Clothing Allowance

[Skippy]

There is nothing wrong with buying cheap uniforms for children - they grow out of them quickly and they get ruined.

As for 'raggy' uniforms affecting children psychologically perhaps it won't do them any harm to learn from a young ages that money doesn't grow on trees!

[leaKybrain]

Skint why do you always seem to be negative. Most of us realise that we got ourselves into the messes we are in and have done what we can to sort it out. Even with rising rates we weren't forced to use our credit cards and loans. No-one twisted our arms and said you will spend this money you don't have. As MJones said, in some cases circumstances are to blame...like losing jobs and reduction in income. How is that the banks fault.

Buying from cheaper places is not a bad thing. I have bought clothes from Asda and Tesco for years, and nearly all my daughters clothes are from either of those shops since she was born, and now she's 8. i do not see the point in spending £20 on a dress for it to be worn a handful of times to it being grown out of.

In fact I see dozens of children with Asda clothes, even some of her best friends who are same age, from my DD point of view she thinks its great when someone else has the same top or trousers ''we're like twins mummy'' she says.

as for uniforms...especially the younger children....they are ruined because of they way they play/learn etc in school, not because they are raggy or cheap. I go through a dozen white polo shirts every year. Total cost of about £30. They get paint on them, or pen especially when learning to write properly. I'm not going to go to M&S or Next and pay £5 a top. Total waste of money, might as well just throw the £note in the bin straight away.

Shoes last maybe a term if i am lucky and thats the clarks ones...a pair she was given as the child had grown out of them even before being able to wear them. These would have cost £30 and lasted 7 weeks. Asda shoes cost £10 and lasted 7 weeks. Where is the psychological harm in that.

Your comment of ''You'll get people on here sending you to Oxfam. Ignore them and buy normally'' is out of order. There are many people on here and I would imagine many of them have at some time shopped in a charity shop. What are you implying? Almost sounds snobbish to me. Many people shop in charity shops for decent clothes, even my own mother does that and she can be a snob. Have you ever actually been in the charity shops and had a proper look at the clothes. Admittedly there are some clothes that i personally would have put in the bin, but then I don't have to buy that item. The charity shops also serve a purpose, to raise money for causes...and help others in the long run. If I needed an item of clothing that only M&S sold then I would pay that rate. We go where we are happy to go.

[liamjames]

You should always push for a comfortable allowance, but remember that anything above the norm will need to be justified.

Most people here have had to cut down on something or other in order to get their IVAs accepted so I find that talking numbers in public often causes friction. £110 for clothing sounds reasonable if one or more of you is client-facing in a business, but it's possible that a major creditor will disagree.

Best of luck.

[Skippy]

Excellent post Karin!

[kallis3]

Well said Karin.

I buy my clothes from Asda and Tesco and they are excellent value and good quality. I also buy from Ebay.

Charity shops are brilliant and I've picked some great bargains up in them and the clothes have been great. I shop at M&S when I can, but I won't pay expensive for clothes. My last pair of leggings cost me all of £8 for two pairs and they are fantastic!

[Imhotep]

73 quid! We have 50 a month for a family of four

Both our kids need new shoes (we have to decide who gets them first and buy for both over two months). We haven't been able to afford boots this year, it's been wellies then shoes once in school.

And I only have two pairs of jeans

[kallis3]

My hubby is wearing clothes he's had for years, but then he is at home all day so not too important!

As long as I look ok, I don't care how cheap the clothes are, but do appreciate that it can be expensive for kids. Try Brantano (if you have one near you) they are cheaper than the normal high street store.

[Squidward]

We tend to shop around you can get some good bargains at the moment at ASDA and Tesco, there are also some bargains to be had on the high street, my wife picked up a pair of MS jean for a £5.00 !

The ASDA plain white polo school shirts at £2.00 are great for winter days underneath the emblem embroidered sweat shirts the teachers will not know the difference unless it gets hot!

We recently got school trousers from H&M for a £10.00.

Karin - great post you summed up all I wanted to say right there!

Skint -I can see sometimes it pays to spend a little more but do you really think it effects the kids psychologically - ours go to school looking pristine but come home alot of the time like they've been dragged around a ploughed field but they're happy!

Squidward

[kallis3]

My daughter was never affected by wearing cheaper clothes. She was quite happy in whatever we bought for her.

I would never pay a lot of money for clothes for kids - they only get ruined.

[Mrs Pish]

My nearly 7 year old wears out uniform and shoes so quickly I need to replace them once a term. And that's what she doesn't lose which she's terrible for!

Matalan are great for school uniform and they do a good selection all year round. M&S also has a good value range which does seem to last longer than the supermarkets own brand stuff but it's only marginally more expensive, if at all.

I get her shoes from the Clarks outlet shop, it's a good £15 per pair saving.

[kallis3]

I'm glad I don't have a child of school age anymore - mine buys her own clothes now!

The only problem with a Clarks outlet shop is if you have one near you. We have Brantano which do sell Clarks, but nothing else.

[flow13]

I don't really do much clothes shopping - the other day my mom went into the british heart foundation shop and got me 2 tops for £2.99 each. One of them still had the shop label on. It was brand new. And i love it.

Just thought i would share. x

[Mrs Pish]

Yes, there is that Jan. My nearest is 50 miles away but I have family there so try to drop in when we visit. It's torture though, it's a huge shopping village and I must admit, I really miss shopping!

Oh and in regard to the Oxfam comment, I love clothes and even when I had (plastic) money, I often shopped at charity shops as you can get some amazing things. It's vintage sweetie darling [:p]

[kallis3]

I send a lot of my old stuff to charity shops (that which I can't sell on Ebay!) and some still has the labels on and is from good quality shops.

I'd shop in a charity shop any day of the week - you can even pick up designer stuff in some of them.

My mum used to go to Street when she visited my aunt in Somerset, armed with measurements, and got us shoes very cheaply.

[leaKybrain]

Mrs Pish I did that too. I would visit my mum for a few days (livesin small village) and we would go out for a few hours shopping going between a few villages and only go in charity shops. she has such an amazing nose for the bargains...unlike me LOL.

Flow, great bargain, that was a good buy. We do like our bargains though don't we, even more so since budgeting.

Our clothing allowance is £40, hubby gets work clothes from work. Mine are matalan/asda and DD is asda/tesco with the odd bit from other places.

Because we had saved some cash whilst waiting for the IVA to be sorted I actually bought some clothes in the sales (and normal racks) from asda and matalan for all of us. Asda have got some gorgeous really soft, longer jumpers. Just my thing for £6 excellent bargain. I spent £33 on my daugher and got 2 pairs of trousers, 2 pairs of leggings, and 6 tops. now tell me thats not a good bargain. she desperately needed trousers too, bless her she's had about four growth spurts since summer.

jan I always forget about Brantano, not even sure where there is one her now, will have to do a net search I think. Hubby wearing clothes from years back too, think he just doesn't want to part with them...I keep saying we need to sort the wardrobe out. Mind you, his weight doesn't fluctuate the same as me so can get him the cheaper Asda jeans which are perfect for him. Esp when he forgets they are supposed to be decent ones and he gets grease on them in the garage. LOL