How much do you spend on back to school clothes?

melissa&mark

I'm just curious how many back to school clothes you buy for your children? How many clothes do you have in their fall/winter wardrobe? If you have children of both sexes do you tend to spend more on your daughter? I just can't resist the little girl clothes

rsd12

We spend the most on our oldest son, and the younger brothers get the handme downs. But right now they all love sharing! So that saves us a considerable amount. Typically the younger boys get a couple if new outfitS for school, and all the handme downs. My oldest we spend at least a couple hundred on and isually outlet shopping. But he needs it!

CareBear0607

I tend to spend more on DD because I get lots of hand me downs for DS.  We just went yesterday (no sales tax weekend here in IL!) and I got a bunch of jeans for her.  She loves jeans and needs slims, which can be hard to find.  She also needed new gym shoes to keep at school for gym class.  I still need to get her some more fall clothes...they are just now starting to get put out at the stores.  She will need some long sleeved tops (no sweaters-she hates them), leggings, and dresses. I will probably go out again tomorrow and get a few more things for her.

neverblushed

It depends on the needs of my particular kid in a given year.  I don't go out and drop a load of cash just so they'll have new  "school clothes." I have found that many stores don't actually have fantastic sales at this time; they know moms are buying BTS clothes, so they don't have to drop the prices too much to get you to buy.  It's actually better to wait until it's truly fall and catch real sales when the stores are clearing the decks before Christmas season.

I live in the mid-Atlantic, so my kids can still wear summer clothes well into October.  If they have enough long pants and winter tops to get through fall, I'll hold off and buy new stuff at Christmas.  For example, my DS is about to turn 9.  He can still wear the size 8 pants and shirts he has, and he can still wear his sneakers from last year, so he's not getting much this year.  He cares about new clothes about as much as you'd expect for a boy his age, so he'll probably be relieved not to have to go shopping.

My DD, on the other hand, is in middle school.  From the start of 6th grade to the end of 7th, she grew 7 inches and gained 20 pounds.  She went from not caring about clothes to being interested in what she wears, so we have spent the past year trying to gradually replace her kid clothes with cooler teen stuff.  She still doesn't have enough jeans or shoes for fall, so we'll be getting her some new stuff before the end of summer.  I will probably wind up spending about $200 on her.

I like for my kids to have 7 pairs of pants and about double that in shirts.  Otherwise, we're doing laundry more than I can handle.  But I hate laundry, so that might just be me!

Littlejen22

Cmeon, So jealous your DD still wears what you make because my DD no longer wears my dresses!

I definitely don't buy new wardrobes because I usually bargain shop end of season and then add as needed. I find my kids often switch sizes mid-season so they start with their warm or cold clothes from the precious year also. I usually buy a new pair of sneakers for DS, DD has so many shoes and no need for specific new ones. Actually DS has a ton too but still usually needs new sneakers.

KL777

DS wears school uniforms.  I'm hoping he can still fit his school uniforms from last year (pre-kindergarten).  He may be able to still fit his shirts but his pants---I'm definite that I'll need to buy the next size up.

Last year, I bought his school uniforms from scratch and spent $100.  My mom kindly offered to buy more (about $50 worth) and once the school year got going, I realized that I could've gotten away with less clothes.

jnksmom

I don't really keep track of a dollar amount. Also they wear their summer clothes until at least mid-end September. They both got to pick a new outfit for the first day of school. They each also got 2 other new outfits and new shoes.
I bought a few fall/winter clothes at the outlets on vacation. I will buy more as a I see things I like or they like.

jlw2505

I don't really buy as back to school other than 1 or 2 special outfits for the first day or 2.  I buy based on season and what we need.  I have 2 girls and 5 nieces that are older so we get a decent amount of hand me down stuff and then the girls typically get some clothes for bdays and Hanukkah.  I buy based on need vs a set amount of outfits/money.    My goal is to get through a week without having to do laundry more than once and at this age (kindy and 1st grade) I can easily do that with a handful of dresses, jeans and a larger variety of tops plus a few skirts and tights for the school year. 

Spin313

Its not exactly a BTS wardrobe, but I just dropped over a hundred dollar on clothes for the kids. Mostly it was pants for DS, as he's outgrowing he ones he has. The kids also got new pajamas and some shirts. I still need to buy DS a new pair of sneakers.

AGmomof3

I didn't have a budget but rather a list of what my oldest dd needed. She's set for the year unless he grows a lot-sales and clearance at Kohls and Platos closet ended up around $250. She's 13.
Dd#2 got a few things even though she didn't need anything. $50?
LO got a couple of things but were asking for clothes for her bday in 2 weeks. $35?
I still haven't bought new shoes yet.

4Speedy

DD wears a uniform. It is a specific plaid so it has to be bought at a uniform store. I WISH she wore a generic tan or blue jumper. This is what I've spent on clothing, one weeks worth. Still have to get her some new clothes/jeans for after school activities. 4 daily school uniforms $264 (one complete uniform with jumper, shirt, privacy pants, socks, etc is $66) 1 gym uniform $82 1 blazer for dress uniform day $189 plus $26 to have the sleeves shortened Gym shoes $46 School shoes $86. (One every day pair, one pair for dress uniform days) School logo shirts and sweat shirts for "spirit" days, $24 School cardigan for cold non-dress uniform days $36 Grand total for clothing she will only wear to school and have no other use for: $753. Can you tell I think this is ridiculous? I am mad the school won't go to a generic solid color uniform so I would shop at Target.