To spend £600 every time my daughter goes up a clothes size?

[ivebeentotheyear3000]

Every time my daughter goes up a clothes size I end up spending about £600. DH thinks this is a ridiculous amount to spend but I don't really see how I could do it for much cheaper!? I buy from a variety of places but generally Asda, H&M, Tu, Matslan - nowhere really expensive.

Vests £10
Knickers £10
Socks £10
Tights £20
Jeans £30
Leggings £20
Shorts £20
Short sleeved tops £25
Long sleeved tops £25
Dresses £50
Fleece £15
Hoodie £15
Tracksuit £20
Winter coat £25
Summer waterproof £15
Pyjamas £40
Ballet uniform £75
School uniform £75
Trainers, shoes, wellies, sandals, slippers £100
Swimsuit £10

AIBU? How much do others spend and if less, how do you save money?

Second hand is the key here. We have loads of clothes for the kids but I rarely buy them new stuff. I find it more fun hunting for bargains though so if you're trying to get it all done in one go then maybe bundles off eBay or marketplace are the way to go, but you probably want to get new underwear and just a few bits you have chosen!

I buy when it's needed. If I've eared a few tops as too small I'll buy some next size up. Winter coats get replaced in Autumn, light coats in Spring because no one can guess when they'll growth spurt at this age (assuming young from vests).
With my twins, who have ten tons of hand me downs, I tend to do one big clear out but that's because I'm not buying stuff, I'm swapping it out for what's sat waiting and I try to sell stuff in so it makes it easier to clear one size at a time (towns are identical sized). Presumably you also don't make use of any sales or seasonal availability.

I spend about 1k a year on DD but she's a teen and likes branded stuff, when she was little it was about 400.00. It's hard when they keep growing, she went up two shoe sizes in one year when she was 11.

[quote apprenticewage]@liveforsummer I cannot shop online, I like to see items, feel them, know if they fit. I despise having to pay for items if I need to return them too.
I work and study full time, I don't have time or want to spend my time trawling eBay. It's all personal preference I suppose. But yes I can afford it. We have no debts whatsoever and I don't use credit cards. I don't buy that much in terms of clothing...but what I do buy is worn a lot and we get our monies worth out of them. I'm not saying all of my dd's jumpers are worth 38, most are 10-15 quid but what I'm saying is I would and have spent that much. [/quote]
I'll often see things in a shop then go on to source them knowing exactly what I'm looking for and certain brands can be really reliable for sizing. I'm sure they don't all cost that it was more your exclamation like it's fact that £38 is the normal cost for one jumper. You can get an absolute shed load of clothes for that money if you wish.

I didn't realise people actually do it this way.
If one of our kids puts something on and it looks too small, for example trousers with the cuff now up their leg, they go to charity and when I realise they have none that fit I'll buy a couple of pairs.
But, my kids get clothes (including underwear) for birthdays and Christmas which I have seen on here people don't do.

If I had a teen who liked branded stuff I would be expecting them to contribute

@ivebeentotheyear3000

I see the point about her not needing it all in one go, but I tend to buy all at once and then just get it out gradually as she outgrows that item in the size below.

She is on 50th centile for everything so pretty much outgrows sizes at the age designed. So she's in a size for a full year and requires both summer and winter clothes in each size.

So you're buying both summer clothes and winter clothes in the same size?

If you buy the next season's clothes in the size up, they will probably last for the following one too - eg if you just bought your daughter winter clothes for age 5, buy the summer clothes for age 6. Then they are more likely to also fit the following summer.

Otherwise you are probably buying one season's clothes in a size that she has already nearly grown out of anyway.

I also really recommend brands like Polarn O Pyret for flexible sizing - their leggings and tops are designed so they can be worn with the ends folded over for a smaller size and then unfolded as the child grows. Ours have lasted for ages and get a lot of wear!

Shoes are the one item that has to be bought all at once . One summer DS feet grew so much in 8 weeks we had to replace everything again. So in 8 weeks he had two new sets of school shoes, casual trainers, football boots and AstroTurf football boots.

Otherwise I just replaced as and when. When he was about 11 and grew out of his hoodies I had them. It was fine until a school friend of his saw me in one and told him, ah the humiliation.

I bought a giant bundle of baby clothes at a car boot sale and washed them all. From then on it was a Combination of supermarket, secondhand and the occasional bit of expensive stuff for family weddings.

Anyone watched raining stones? A film about a families struggles to buy a communion dress for their DD. It’s a perfect example of possible attitudes to new and used clothes for children.

