Real life MMD: Should I buy my sons' clothes from Burberry?

Marco12452

How can you do the responsible parental thing and teach your kids financial common sense if they get everything they demand ? If they continue in that way, once they get on their own they will soon run up massive debts.
Let them know money has be be earned before it is spent and is then only spent on what it will cover.

LittleMissAspie

Saying "no you can't have it" doesn't teach children or teenagers how to budget, or the value of money.

Instead, increase his pocket money by the amount you would normally spend on his clothes and tell him to buy his own clothes. If the named brands are important enough to him, he will learn to budget and save up for them.

judy1010

If your children want expensive clothes or anything else, they should pay for them themselves out of money from a part time job. A part time job is good for children to have in any event so they feel some sense of responsibility. Once he realises how many hours he has to work to afford one or two designer pieces, I think he may look into alternatives himself!

mungaman

Definitely not; get them to do a paper round
job or tidying neighbours (or yours) gardens for pocket money; or any such jobs.
They would then appreciate the value of money.
This is why all schools should have uniforms, then there wouldn't
be these problems during schooling hours where they are there to learn, not
Try & be the "next best model"

JoannaS_3

19lottie82 wrote: »

I didn't say anything was wrong wiht them. I buy a lot of my work stuff from George. But at the end of the day, if a teenagers peers were to find out that all his clothes were from Tesco (for example), the likelyhood of bullying is a stong possibility. Sad but true I'm afraid.

And for you or me wearing these clothes may not be a problem but for image concious teenagers it might be a cardinal sin!

Ok yeah I see what you mean. I just think this image culture is very sad and I'm finding adults are just as bad (obviously where the kids get some of it from), I'll be asked where I got my jumper and when I say Sainsbury's they look at me as if you couldn't possibly buy anything nice to wear from sainsburys! lol Think of the bargains they're missing....more for us though eh?! :T

Reverbe

Nope. teach your kids to have some backbone and that anyone who laughs at them isnt really their friend anyway.

I dont have anything designer tho i would dearly love to. Why? because I can't afford it and quite honestly neither can you or your children.

Sophie...

A very clever friend of mine used to offer her children the money she would have spent, eg at Tesco etc, then they had to pay the top up if they wanted designer labels.

JayD

I can't help wondering just how old your sons are?
The age at which they can start being fussy about the labels on their clothes is the age at which they can save up to buy them for themselves.

You sound like you are being over anxious about the whole situation and are buckling under unfair pressure from your lads. Be firm, be in control and stick to your guns. YOU buy what YOU can afford for them. THEY buy what THEY can afford.

My parents compromised by giving me what they would have spent on an item and allowing me to save up the difference if I wanted a more expensive version of it. I thought that was very fair and it allowed me to develop a degree of selectivity - rather than acute fussiness!

Also, steer them towards places where they can buy second hand versions of their choices for so much less - like eBay and chairty shops. If the goods are in good condition, only you/they will know that they were bought second hand. This will also highlight whether it is really the label they want or the status of having expensive clothes.

I think you will be surprised at what their friends are actually wearing too. They have hard pressed parents too, you know!

ripongrammargirl

I have never understood this "designer" label craze. Everything is a designer label as it has all been designed by somebody, including cheap and cheerful supermarket clothing. Anybody who pays exorbitant amounts for a "special" designer label obviously has more money than sense and can pass some of that cash to me who has to scrimp and save just to buy one item of cheap clothing (its a fun life on disability benefits). If your son is stupid enough to want to spend money (and you are daft enough, with no discipline, to let him) then send him out to work to earn his own money, and then when he has paid you for his keep let him see how much cash he has left for these ridiculous luxuries, with all money going to super rich obnoxious "designers". Not exactly a dilemma, is it? Just plain common sense living in the real world.

XxXfashionqueenXxX

Are you telling me you give in to this? My kids know the prices and know how to save their money for this, just tell them to buy it themselves, pocket money and expensive gifts is way too spoilt. Also don't say their like 11 or something.