How much on back to school

[parentinghacks]

Aibu to wonder how much has it cost you to get your back to school stuff?

New winter coat, shoes, trainers, polo shirts, jumpers, school logo items, new water bottle...all adds up costs me a fortune!

Trousers x 3 = £90 (he is an awkward shape)
Shirts x 6 = £72
Trainers (instead of shoes) = £100
Prefect blazer = £88
Jumpers x 2 = £40

He uses his normal gym gear/trainers and jackets for school.

Costs a fortune when they are 17, 6ft2in, size 12 feet and in all adult sizes.

My DS started Primary 1. About £200

School logo stuff cost about £70ish, then some cheaper bits like trousers and additional polo shirts/black socks from the supermarket. Shoes cost about £40. Bag, water bottle and a waterproof rain coat I got in the sale a size up, so hopefully lasts a wee while

She secondary. Cost a fortune. Around 280 for books as all new editions. We in Dublin. Stupid crested pe gear brought in this year too. Like alot posters just back on our feet jobs wise since covid

Wow - is that normal in Ireland, having to pay for school books? That must be a nightmare!

dc starts seconday.
it's almost 2k for the laptop alone...
luckily no school uniform, just need to replace the indoors trainers (white sole) and get cross country trainers.

Do they have to have a 2k laptop?! Surely many can’t afford that.

Surely not!? We couldn't do that.

@Neverrains

Do they have to have a 2k laptop?! Surely many can’t afford that.

either you buy your own or rent one off a special company for 50€ a month.

But it has to be a specific £2k one? I mean mine was £500 and works perfectly well, why on earth does it need to be such an expensive one?

@lazylinguist yep...books,exercise books, workbooks, stationery
Either that or you pay in or around 80-110 per child for a book rental scheme (depends on the school!)

Actually not too much this time in comparison to last year! DS needed shoes, football boots, trousers, stationery. DD needed skirts, shoes, socks. Just over £100 in total. DS will need a new bag soon but not just yet, might last until half term.

Luckily most of their stuff from last year still fits- blazer, cardigans, shirts, PE kit etc.

[quote qualitygirl]@lazylinguist yep...books,exercise books, workbooks, stationery
Either that or you pay in or around 80-110 per child for a book rental scheme (depends on the school!) [/quote]
My DC is 7 and I had to pay €72 for school book rental. Then there are 2 books I had to buy that dont come under the book rental, plus his long list of exercise books, notepads etc. I think books annd stationary was around €170 altogether.

Wow qualitygirl - that's tough. You don't have to pay for any of that in English schools. Mind you, these days they don't generally get textbooks to take home at all. They aren't used as much in general really.

It really depends.

I haven’t got winter coats yet, I’ll get them nearer the time.

I bought both primary dc a 5pack set of polo shirts as these tend to grey over time.

I bought dd1 2 skirts and a dress in a bigger size. Dd2 just needed 1 dress, the rest will be her sister’s hand-me-downs which are in good condition.

The school cardi and Pe kits are logoed. I just needed a bigger size for each girls (hand-me-downs on this one aren’t in as good condition). I bought a bigger size Pe kit for dd1 in summer term last year so no need for another and dd2’s Pe kit still fits plus she has dd1’s old kit if needed.

New school shoes for both.

I thought I’d re-stocked holey tights for both but need to re-check and order more as necessary and need to get new PE trainers for them both. Other than that we’re set.

It’s helped that I had to replace some stuff last year or am waiting to replace so it spreads the cost.

@lazylinguist ah it is what it is. It has always been that way. Our child benefit is double the U.K. amount and not means tested and there's a back to school allowance for those on low incomes/benefits.

To be fair my DC's school is very easy going on uniform so that is fairly inexpensive. No crests etc. They can wear their own clothes on PE days and they can wear whatever footwear they want.