I use to buy next size clothes at end of season sales (aka coat/anoraks) buy next size up t shirts/jumpers & most short sleeved tops to use this year as being a bit baggy is ok
sell old good stuff online to help
(you can often get knickers & vests in sales)
But most of the stuff buy when you need

We don't have a strict budget but I buy most things in a size that should last two years (shoes excepted). Obviously babies and toddlers grow out of things much more quickly, and sometimes older children have growth spurts. However I've never spent anywhere near £600 pounds in one go.

Whether things are expensive or not depends on how long and for how often they will be worn. I've spent £70 on a Polarn O. Pyret coat that has been worn regularly for 2 years+ by each of my two children (so more than 4 years total use) and is still in good condition for one of my nieces to wear. That's much better value than spending £25-30 on a coat for one year's use.

Also there's stuff they don't really grow out of - t-shirts, skirts, knickers and vests last ages for example.

It's only the clothes with arms and legs that really get grown out of quickly! The other stuff should mostly still fit for quite a long time - I am still having to tell my 8 year old to give up on her favourite skirts and knickers from when she was 5! She can fit into them and they don't look the wrong size (just too worn!)

I guess what these threads always come down to is that the OP and others spend £600 a year. They are lucky to be able to afford it and it’s fine (as long as clothes are being passed on). It works for OP the way she does it so that’s fine.
Others, like me, spend a lot less, sometimes because they can’t afford and sometimes because that’s how they like to do it and this is fine too. I am very lucky have an extremely good hand me down network, others don’t.

@liveforsummer the only place I shop online is next and that's because it's free delivery and I can easily get to one to return stuff. Anywhere else (except one other local store) is generally a HUGE hassle to be honest.
Out of interest I just went onto eBay and I don't see anything that is cheaper than in a shop. I filtered it to girls hoodies and I got 1 result which was a boys jumper at 25quid 🤪

@RussianSpy101

Do people really buy their children clothes that are too big for them so they last longer?

Of course! Saves a fortune.

@ivebeentotheyear3000

I see the point about her not needing it all in one go, but I tend to buy all at once and then just get it out gradually as she outgrows that item in the size below.

She is on 50th centile for everything so pretty much outgrows sizes at the age designed. So she's in a size for a full year and requires both summer and winter clothes in each size.

Your DH is right; you're throwing money away buying it all at once.

She doesn't need every season's worth of clothes at once.

She won't have grown out of every item of clothing.

Some things, like jackets and tshirts you can also buy a bit bigger so she can wear them longer.

You're spending a shocking amount, frankly. Completely unnecessary!

Wow! No, I never buy everything in the next size for the whole year in one go. I just top up what’s actually needed by adding it to the to-do list (eg. Order coat for DD, Pick up socks).

@RussianSpy101 I don't A’s I think clothing that's too big just looks scruffy to be honest. I buy them with a tiny bit of room. But my dc don't grow that fast either so I get my worth out of their clothing.

Currently pregnant with twins and reading this is giving me a hernia haha

Your list makes no sense. She doesn't need a summer waterproof and a winter coat in the same size every time because you're either buying in summer or winter. The one that's out of season won't fit by the time the season comes round. Plus outer wear should last for a few years unless you accidentally buy too small every single time.

I see the point about her not needing it all in one go, but I tend to buy all at once and then just get it out gradually as she outgrows that item in the size below.

Well that's your problem isn't it. Given that you don't know what size she'll be in when she's ready for the winter coat it was a pointless purchase. I'd bet you could could get two years out of at least half her wardrobe. So yes, ridiculous.

Our boys’ clothes lasted years (apart from shoes). Definitely bought oversized - so trousers would sometimes be rolled up a bit at the start, shorts went from long and baggy to shorter, t-shirts from baggy to “slim fitting”. They understood the hype about branding from an early age. Certainly never spent £600 a year on clothes.

Secondhand.

It's obscenely wasteful for clothes to be manufactured and then to be worn for 6 months to a year.

@yourestandingonmyneck

Secondhand.

It's obscenely wasteful for clothes to be manufactured and then to be worn for 6 months to a year.

I agree in the main, but if no one bought new there would be nothing for others to buy second hand.

Never bought summer and winter clothes at the same time unless in winter we were going on a hot weather holiday.

DT’s went to a non uniform school so majority of their clothes were casual - jeans/T-shirt/hoodie/trainers. Bought big where possible - PJ’s, coats, hoodies to get a couple of years out of them.