How much to dress a six year old girl?

heretolearn_2

a pack of 3 shirts
1 tie
1 jumper
2 pairs of trousers/shorts in summer
1 PE kit

That's exactly what me and my friends used to buy for our kids too, except there wasn't a new pe kit every year, only every 2-3 years s they get bought 'to grow into'.

heretolearn_2

"I also saved on the amount of money spent on the uniform so I could pay more for some good shoes,"

That's a good point, I would keep clothing down to min. spend but I always paid for Clarkes shoes even when I was on benefits, you shouldn't skimp on those. Well, maybe you can get away with it if your kid has pretty standard sized feet, I'm not saying it's wrong to buy cheaper shoes, but my sons weedy little narrow flat feet needed proper fitting.

heretolearn_2

That's a huge amount to be spending on kids clothes! Huge! I don't think most adults spend that much on themselves, let alone their kids....

This is def. an area you could cut down on.

buy stuff big to grow into then one set of uniform will last a whole year unless they go through a freakish phase of growing about 4 inches in a single year (which might happen when they hit teenage-hood, but is not likely in younger ones).

Some mums get in the habit of treating their babies like dress up dollies, think your wife is still doing that now they are kids. If you have loads of money, ok, I guess, although I wouldn't be happy teaching children that level of waste and over-consumption/consumerism, but if you can't afford it, it's plain daft. Buy your wife a dolly and tell her to play with that instead, and start getting sensible about the kids wardrobes.

pigpen

heretolearn wrote: »

buy stuff big to grow into then one set of uniform will last a whole year unless they go through a freakish phase of growing about 4 inches in a single year (which might happen when they hit teenage-hood, but is not likely in younger ones).

Actually it is average for a child to grow 4 inches in a year.. that is what is expected. up to 10 inches is normal for pubertal growth spurt.

sjc3

Looks pretty reasonable to me. You could save a bit on the socks, Asda do them way cheaper. Also the school polo shirt. Why do you have to have the one with a logo on it? Most schools cannot force you to do that.

My daughters school tried insiting to parents that they had to buy the school logo polo shirt at £10 each and the sweatshirt at £15 each. :eek:

Myself and a number of other parents told them to go whistle. DD does wear the sweatshirt but I refuse point blank to be ripped off. She gets sent in with plain white polo shirts from asda, currently £2.50 for 2. Nobody has said a word.

Jojo_the_Tightfisted

michaels wrote: »

Problem is I am very MSE and am quite happy to spend 120k (and the rest) extending the house as this will add at least 120k to the house value so to me isn't 'spent' but just 'saved' whereas holidays and so on are spent and gone.

But if the clothes spending was reined in, you could have the massive extension AND all the other things.......

ciderwithrosie_2

heretolearn wrote: »

That's exactly what me and my friends used to buy for our kids too, except there wasn't a new pe kit every year, only every 2-3 years s they get bought 'to grow into'.

No mine didn't get new PE kit every year either, I just meant they only had one set each at any given time. Once they went to secondary school they had the same kit for the whole 5 years, unless something got lost, and my older boys did a heck of a lot of sport! I'm not stingy, just don't see the point in spending money needlessly and creating more washing.

joannasmum

michaels wrote: »

Following a change in circumstances I decided I really need to work out where money goes - in Martin's budget spreadsheet I had down £200 per month for kids clothes (for DDs 6 and 5 and DS2) but that comes to a frightening 2400pa and I'm not sure that the DW actually keeps to that - every next sale she seems to come back with £300+ of 'bargains' so here is my list for DD1 - does it sound reasonable? Most prices are sale prices and from Sainsburys TU / Next or M&S with some Matalan and Primark, nothing expensive.

School uniform:
Shoes x 2 - £15 x 2 Get patent leather and they can double up for best
Socks x 10 £10 Theres only 5 days in the school week, get dark colours so they'll last longer
Tights x 10 £20 See above.
PE Shorts £3 Should'nt be required every year.
PE t-shirt x 2 £3 x 2 One should be enough and see above
Plimsoles - £3
skirts x 2 - £8 x 2 A combination of 3 skirts and pinnafores should be enough
pinnafore x 2 - £12 x 2 See above
school polo x 5 - £8 x 5 - logo so rip off Plain are fine under pinnafores
school sweatshirt x 3 - £9 x 3 - logo so rip off I buy 1 logo'd and 2 plain
Summer dress x 3 - £5 x 3 I'd go with one for every day
winter coat - £15
summer coat - £15
Vest x 10 - £1 x 10 Don't think you need both and its roasting in schools
thermal vest x 10 - £2 x 10

Sub total £254

Other clothes
Wellies - £5
Boots - £20
Sandals - £15
Swimming costume x 2 - £5 x 2 One will be fine.
t-shirts x 5 - £4 x 5
long sleeve Ts x 5 - £5 x 5
Blouses x 5 - £6 x 5
leggings x 5 - £5 x 5
Trousers/Jeans x 5 - £8 x 5
Fleece - £10
Cardi / sweater / sweatshirt x 10 - £8 x 10
dresses x 8 - £12 x 8
Half the amount of out of school clothes!

