How much per year on clothes?

[orangedrizzle]

I’m really trying to budget as times are hard. I have 3 kids 2 of whom are primary age. How much do people spend on clothes and shoes per year? I am willing to pay a bit more for good quality shoes ( ie Clarks not supermarket) so will factor this in. Thanks

Hopeful bump

I am giving 14 Year old DD £50 per month gor clothing, make up, shoes, accessories,

£35 per month for outings with het friends

For DD9, I normally spend about 300-400 per season. This includes shoes, coats etc too

Look on Vinted to start with so much as new clothes on there.Supermarket basics are fine for underwear tee shirts and pyjamas.Clarks outlet for shoes but buy a foot measure so you can check the correct width and size.Saves a lot.Swap clothes with friends.secondhand school uniform.The budget is what you can afford.

I have boys. Girls probably have more variety - dresses and skirts to go with trousers, for example. This is pretty minimal:

If you are lucky, one set of shoes (school and trainers). Otherwise 2.
1 winter coat, one summer coat.
1 set of school uniform (3 trousers, 5 shirts, 2 jumpers, 1xPE kit)
1 set winter clothes - 4x trousers, 5x long sleeved teeshirts, 2xjumper, 1x smarter set.
1 set summer clothes - 2xtrousers, 3x shorts, 5x short sleeved teeshirts, 1x smarter set.
1x sports kit + swimming stuff.
3x PJs
Socks (aprox 1 billion) and pants

Where you want to buy that from will drastically affect the cost!

If you can pass bits down, that increases wardrobe size. For example DS2 hates trousers. We don't buy him any for outside school. But he will wear his brother's cast offs on the 3 or 4 times a year we insist on it.

I have 2 primary/nursery aged DCs and spend around £100 a month on clothes for them, more when buying school shoes and uniform.

DS costs me a fortune. He's well in adult sizes, at 12, constant outgrows stuff and has loads of sports kit.
In the last year he's got through at least 2 of each of school shoes, PE trainers, studs, astros and running spikes. Then uniform and PE kit, a few tracksuits, a few pairs of shorts, t shirts, hoodies, pants and socks. Buying all new, I think I'd struggle to spend less than £1,000.

DD is in primary school and needs a lot less - probably £4-500 for her?

But in reality I spend less than that as we get a few hand me downs and use charity shops and Vinted where possible. Maybe £800 total?

Thanks. These are all very helpful. Thankfully they’re not into brands yet so maybe I can save for that 😂

@DongDingBell thanks so useful and I have copy and pasted it into my phone for future reference!

What other people spend when they have different budgets and priorities might not be helpful but the obvious way to reduce the cost would be to:

Keep for hand me downs where possible, also include family and friends in this. See if school has second hand uniform, if not could suggest it for school fair type days. People donate outgrown uniforms and replacement items can be bought for eg. 50 p an item for school funds.

Buy and sell on Vinted.

Make clothes last longer by insisting they change out of 'good' clothes and shoes at home especially if doing any sort of messy or dirty activities.

If they want anything branded or more expensive than usual then consider if it can be part of Christmas or birthday presents or they use any money given as gifts towards the cost.

I realised early on that long sleeved tshirts are not really necessary. Short sleeved tshirts worn under jumpers are usually fine, unless you live in a really cold place or your DC feel the cold. Means that a tshirt can be worn pretty much for a year before its grown out of.

I also saved money once I stopped trying to save money by buying in the sales 1, 2, 3 years ahead of time. Sometimes the clothes were forgotten until too small, sometimes they were the wrong season and sometimes DC refused to wear them cos they didnt like them 🤦‍♀️

My ds is 17, prefers cotton clothes but not interested in labels. This year, he has had

1 x jeans, 2 x cargo trousers 2 x shorts £90
7 T-shirts £35 1 x trainers £65 socks & pants £20
4 x sweat shirts £120 1 x swimming trunks £20

He'll need some walking boots for bad weather and a ski jacket Maybe £170

Last year's school shirts (must have collars ) still fit. Thankfully no uniform any more so no cost there.

About £500ish

When my son was at secondary school, I bought loads from Oxfam online. Some really good quality items like new or brand new not wirn, and a huge saving when they grow so quickly.