Another downside of being switched to universal credit...

[FuckASilverLining]

I am on ESA and once a year in July I take out a budgeting loan of £812 to pay for my kids uniforms. The amount is paid back fully through deductions in future payments but it's zero percent interest and the only was I can get a bulk amount to cover all school expenses.

If you get moved to universal credid you can no longer get a budgeting loan.

Yet another reason I'm terrified of getting the letter saying I'm being moved over.

[CupcakeDrama]

My area doesnt give grants for school uniform. Not every area does.

[Tobythecat]

FIVE kids? Fucking hell. I have some sympathy for your situation OP but did you honestly think having five kids would be cheap?

[TheInvestigator]

I always get leather shoes from Asda and they are £12 - £15.
Havnt fallen apart once. Always last the year (or half year, depending on when my kids feet grow!).

[Barbie222]

I think 40 is a lot for shoes. I'd look around. There is a middle ground between sending your children in plimsolls and sending them in Clarke's best.

[Thehop]

I have 4 and spend less than half that on uniforms. Buy Clark’s shoes from the outlet stores. Pass on. Look after shirts so they stay white, but logo items from school (ours has a pre loved selling tub)

[x2boys]

Yeah I get the shoe issue ,but surely if they all.to to the same school/s you can pass down uniform to younger siblings ?

[Barbie222]

It's also worth speaking to the schools as they often have uniform grants available. Are your kids PPG? We buy all uniform for our ppg children.

[ILoveMaxiBondi]

Cheap supermarket shoes fall apart by Halloween. Don’t buy them. School shoes are one thing that you can’t really go budget on. You end up buying 3/4 times over the school year.

[SuperLoudPoppingAction]

Some churches and schools do pop-up uniform shops where the uniform is clean, laundered and free or cheap.

I tend to get good brands of shoes for cheaper in the office sale or in tk Maxx. U used to go to the Clarks sale so the shoes were £15 but they lasted.

[ILoveMaxiBondi]

Fucking hell. I have some sympathy for your situation OP but did you honestly think having five kids would be cheap?

Stupid comment! She can hardly go back and undo 3 of the kids can she? 5 is what she has right here, right now and she is trying to manage finances alone and on ESA (soon to become UC)

[CupcakeDrama]

Well you've been lucky then TheInvestigator my sons were from tescos and within 3 months they are always falling apart. This has happened with atleast 3 pairs of shoes before I gave up and started buying expensive shoes, and now it doesnt happen.

[Andro]

Tobythecat - from OP's comment about being financially messed up by her ex, I'd guess she's escaped an abusive situation and never expected to be doing this alone.

Thehop - not everyone has access to an outlet.

OP, it sounds very worrying for you.

[stucknoue]

I've not spent that much on uniform over their entire school years (last one doing a levels. Shoes can be bought for £15, branded uniform second hand and hand down between kids. You can save a bit by having a second account

[WhyNotMe40]

Supermarket shoes last about 6 months for each of my 3. In fact I've found that whenever I've bought Clarks they have gone through the sole very quickly

[AWishForWingsThatWork]

Cheap school shoes don't hold up; we've had to get them when shoes have been lost. The only advantage to them is that I can usually get them completely refunded when they fall apart after a month from normal school wear. That makes them not fit for purpose, but last long enough to tide mine over before I can buy them proper shoes again. I've had several pairs fully refunded ... the boys' shoes really are that bad.

[Evelyna]

But surely your younger kids rewear your older kids clothes?

[StarlingsEverywhere]

If OP had an abusive partner, she might have had little choice about having 5 kids, Toby.

[TheInvestigator]

@CupcakeDrama
I don't think any of the school shoes from Tesco are leather. They're all synthetic and they fall apart.

Sara have a lot of synthetic ones but they have 2 or 3 designs which are leather upper, and those ones don't fall apart. The synthetic ones do.

[Lokidokiartichoki]

OP could you apply for a new one before the summer when you usually do? You might not get as much if you’ve not finished paying off the last one, but might be easier to make up the shortfall

[itsgoodtobehome]

I top up the uniform throughout the year rather than doing a bulk buy at the start of each school year. I can’t see how you can spend that much on uniform though. Ok Clark’s shoes are about £40, but you can get trousers for £10 in M&S, so 2 pairs of those. Polo shirts you can get for £5. I reckon at the very most it’s £100 per child if you bought all new. How are you spending so much?

[Wheresmyvagina]

5x pairs of £40 shoes in one go = £200

15x pairs of £12 shoes spread across the year = £60 3 times.

Yes, you have to buy more regularly with cheap shoes but it means laying out £60 rather than £200 in one go

[Abetes]

That seems like a huge amount to spend on uniform, even if you take out the shoes. Does your school have a second hand uniform sale? Hand down clothes through the children? Search out offers at the start of the year - the supermarkets are usually falling over each other with back to school offers? I don’t think I’ve ever spent anywhere near that much on uniform on a per child basis.

[whati]

I don't agree cheap shoes are a false economy - I haven't noticed a big difference in the extent to which shoes last based on price. My daughter is currently wearing a pair of shoes that cost about 10 pounds at the beginning of the school year (they were the ones that fitted her best) - we need to replace but because she's grown out of them not because of they have holes in them.

I agree that price can lead to better support etc but if you can't afford 40 pound shoes you can't afford 40 pound shoes.

[WindsweptEgret]

Uniform has always lasted two years here, buying every second size, shoes one year. We haven't hit a teen growth spurt yet though. £160 per child is a lot!

[Lokidokiartichoki]

I have 2 teens at secondary school. They have winter uniform, summer uniform, outside PE kit, inside PE kit, swimming kit, school shoes, football boots, all clothes have to be logoed and pass inspection otherwise the dc are put into isolation until the parent rectifies it. This easily costs £500 between just the 2. Some could be used for more than the one year but kids grow. Maybe we should stop focusing on the cost of uniform and address the fact that by taking away this interest free credit, which is likely the only credit single parents can access, this is another way that UC is screwing over (mostly) women.