Socks x 20 pairs - £1 x 20 5 pairs of plain white ankle socks double up for school in summer.
Tights x 5 - £2 x 5
Coat x 1 - £20
Pants x 30 - £1 x 30 10 should be enough

Sub total £432

Grand total £684

And no doubt I have missed some things as this is just off the top of my head.

Does this sound reasonable?

I budget £20 a month for my 6 yr old DD's clothes. I've ended up putting £100 of that in a savings account as I've had loads of hand me downs from friends. Hope my suggestions give you some ideas.

michaels

DW has asked me to make some corrections:

michaels wrote: »

School uniform:
Shoes x 2 - £15 x 2 Startrite or Clarks, regular sized feet so finding in sale is easy
Socks x 10 £10
Tights x 10 £20 x5 actually as they don't wear them much as they go through them so quickly
PE Shorts £3
PE t-shirt x 2 £3 x 2
Plimsoles - £3
skirts x 2 - £8 x 2 £4 in sale
pinnafore x 2 - £12 x 2 £7 in sale
school polo x 5 - £8 x 5 - logo so rip off
school sweatshirt x 3 - £9 x 3 - logo so rip off changed everyday but washed during the week and made to last two years
Summer dress x 3 - £5 x 3 tend to wear skirt and polo on PE days
winter coat - £15 Sale price, often bought end of preceeding winter
summer coat - £15
Vest x 10 - £1 x 10
thermal vest x 10 - £2 x 10 x5 but cost £3
Cadigan x 3 - £4 x 3
Sub total £254 £235

Other clothes
Wellies - £5
Boots - £20 sale price from 45 again bought end of season for following year
Sandals - £15
Swimming costume x 2 - £5 x 2
t-shirts x 5 - £4 x 5 x8 may be cheaper in multipack
long sleeve Ts x 5 - £5 x 5 x6 may be cheaper in multipack
Blouses x 5 - £6 x 5 'blouse' being generic male term for a first layer top that is not a t shirt
leggings x 5 - £5 x 5 £3
Trousers/Jeans x 5 - £8 x 5
Fleece - £10
Cardi / sweater / sweatshirt x 10 - £8 x 10 x5
dresses x 8 - £12 x 8 possibly x6 mostly half price in sale but a couple full price for occasions
Socks x 20 pairs - £1 x 20 x15
Tights x 5 - £2 x 5 different colours/styles from school tights for wearing under skirts
Coat x 1 - £20 smart for church, events
Pants x 30 - £1 x 30
Skirts/short x 6 - £4 x 6
Pyjamas x 3 - £8 x 3 probably last more than 1 year
Warm house so no gown needed
crocs/slippers x 2 - £5 x 2

Sub total £432 £450

Grand total £684 £685

And no doubt I have missed some things as this is just off the top of my head.

Does this sound reasonable?

Yes we do have a problem with storage. The quality of things is generally good, just cheaper as bought in sale or at a minimum 25% off days. My lil' sis had a girl so we took her some baby to age 2 stuff - only the good bits - it filled about 10 large bags and filled her front room. Probably have a lot of stuff that could be ebayed but prefer to family/friends or charity shop.

DW also insists on ironing everything (remember it only gets warn once) so our irons never seem to last very long, bought a new steam generator again today but luckiy was on 70% discount at sains so got 2, 1 for ebay so hopefully overall cost will be low.

sumsup

Michaels, I think it depends on your current circumstances ( you mentioned a recent change in situation?). I'm definately focussed on having really well fitting shoes ( despite hating still weaing clarks at age 13!!). My son goes to a private school due to lack of choice for state schools (meaning we have little left for discretionary spending) , but like other posters I refuse to submit to the "logo" gestapo! He wears £1 QS polo shirts and multipack trousers, shorts & socks ( do have to pay for proper pullovers but get them from Thrift sales), but has healthy feet, classmates have £10 "regulation" shirts but blisters!

If your ability to buy a lot of new things has changed, do you have any friends/neighbours/family you can hint to for previously enjoyed clothes? My son rarely has new things, and loves the excitement of diving into a big bag of clothes ( and sending things he doesn't like to the less fortunate) but I must confess still glows when bought something "with labels on Mum". As your oldest is a girl, maybe she would enjoy customising "hand me downs" by cutting out decorations and re using them?

Your children are still very young, and you haven't said whether your wife is working, but if she is fortunate to be at home with her children, perhaps she would respond positively to learning just how long you have to work to pay for £300 of clothes?