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?

£600 is a lot of money.

My son is six and I don’t spend that each year.

Most of his clothes are 7y or 7/8 depending on the shop. He’s still wearing his age 5 pants and vests, his age six coat still fits as do his hoodies and jumpers, his socks from reception all still fit as socks cover a fairly wide size range. He’s still in his age six shorts as while he is taller his isn’t any wider, so they fit fine and he’ll get another summer out of them. He has some t-shirts in a 5/6 that still fit due to the cut.

I spend £150/200 a year, some new, but mainly second hand bundles.

I couldn’t afford to buy everything at the same time, we replace when we need to.

I use a combination of eBay, primark and Decathlon (sports). Probably spend similar to you on shoes and school uniform (but big lasts 2 years), more on winter coat (eBay, bought big, on the 3 year).

We spend much less on the rest. Leggings are about £3 each on Primark, tops £1.50 etc.

It sounds lovely to buy a whole “wardrobe” the way you do. If you can afford it, have fun

I don't think £50/month for clothes is outrageous really. We spend a lot less as I buy secondhand but horses for courses!

You've said that

"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"

So you are buying it all before she is at that size?

If you can afford to buy ahead like that then you need to get a lot more savvier and shop the sales etc.

I rarely pay full price for my kids clothes.

You can definitely economise on the PJs and the school uniform. Nobody sees PJs anyway.

I always think you should buy the best shoes you can afford, but school jumpers aside, Sainsbury's gives M&S a run for its money and their polo shirts are better than Next.

By shopping the sales and buying here and there you will save money long term and be spreading the cost so it doesn't hit all at once.

YABVU.

I shop the sales, to buy new clothes in the next size in the off-season (I'm pretty good at guessing what size she will be in 6 months' or a year's time). I buy from websites that discount heavily - eg mandm, Tkmaxx. But also look for small outlets that sometimes do amazing end-of-season sales. Supermarkets for basics.

Increasingly i also rely heavily on Vinted, eBay and sometimes FB selling; second-hand uniform from school PTA shop.

I'm not poor, I just don't like wasting clothes that arent worn out and there is a HUGE online market in gorgeous second hand clothes. Sometimes you get conned with something that looked ok in the photo but turns up worn and disappointing, but on average kids clothes are really great, as it's rare they get worn out.

I do always buy brand new trainers, sandals and shoes, as I think that's important for growing feet. Wellies and flip flops I buy second hand.

Sainsbury's school uniform I should've said

And do you end up with several items that end up unworn or barely used? I would generally buy things separately at the time when it becomes apparent the individual item is worn out or outgrown. We might have gone on a shopping trip and bought several items, particularly an annual school uniform trip, where I would buy clothes on the big side to allow for growth. But I would never think “gone up a size so must buy enormous list of everything “,

So yes, your DH has a point. Perhaps he should organise the shopping instead?

That's an unusual way to go. I've only ever bought as needed for the season. Some clothes last longer than others depending how they are made. I remember DS still being able to wear age 6 shorts when he was 9 and they did not look the wrong size at all.

From a practical POV now does buying summer clothes in winter or vice Versa work? Surely whats available is very limited.

One of mine has clothes with a range from 7-13/adults. Some of the smaller ones were probably slightly big for the age range at the time and some of the adults are still a bit big but more things like merchandise hoodies and T shirts. Having a range means that a run around the woods can use the slightly smaller trousers so that the nicer pairs are fine to see granny the next day. You do need to spend a little more time sorting through things though.

Sounds like thelittleloop.com/ would be perfect for you. Saw it on Dragons’ Den.

I also buy in dribs and drabs rather than all at once.

Some of my money saving tips are:

*Buy coats a couple of sizes up to get a few years out of them.
*Buy clothes in larger sizes in the off season when they are on sale and massively reduced in price. I store them away for when she grows into them.
*Buy second hand.
*After winter if she still fits her jeans, cut some of them into 3/4 pants/shorts for summer. Keep some for cooler evenings.

There are cheaper ways to buy this stuff, but if you can afford it, items not ridiculous.

