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.

[Meckity1]

@x2boys The school is incredibly oversubscribed and parents are queuing to get in. At the same uniform shop, the same size blazer was @ £23 rather than the £55 I need to pay. The school can set the rules. They are picky about shoes as well.

[HuntingHeffalumps]

PE shoes can certainly be bought cheaply. I'm not paying Clark's prices for them to sit at school each term. Might look at M&S for school shoes next time though.

I also have a uniform box as I have DC and certainly hand down what I can. I also have some hand me downs for DD already from friends although she is only 2!

Can you put out the word among friends you are happy to accept second hand? It all helps. In my area no one seems to have any qualms about charity shop purchases/ hand me downs etc. I am not on any benefits aside from child benefit.

I also return the favour of passing on things if I can.

[drspouse]

My two DCs are primary age and they pass down uniform except for the white polos they wore in Reception, and the trainers they wear for PE are their weekend regular shoes.
I find it hard to get second hand cheaper than supermarket prices but we also shop through the year, and buy quite a bit larger and take things up.

[MsRabbitRocks]

The cost of uniforms is shocking imo. I've had clients in tears when a new head announces that the uniform is changing again (why do new HTs do this?).

Shockingly, it’s used as an example of ‘making your mark’ when new HTs attend their training and most seem to want to follow it blindly. Completely barmy.

[PH03b3]

Cant you buy out of season? Bet there are some cheap school shoes around at the moment as its not school uniform time.
Even still £200 on shoes £640 what does the other £128 per child go on? Its about a fiver for a school dress?

[kirinm]

I bet the 'gosh, I may give up my job to claim UC' and the 'oh I wish I could have 5 kids' posters bloody love it when people receiving any kind of financial support come online. Gives them the opportunity to bash someone without knowing anything about their circumstances.

Oh and to the poster who suggested both parents should contribute to the cost of raising their kids - here's some shocking news - some don't! I had a letter from the CSA last week saying they were closing my case against my son's father. My son is 23 YEARS old next month and neither I nor the CSA ever received a penny from him. Oh and the state didn't pay to raise my son as I received income support for a year only just in case someone fancied getting their knickers in a twist. I pay more tax in a year than I received in support.

[NaturatintGoldenChestnut]

Bet there are some cheap school shoes around at the moment as its not school uniform time.

Nope, there's no lowering of prices because it's not August because, duh, kids grow all year.

Loads of people on here mentioning Clarks.

You do realise that once your kids are in adult clothing sizes the price goes up and Clark's aren't the thing when you're in secondary school

OP, I'd see if I could get a Littlewoods account and pay for the shoes and swim kit all year round.

[EnjoyItAll]

You can't apply for budgeting advances online but it doesn't mean they are not available. Usually you have to have been on a benefit for 6 months so if you haven't already called I would recommend doing it and asking. You can only get the 1st advance online

[EnjoyItAll]

@Roomba you can also get budgeting advances if you about to start work

[jellycatspyjamas]

My two are very hard on uniform, the only things that are useable are skirts for my DD and possibly cardigans for her and that’s because her cardigans live at the bottom of her school bag most of the year. My DS trousers are usually gone at the knees, jumpers and polo shirts are a mess and his shoes pretty much kicked in by the time he’s grown out of them. I spend a fortune on school clothes but at the age my two are and with their activity levels the idea of getting much more than a couple of terms from their clothes is laughable, certainly not two years worth in primary school.

I can easily spend £150 per child at the start of the school year and be replacing things by February/March.

[CupcakeDrama]

I agree kirinm some people just dont realise that not all of us get CM. My ex doesnt pay a penny for our kids because he doesnt work or claim benefits apparently so all the costs fall on me and I could easily spend that amount in a year, for example my son has had his coat “go missing” twice at school, not to mention jumpers always going missing.

[Skittlesss]

Stop flapping about how much she spends. She gets £812 because that’s the maximum she is able to borrow. Doesn’t mean it all goes on uniform.. it’s just an interest free way to get a lump sum and not notice it coming out for the rest of the year (it comes out of her entitlement).

