How much do you spend on children's school uniform (per child)

[BluePandaBox]

Not so much an AIBU - but I think this is such an unreasonable situation to be in for most families!! I've two children, they attend the same school, they require at least one logo-ed top and jumper and a book bag. I buy the rest from sainsbury's/Tesco. I would love to say the youngest child has the oldest hand me downs but as they are two very boisterous boys the clothes never last long enough so basically I have to start afresh each year!! I spend, per child, around £40 on logo-ed bits, £60 on non-logo-ed bits and another £45 on shoes for each of them (we're trying to buy indestructable shoes in an effort not to replace them every 6 weeks!!), and £30 on PE kits - say £25 each on a winter coat. That's £200 per child - £400 for both!!! Crikey that's the first time I've added it all up - that is A LOT!!!

It is a lot but they wear it every day for 39 weeks. They don't wear it everyday. 5 days a week times 39 weeks is 195 days, not much more than half of the year. I spend much less on clothes for the other half of the year!

Can I whinge about megalomaniac PE teachers - more than half the cost for each child is PE kit - why do we need logod tracksuit top, logod mid layer, custom tracksuit trousers, logod PE top, logod skort, logod football shorts, logod swimming costume, logod swimming hat, custom hockey socks? WHy not a plain black tracksuit and mid layer, logo'd PE top and plain black skort OR shorts? and a plain black swimming costume? Is this all part of trying to make PE teachers feel that they are valued members of the staff room?

£30 on logo’d bits, Ds1 is moving to juniors & now needs proper tie & pe top.
£11 coat (last 1 lasted 2yrs)
£40 on shirts, polos, trousers etc
£9 bag (book bag previously)
£6 stationary
£8 lunch box & bottle

My DM buys school shoes which were £30 (family tradition, my gp’s bought mine)

Luckily had some bits left from last year to use again (jumpers bought 2nd hand in school sale, pe bag & shorts). Just need pumps/trainers now.

I put money away each month specifically for this but will need to save more for next year as ds2 will be starting too

I agree about the PE uniform. DS has to have both PE and games kit, when there's no reason why one kit wouldn't do for both.

Probably around £400 on 3.

Dd2 is starting a new primary school (yr 3) and needed new cardigans and polos, (logo) and tights/socks in the right colour.
DS is starting secondary so needed everything. Blazer, tie, jumpers from the school shop. The rest from the supermarket. Pe top was given to us.

Dd1 going into yr 9. Needed new pe top, jumper, blazer. Then shirts and trousers. But the shirts she has had for 2 years.

All needed new shoes.

Not that bad overall, though I cried every time I handed over the cc this weekend.

We are very lucky with pe kit. The only thing they have to have is the pe top. Shorts are just navy, socks can just be got cheap from sports direct (though DS has more expensive ones as he struggles to get socks on so I needed ones with coloured heels) There is a jumper but DD has never used here and trousers can just be plain ones.

I have three children but only one at school his uniform consists of,
Logo jumper x2
Two pack polos
Two pack trousers
Two pack school shorts
School socks
School shoes
Two pack p.e top
Two pack p.e shorts
Plimsoles
Jogging bottoms (for outdoor p.e)
Jogging top (for outdoor p.e)
Bookbag (he demolishes his every year)
Flask
Winter coat
Hat, gloves and scarf set
Lightweight jacket

All this costs £161.50 and I buy cheap uniform from Asda.

And I have to buy all this before September start every year, we usually have to replace shoes at least once in the year and the flask at least twice.

Utterly dreading secondary school and when the littler ones are at school, at the minute I can get away with non logo items but not in secondary!

Only ever buy shorts and trousers in Tu 25% off, so 2 of each for £5 each.
3 x polos from Tesco £5
Logo top £15
PE shorts £5
2 x white t-shirts for PE £3
Daps £3
Shoes from outlet store £25
Sock £5
£66 ish

He used to a Catholic school and everything had to be logo. Didn't add it up but must've spent twice that easily. I have 3 kids so I guess around £65 each per year plus book bags, coats etc.

£200-£300 for us.

I spent £24 on my 5 year old. I'm scared to work out the total for my 13 year old. I think it was around £200-£250.

