Kids Clothes & Shoes

[Pilot12]

How much money do you spend on your kids clothes and shoes per year?

I have a four year old and an eight month old baby, I have budgeted £250.00 for the baby and £350.00 for our four year old, this is for the year but DP says it should be half. I like to buy them Clark's shoes as the oldest has wide feet and supermarket shoes don't fit right. I buy all their clothes from Tesco and ASDA, occasionally Boots Mini Club or M&S if there's a sale on. My budget includes winter and summer coats, puddle suits, swimwear, summer clothes, a Christmas jumper, Christmas PJ's, Christmas party outfits, underwear, socks, slippers, wellies etc. I have all my baby clothes from when my oldest was born but DC1 was a winter baby and DC2 a summer baby so not everything can be carried over.

I probably spend a bit more than your budget on my 4 year old and 1 year old. I too haven't been able to re-use much yet due to opposite birth seasons! I do buy Clarks shoes too but usually in the sale. 80% of their stuff is from Next in the Boxing Day and June sales. I queue from 5am twice a year and buy the everything one year up to their current size (so a year ahead). Spend about £200 on both including coats, swimwear and accessories. All underwear vests I buy from H&M as they are the only ones that last well IMO. Other stuff I pick up in the sales in Boots and M&S. people do buy them clothes as gifts too so they do always seem to have a lot. I could probably cut back.

The price of Clarks shoes is a lot though so I don't think you can cut back on your budget if you are buying full price Clarks shoes

Less Christmas related clothes would help or get them in charity shops.

It sounds realistic to me! Swimwear and coats/snowsuits etc. are expensive.

As your baby gets older, and the size range grows (ie 12-18m being 6 months rather than shorter stages for 9-12) there'll be more crossover and seasonal wear will likely fit one summer or the next of your DC1's clothes.

For various reasons, apart from basics like leggings and clothing like underwear and pyjamas I now buy everything second hand or accept hand-me-downs.

Like you, I'm not willing to skimp on footwear and DD's best fit are Bobux which are pricey. I stick to a pair of simple shoes for summer and a pair of boots for winter and she goes bear foot in the house ( and garden

I think you could spend a lot less on the baby. I reused pretty much everything for DS2, seasons didnt really come into it as you just add or take off layers. Is your 4 year old at school or starting in Sept? I wouldn't buy all Clark's. For school shoes etc if they fit best then great but for trainers to live in a PE bag and only be worn maybe 2 hours a week then cheaper ones are fine. You also spend a lot less on clothes when they are at school as so much of what they wear is uniform. Other than logos stuff you can pick this up really cheap so cheaper than home clothes.

I spend about £750 on DS 3 but it is way way more than necessary

If I cut right back, no designer or organic brands, shopped in sales I could do it for £300

Suggest your husband looks online at say H&M and see what he thinks he could do it for?

Christmas clothes are “ nice to have” rather than “need to have”.
Have you got a Clark’s Outlet nearby? Shoes are massively reduced there.

You can buy loads second hand. Charity shops often sell kids clothes and eBay is brilliant for bulk bags of kids clothes. I would certainly never buy christmas clothes brand new because they only get worn once and it’s a massive waste of money. It’s also far more environmentally friendly to buy stuff second hand, regardless of how wealthy or otherwise you are.

The only thing really not worth compromising on is shoes. These need to fit properly and should be bought from a kids shoe shop where their feet can be measured.

A bloody fortune but she's PFB Probably about four times what you spend, so that budget seems pretty reasonable to me. Out of interest, does your DP actually do any of the shopping for the kids or have any idea what they need clothing wise? Or is he just giving an arbitrary figure?

I spent a lot less. I don't buy new unless in the sale. All my Clothes are either free from relatives or off fb. I think I spent around £50 on all my sons clothes for the year. Also asked for clothes at Christmas as they get so many toys anyway. I buy Clark's shoes but also in the sale. Mostly under £15.

I'd welcome him to do the shopping then. I'd also send him articles on the importance of food quality fitted properly shoes and skeletal development. He's being a twat. That's a VERY reasonable budget. I spend 10x that easily for 2.

Special Christmas clothes (jumper, PJs) are not worth buying new as you'll only get a couple of weeks' wear out of them before the festive season ends, and they won't fit the following year - so if you must buy these, I know some people believe that you simply must!, then either buy in the sales for the following year or use a charity shop.

I don't know how much we spend on our son, but very little is ever bought at full price - most is bought in sales, in sizes to fit him in the future. I have a huge storage unit of "future clothes" for him!