[drspouse]

I mend my DCs' trousers and socks and DS also leaves all his jumpers in his tray, but we've only got one reusable pair of shoes due to a growth spurt in October. So I agree re even expensive shoes.

[orangejuiced]

OP I know kids are expensive and you chose to have 5! But I'm not wealthy either, I buy second hand where I can though, plus my children wear uniform for more than one year and get hand me downs. I have two children, buying second hand for the first and then my second uses it too.

[Jux]

Shoes. We have some sort of obsession that kids' shoes should give proper support, fit well, no toe cramping etc. All well and good if you're OK to spend 40quid a pair - which a child might grow out of in 6 months.

What happens in places like the USA? Do they have this same obsession? I don't think they do, and I don't think that Americans grow up to have deformed feet, ankles and backs. Or do they?

[MulberryPeony]

Have a look to see if there is a local uniform swap page and/or freebies on facebook. I’m not sure if it was on here or someone IRL that was saying they unstitch the pocket from expensive blazers and stitch onto generic supermarket blazers in the same colour and school never noticed.

[HelenaDove]

www.independent.co.uk/news/education/education-news/child-poverty-national-education-union-pupils-school-bullying-teachers-a8867781.html



www.theguardian.com/education/2019/apr/03/isolation-of-children-at-academies-prompts-legal-action?CMP=share_btn_tw

[drspouse]

Jux children in the US can wear trainers to school but some do wear really cheap shoes for reasons of poverty. American health is awful generally because of poor health care.

[morefoolyou]

For the first time I bought £12 school shoes for my 8 year old.
She went back to school on 27th August.
I was back in Clarke's by the 15th October!
Hardly a mark on the Clarke's ones!

Seriously though if you wait until 3-4 weeks after the schools have gone back, you will get £40 Clarke's chord for around £13!
That's what I paid in October for a pair that we originally £42!

[HerRoyalNotness]

USA: our kids wear trainers to school. They have to be suitable to do PE in. My 11yo (grade 6) has a food system for PE which they do every day. The school provides the uniform and we pay $15 for the year. It gets washed weekly by the school and each child as their own set. don’t ask me how they organise it with 2000 kids, but they do!

We don’t have school uniform in our district but for grade 1 we lived in another and the uniform was khaki shorts/trousers/skirts and either red/navy/pale blue pilot shirt. All of which could be bought cheaply. Schools need to wake up and realise expensive uniforms just stress parents, add nothing to learning and the nit picking and punishments is the most ridiculous thing I’ve heard

[Imustbemad00]

This is the wrong place to ask. The replies are basically- buy the cheapest shoes, stop them growing so clothes fit them through the whole of school, then hand them down, buy the cheapest quality clothes which will somehow still be wearable the next year. Meanwhile in the real world.....
Cheap stuff doesn’t last, older kids won’t wear Asda shoes or second hand clothes, I’ve got 2 kids one in secondary and I always have to buy everything new every year. They grow, stuff gets dirty or worn out Nothing has ever been in a condition to wear again by the end of the year.

[ThriftyMcThrifty]

I’m also now in the US and no uniform so the kids can wear what they like to school, but it has to be suitable for PE because they do it every single day. Also re healthcare, kids do actually get free healthcare here if their parents are low earners, as do retired people and veterans. It’s just working age adults who go without if they can’t afford it. I much prefer the NHS system, but wanted to mention that as before we moved here I thought there was no free healthcare at all.

[malificent7]

If your kids are on free school meals they should also get a uniform voucher.

[CatToddlerUprising]

Are your DC’s schools receiving pupil premium for them? Although not the standard it is possible for it to be used towards uniform, particularly school branded tops/blazers

[Bluelonerose]

I'm glad people can pass things on but by time my kids have finished with them they are no good for anyone else.
Blazer £30
Jumper £20
Tie £6
Pe shorts £7
Pe top £8
Pe trackies £20
Pe hoodie £25
Rugby top £15 (boys only)
Skort £15 (girls only)

That's just the logo stuff that is needed for high school for 1 child.
Why on gods green earth does it have to cost £75 for a pe kit that they are going to use twice a week?
Imo unless they are playing a sport for the school any shorts/t-shirt combination would do surely?