Dd- she has normal uniform and then pe uniform for 2 days a week. Really what will happen come next week is she won't bother wearing normal uniform. So now I buy non logo cardigan, skirt, knee socks, 2 pack shirts(have a couple of spare bits from last year), sketcher ankle runner things(she has winter boots also) , for pe kit- 2 logo sweatshirts, 3 bottoms, 5 pack white polo's, trainers. Also got her a heavy jacket, light jacket, new school bag, new lunch stuff.

For Ds, they only wear a pe tracksuit uniform. 2 logo jumpers, 4 bottoms, 5 pack polo's, new runners, new school bag, new lunch bits, new jackets!

Since they are in different schools I pass on any jumpers, tracksuits, tshirts that are in good condition to friends. I also only buy new bags every 2 years and sometimes same with jackets.

His school is also alot cheaper bookwise etc to return to. Hers is over double his this year and she is younger.

If we completely replaced all the clothes for one child, we'd spend £40.50 on logo-ed items (3 x polos and 3 x sweatshirts) and £17 on generic stuff (four pairs trousers and five pairs socks, from Asda). The school is pretty flexible on coats, so they just wear one they have anyway, and PE kit is just any old cheap t-shirt and shorts.

School shoes we buy from a Clarks outlet and haven't paid over £20 yet.

In fact, we haven't bought anything for either child, as they still had plenty of room for growth in their stuff from last year.

I can't believe how much some people are spending - but we're still at the primary stage so I'm sure this will only increase.

Ds1 and 2 uniform has to have the school logo on.
Blazers are £40 each
Trousers are £20 each
Shirts are £18 for 2
Pe shirts are £15 each
Shorts are £9 each
Pe socks £6 a pair
Ties are £7 each
That shop came to just under £300
Dd only needs a jumper with a badge which was £11 I got her T-shirt's skirts and trousers from ASDA for £40 and she has the boys hand me down jumpers for spares
I'm avoiding school shoe shopping for as long as possible

I dread to think.

The shoe cost for 3 dc was well over £400 - that’s school shoes, trainers (x2) and football boots.

Dd1 hasn’t needed much else - she’s finally nearing the end of insane teenage growth spurts, so last years still fits. Pity, as hers is the cheapest uniform - I’d rather replace all hers than the other 2!

Dd2 has needed new sports kit, and will need new school skirts by Christmas, so will get those then. Will probably need a new blazer by then too. Am waiting, as she’s just starting the insane teenage growth spurts, so want to maximise the wear out of whatever she still fits into! Have probably spent about £180.

Ds has needed all new uniform, apart from a blazer, and has cost me over £400. Ridiculous amounts of sports kit, new trousers, shirts etc. Have still got to sort out his mouthguard, and shin pads etc, so it’s not over yet.

I hate August - always an expensive month!

DD is going into year 11.

£14 on two skirts
£8 on tights
£18 on a new jumper

So £40

She doesn’t need (or want) anything else. She stopped growing a while ago and has plenty of shirts and her shoes still fit.

Zero. I bought at start of year 7 and it all still fits for year 8. Never understand this moaning . My yr 12 starter is going to be far more expensive without uniform.

£35 on 3 jumpers with school logo
£5.50 on PE top with school logo
£37 on Vans leather shoes
£12 on 2 pairs of trousers
£8 on 2 pairs of shorts
£4 on PE Shorts
£7.50 on 5 white polo shirts (the proper school ones are £9 EACH 😵)
£40 tracksuit that he may or may not be told he needs at the last minute again...
£20 on unbranded coat as they’re not allowed to take branded coats in anymore.
=£169

That’s more than I thought tbh, I thought I’d spent about £100.

He had new trainers towards the end of last term so he can still use those and wants to keep the same school bag.

He’s going into year 6 though so things will be getting a lot more expensive next year!

I agree that the PE kit is the most expensive part. My 13 year old has needed 3 pairs of PE shoes (football boots, indoor trainers and outdoor trainers). I wouldn't mind if he got good use out of them but his last pair didn't even get worn before he outgrew them. He would get detention if he didn't have them though.

DS starting secondary school so just shy of £200. Most I've ever spent. So much easier in primary, most of his stuff used to come from Lidl and he'd have enough for a whole week, good quality too. This time, he has a couple of days worth and a clean shirt for every day. They have a tie giving ceremony as a welcome on the first day so at least I didn't have to buy that too