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

minandhenry

Bring your sons up in the real world. They must learn that money doesn't grow on trees. Take them to Primark. If they want expensive gear then they should pay for it themselves.

stokeliz

When my kids wanted expensive trainers, clothes or football boots I told them the amount I was prepared to pay and then said that if they wanted a more expensive/designer item then they had to make up the difference from their birthday or Christmas money or from their paper round wages.
It was amazing how quickly they decided that they would rather have something slightly less fashionable than part with their own money.
Neither were picked on at school for the clothes they were wearing.

webitha

im so glad that my 12yr old son is into rock/metal and dresses accordingly..
there is no pressure to wear the "right" clothes...they all just wear what is comfy as long as its black/grey lol

wildthing01

i know it can seem easier to keep your children happy in the short term by giving them expensive things, but it won't benefit them in the long term and when they eventually have to fend for themselves, they'll get a big shock at how much they have to earn to pay for those clothes.

i never had the expensive designer clothes that everyone else had at school and it did not scar me for life - quite the opposite - i am now happy and successful, and i know the value of money.

are they old enough to perhaps earn some money for clothes by doing jobs for you (washing car etc)?

roms

I am not sure if this has been said before but you can fınd some great clothes in charity shops.

atush

I must say I feel pressure form time to time with my twin 16 yr olds. Who are little peacocks. Never had this from their older brother who is at Uni now. I even took him to the store today and asked if he needed anything, he said no lol! And one twin has decided that my spare room will make him a fine 'living room'. I only just let them have seperate rooms 6 months ago- give them an inch and they'll try and take a mile. Now he wants 'my' room lol.

They want Topshop, I feel that is too expensive for everything (I buy the odd thing there, esp in sales and bought them somehting today in the sale for their b'day next week). They like Hollister in America, I make them go to the sales racks. They moan but again I won't bend. I even make them wait if we go to the US for Oct half term, they don't get their stuff til xmas day. They wouldn't be allowed to ask for Burberry (unless they got it at TK max ;-).

One wanted an Ipad for xmas, I said that is too much i don't spend that much so he had to pay half form his savings (he has a little company where he sells things to the other kids at school like US candy). The other wanted a Gibson Guitar, but doens't have half to stump up (as he isn't so entrepreneurial and he spends his pocket money)- I said tough.

I would say, don't give in. If you dont' have the money, you don't. And even if you do, spoiling them rotten is not the way to make them good people.

Case in point, my oldest got an old banger to learn to drive as he was too expensive to put on our cars. Their friends who got fancy pants or even new cars, half had smashed them or even rolled them over before too long. I also pointed out to my 3 boys (when they complained girls pay less insurance) that this is why boys pay more.

So, hold your ground and don't spoil them.

They can always get a part time job. I find once they earn money they don't want to spend it lol.

Gilbertine

If you are really skint -as we were - you can't even consider it. Otherwise - do everyone a favour and don't join in and escalate the situation.

katecheshire

Way back in the 60's there was only the Oxfam charity shop. My friend and I still remember the vintage stuff we bought from there. Jumble sales and customising. Plus we made our own clothes - something new every month, even made a dress out of left over curtain material. Babysitting and Saturday job for everything else - We all had £5 leather boots from Mum's catalogue and had to pay her weekly. BUT . . . confession . . I bought my daughter a vintage 1960's Chanel handbag from a shop in Italy. £160 instead of £1200 for a new one.
'You're SO shallow' might be a good response for your boys to use if they are teased.

TBagpuss

I agree with other posters. Consider giving them a clothing allowance - work out how much you would spend on their clothes, sit down with them and tell them how much they get, how often and what they need to budget for.
When my siblings and I were growing up, my parents bought school uniforms, school shoes and 1 winter coat, we got clothing allowances which had to cover whtever else including clothes, books, cinema tickets, make up, other leisure activities etc.
All of us learned how to budget, we each made some mistakes to start with but learned how to plan. It meant a lot fewer arguments with our parents about what we could or couldn't afford, and also meant that by the time we each left home we'd already good a good grasp of budgeting, planning etc and avoided getting into debt or making majot mistakes when we had 'real' money.