christmas sales also in next size up ie pjs are around €40 normally, and last lot I bought €12. I skip a size also on pjs, so age 2, miss age 3, buy age 4, miss age 5, buy age 6. So they last a good 18-24 months depending on growth spurts

Oh yes and boden in the sale

Op when dc younger I trawled charity shops and car boot sales for clothes, picked up lovley brands like I love gorgeous etc.
We also used freecyle.
I now use h and m as our staple along with sainsbury tu, asds and zara and next for the odd stand out item.

Went into NEXT yesterday and the prices! Bloody hell, I couldn’t wait to get out of there. The kids clothes are absolutely gorgeous and the quality excellent, but it actually made me really sad that I’d never be able to go in there and just pick up a few lovely things on the spur of the moment, and I’m on a decent wage. I was honestly shocked.

Too late for you now of course with summer just around the corner (I hope!) but I've always bought clothes a year in advance in the sales - means I can buy Boden/Joules/JoJo/White Company for a fraction of the price and I have 2 DDs so they can be passed down to the younger one too. Quality is good so they last and resale value is good so I sell bundles on FB for £30 and use that to buy new ones. John Lewis tend to do 20% off ahead of the new season so maybe Next will do similar which saves a bit too.

Charity shops, Facebook Marketplace, jumble sales, vinted etc.

For 2yo/ single parent.
Mostly bits from Tesco/Lidl/Asda/Primark, supplemented by a charity shop haul when she goes up a size so I always have something to throw on her. Then I might pick a few nice items or shoes/coat for her. I don't believe in spending loads on clothes for young children though.

@Ruthietuthie the point is that you can buy good quality clothes second hand. Much of the stuff on Vinted has only been worn once or twice. You can still buy all the good brands on there, just for a fraction of the price.

@WittiestUsernameEver, where do you shop? It may well be a UK/US difference but honestly, here, anything that is cheaper just doesn't wash as well. Anything I've bought from H&M, for example, looks like a rag after just a few wears. And that's even though I take care to check what something is made from and choose natural fibers. Whereas clothes I buy from, say, Jacadi Paris (or Janie and Jack, which might just be a US brand) look lovely the whole season and would still be decent enough to hand down.

Another vote for Tu here and also Zara.

I used Vinted for things like raincoats/play clothes etc as Hatley, Joules are readily available on there and I know those brands wear well.

I also shop off season, so I look for their winter coats in July for example. John Lewis often has amazing bargains on their app.

Do they actually need all that at once?

I do second hand but equally, I've never replaced an entire season wardrobe (though I live in Scotland so the difference is really only add a jumper or not!)

Some items are usually bigger than others. For girls dresses become tunics with leggings as they get a bit shorter, cardigans last a long time etc.

For boys, shorts tend to last well.

I'd just get a multi pack of t shirts and a multi pack of shorts/leggings and see what you can use with it first.

It seems more sensible to have a bit of variation in sizing (some of it naturally through different brands) so not everything becomes useless at exactly the same time.

My DD clothes are good quality,and probably spend £50 max a year 🤷‍♀️