Also, men love to say things at expensive but if you have the job to him, could he do better?

Can you not start a sort of hand-me-down 'procession' with other parents? This is how my brother and I were always dressed and I imagine it would be even easier now with local online groups. Loads of my clothes were either from my brother or from my mum's friend's daughter who was a couple of years older than me, then when I outgrew them they went to my cousins, and so on. Obviously some things have to be new, such as shoes and things that were worn out, but our parents must have saved a fortune in retrospect.

I think the approach is fine if you can afford it but like pp, we tend to get things second hand and ds1 has had the same winter coat for 2 winters now - it is getting a bit snug but we will try to make it last til the end of this winter and get him a new one later in the year. Also a couple of bits in your list are surprising e.g. £40 on pjs seems a lot, as does £10 for a swimsuit. Do you look in sales much? My own swimming costume cost £3 on sale in asda and I reckon I could easily get 2 sets of pjs for all 3 of my dc for £40. Have a look at clearance / end of season sale stuff to buy in advance and you'll save quite a bit on seasonal clothes.

That does seem a bit odd, OP. DD is tall for her age at 8, but I don't need to replace everything at once. Over the last couple of years her legs have got a lot longer so I need to replace jeans, etc and shoes maybe twice a year, but she's still wearing tops and dresses that she's had for several years. A couple of nighties she's had since she was five (they are now just short nighties!) and her winter coat I got her when she was 6. She'll need another one next winter, but that'll be nearly three years it's lasted. Seems like you buy everything on principle?

Actually it's probably a good approach. We tend to buy in dribs and drabs and end up forgetting what we bought or we over buy an item like jumpers because she'll suddenly need them when it's cold and we buy too many in a panic. We used to buy a lot in the sales but the only problem now she's a fashionista at the grand age of 6 is she refuses things I pick out!

£600 every time???!!!

I don't think I've spent £600 on both DC from birth to 6! (They're only 19 months and 6 months now but I have a rail in our spare room that I use to organise bigger sizes when I see them on clearance!)

Hmm. The way you've put it out seems like you're doing it pretty frugally.
I don't think most people do it the way you do though.
Most will probably pick up a pair of trainers when their child grows out of them, then their shoes when they seem to be getting tight.. as everything fits slightly differently.

Things constantly changed for DD with sizing, but I bought things as they were required instead of in one lump sum.

How do you even find clothes for all seasons at once?

I agree with a lot of the points made so far, I don't know how old your child is, but charity shops are great for children's clothes. ebay too, you can usually get bundles of winter/summer stuff all in one size.
I would usually by a winter coat that was a generous fit, that way it would last two winters. Trousers too, I would take up a hem, or sew a little tuck into the waistband and teke them out the followiny year- same can be done with jumpers, sew a cuff, outside or inside depending on the style.
Many clothes will fit over a few years, and don't have to be bought every year.
Kids tend to grow in fits and starts anyway, some years my kids would grow like mushrooms, then growth would slow a little for a year
Do you have any family or friends that could give you hand me downs?

I think the price is fine, it will cost about that minimum to replace all basics, coats, various shoes, etc.

But I think as others you don’t need everything at once. It depends on child’s age as well.
A 6 month old coat will only last a few months, but a 6-7 year old coat might fit a 5-7/8 year old, hopefully lasting 2-3 years.

My almost 2 year old needs a whole new summer wardrobe this year, but his winter salopettes, coat, hats/scarf/ gloves should fit next winter still, and he has several thin pairs of leggings he was wearing last Summer that should still fit him when it warms up again. So many items you can get 18+ months rather than 1 year from.

I think change your buying style - you don’t need every size of everything and definitely not all at once. underwear is a good example of this, DS wore 3-4 pants which lasted until he was almost 6, so they were replaced with 6-7, so we missed out two sizes.

I just buy as it's needed and DS is in a jumble of sizes depending on what fits. He needed a new winter coat last month so I brought the next size up so that should see him through next winter too. Socks do for multiple sizes so unless they've gone holey I wouldn't replace them. I don't count up how much I spend though so I've actually got no idea!