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?

When I think about the amount of money I spend on clothes for my 4 month old just so he can outgrow them in a month....I can't really tell you you're being unreasonable!

If you want to cut costs then buy in the sales. I'm a member of bargain pages on FB and have seen a lot of people buying £2.50 kids winter coats at Asda in their sales.

If you have a favourite shop then sign up for discount code alerts and buy ahead.

Things from different shops have different sizing too. My just turned 3 year old has some jeans from Tesco in 2-3 which are too short. His Next jeans in 2-3 are fine. His joggers from Tesco in 2-3 are fine. He’s also 50th centile. I can’t imagine any child growing out of everything at exactly the same time.

Well then you're not really comparing like with like then, are you? The cost you are quoting is for the youngest child, when you already have the luxury of hand-me-downs. If I add together clothes (inc. uniform), coats, shoes, and stuff like swimming costumes then, like OP, I also spend around £600/yr in total on DD1. However, I buy decent brands and most makes it to DD2 in very good condition. I then spend only ~£100 on DD2 in a year, of which a good chunk will be a pair of school shoes and a pair of trainers.

OP, it doesn't sound an outrageous amount to me either if that's everything, although it seems steep for the brands you mention. I spend similar, but most of their wardrobes are John Lewis, Boden, M&S, Joules, etc. I buy the bulk of clothes a size up in the sales, a bit second hand from Ebay and nearly new sales, and a couple of items at full price that DC spots and loves (these are usually supermarket or H&M). Uniform is bought when on sale in the next size up. Shoes are mostly bought full price when needed, but do sometimes buy size up trainers in the sale if I know they are due a growth spurt. I buy Crocs and wellies second hand.
I think swapping out a whole size at a time is unnecessary though. I do a big wardrobe swap around as it gets warmer/colder so things are weather-appropriate. Anything that needs to be taken out due to the season is split into what still fits and what's clearly going to be too small in 6 months time. If it still fits I pack it back into that DC's loft bag ready for the following year, if not it gets moved to DC2's bag (stuff from DC2 that is too small gets bagged up and either passed on or stored to go to the next nearly new sale to recoup costs). I will also swap out certain things if I notice they need it before the bigger clearouts. Eg DD1's trousers suddenly became very short over Xmas, but it wasn't a problem as I already had the next size in the loft ready. I got them down and put the old ones away for DD2.

My daughter wears AFO splints. They usually last 6 months. One pair lasted 3 months. Each time we have to replace school shoes, trainers, gym shoes, waterproof boots, slippers etc. That usually costs us a couple of hundred quid.

Replacing clothes is a drop in the ocean compared to what we need to get for a growing child with a disability.

That seems like madness to me OP.

When the kids were younger I did spend more replenishing clothes because it seemed to quickly so I’d need more in one go.

But as they’re older, I’d buy some things in bigger sizes so it lasted longer. Also things would last longer - my dd could live in trousers a bit younger for example or I’d cut down Ds’s jeans/joggers for shorts because they’d still fit his waist.

I do a big wardrobe swap around as it gets warmer/colder so things are weather-appropriate.

I live in Scotland, it was 14c earlier in the week. It can be colder than that in August. We don't really have much summer/winter wear, just layers 😆

Surly you don’t need to but all at once. You k is she’s going to grow so buy as and when you see things

I don’t think it’s the amount that’s the issue but I can’t see a way how buying it all at once doesn’t end up wasteful

Sorry, I had quoted Mostlyjustrunning admitting their £38/yr spend was actually for their younger child. The quote didn't post for some reason.

Sounds to me that you dont buy big enough, you buy ''to fit''. buy the next size up and plan to get two summers out of dresses Tshirts etc. Surely a summer waterproof could do two summers?

I fail to understand why, if Asda pants are 7 pairs for £3.50, why a child needs 20 odd pairs of pants- unless they are potty training- in which case its extra nuts that you are spending so much

I buy large second hand bundles and maybe something new if i really like it or need one. So socks and shoes tend to be new, and maybe a nice dress for fun.

@yourestandingonmyneck

Secondhand.

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

Wasteful or not someone has to buy the clothes in the first place for others to get them second hand!

Wasteful or not someone has to buy the clothes in the first place for others to get them second hand!

Of course they do but there's no rule saying the clothes must be purchased at full price. It's just as economically sensible to buy new clothes in the sale and sell them on. I'm actually staggered some people think £600 a year on clothes for a child is anything other than excessive.

If people only bought in the sale the shops will go out of business...
Thats if you can the right sizes in the sale.

I never used to do this for DS, how bizarre. It was a case of replacing as needed.

This got me interested into how much I actually spend so I’ve looked on my spreadsheet. Since April 2019 (so almost three years) the total I have spent on clothes and shoes for my almost 6 year old is £431.85. This includes her starting school and beavers and needing uniform for both. It doesn’t include the fancy dress items bought for birthday presents which would add another £28.99.

I also have teenagers and their shoes and uniform are a lot more expensive, I think it was around £250 to get everything for them starting secondary school but again things last more than a year. My daughter is about to leave and she’s had two lots of everything apart from PE kit which was big in year 7 and a bit small now but has lasted the whole way through! One of them likes branded clothes but those are only given as birthday/Christmas presents or they save up. They’re also open to me buying second hand.

@Aroundtheworldin80moves

If people only bought in the sale the shops will go out of business... Thats if you can the right sizes in the sale.

I didn't say buying everything in the sale but there's plenty of sales in all shops to get a large proportion of what you need for children without paying full price. The shops won't close down as people will always need to buy new for one reason or another e.g. Whilst on a day out a child is car sick and needs a new set of clothes.

However there is absolutely no reason for someone to buy every single item new all the time.

@Aroundtheworldin80moves

If people only bought in the sale the shops will go out of business... Thats if you can the right sizes in the sale.

I'm sure that the supermarkets would cope just fine if people only bought kids clothes in the sales. The people who bought next Christmas' pyjamas and jumpers are smart imo

Considering how often some shops have sales or discount codes, they can clearly afford to sell at the sales price and the normal price is clearly a premium for people who have to buy immediately.

I live in Scotland, it was 14c earlier in the week.

Then the next day it was 2 and snowing 😆

My daughter is about to leave and she’s had two lots of everything apart from PE kit which was big in year 7 and a bit small now but has lasted the whole way through

Lucky you. My daughter is half way through S1 and her school shirts don’t fit any more because she’s developing fast!

@PinkWaferBiscuit

Wasteful or not someone has to buy the clothes in the first place for others to get them second hand!

Of course they do but there's no rule saying the clothes must be purchased at full price. It's just as economically sensible to buy new clothes in the sale and sell them on. I'm actually staggered some people think £600 a year on clothes for a child is anything other than excessive.

I think £600 is loads! I don't think I could bring myself to spend that much on myself in a year let alone my children. Pretty much all the clothes my DC wear are new and then passed on to cousins or the charity shop if the cousins don't need it. I never seem to find decent stuff second hand and I've been stung many times by people lying about the condition of items on EBay etc I've given up.

@mizzo

Good god I can definitely spend more than that on myself last weekend alone I spent nearly 2k
New bag
New coat (most expensive item!)
New jumper
And a pair of boots (sale)

Not an average weekend though 🤣

Do you ever buy second hand?

It's a huge amount to spend.

@BoredZelda it did all drown her in year 7 but she was tiny then and in the smallest size they did. That lasted her longer than it would have otherwise done due to Covid admittedly but I still think we would have only needed two blazers and jumpers etc.