Tips and OS recipes for larger families....

ness_w

I have six children and an old draughty house, they all seem to need money spent on them all the time. The big one at the moment is kitting dd1 out for secondary school, with an equipment list as long as your arm nearly all only from the school itself or a named supplier, grrrr. Anyway, I think I need to start saving money old style and could use some general guidelines or tips. I already cook mostly from scratch (vegetarian) but our food bills are outrageous. I also spend a fortune on clothes, shoes, etc, but absolutely nothing on going out, holidays or anything like that.

Thanks for any advice, Ness.

Hapless_2

Personally I would go to the school and say, can't afford named supplier, they will go to school in asda (tesco etc whatever) uniform or go naked. But them I am slightly confrontational.

natzini

Can you not get the uniform 2nd hand? When I was a kid our school uniform was lovely but expensive. I grew up in a 'Sink' area so many kids passed their 11+ and wanted to go to the school, but couldn't afford the uniform new, so the school had a fabulous 2nd hand uniform shop. Try and get what you can from supermarkets etc... I remember Mum getting my blouses from Asda and M&S as they were much cheaper than other places, plus seemed to last longer! My blazer was from M&S, £10 cheaper, better quality and so much more comfortable!

Penelope_Penguin

ness_w wrote: »

I have six children and an old draughty house, they all seem to need money spent on them all the time. The big one at the moment is kitting dd1 out for secondary school, with an equipment list as long as your arm nearly all only from the school itself or a named supplier, grrrr.
Thanks for any advice, Ness.

The CAB did a campaign recently, with exactly those concerns. Schools are now advised that uniform must be mainly available from *high street* shops.

Is it a state school?

Penny. x

Angelraesunshine

most schools do allow you to wear cheaper brand uniform these days. I work for a primary school and run the pta.

My advice would be to approach the pta/ friends of as they usually deal with the 2nd hand uniform we sell ours of really cheap at 20p to £1 an item. if you dont have one or they wont get you any I would go speak to the head teacher if they are approachable, explain the circumstances saythat you are finding it so hard and that your children need new uniform which you cant afford and if it was possible would you be able to put a small contribution in for having some of teh 2nd hand uniform/ lost property uniform they have. I cant to be honest think they would say no.


I know if a parent approached our head, the head would contact me to sort out some items for them to have. so much lost property is un named and not claimed i am doing a uniform sale on thursday for our school and we have 4 dustbin sacks full since about 6 months ago when we did the last one and 2 sacks from that one left over
( though to be honest i am getting 1st picks for my 3 kids hehehe the perks)

As for clothes for you my friend who is of a larger size finds she gets better clothes from ebay than from shops and a far better price and nicer stuff, so i would stick to that for you. I personnally love ebay still.


Thinking to secondary school it was a few years back and i am not sure if they still do it but my mum when i went was given help towards uniform as she was of a low income at the time, though i guess it depends on your circumstances but it is worth a telephone call or a search.

I am adding a link for you but if you do a google search for your area that may help but THIS

Should give you an idea of what i am talking about.

Good luck

lil_me

Also depends on location with grants, where we live this is what they offer

Durham County Council do not offer assistance towards the cost of school uniform, however, help may be available from the School Benevolent Fund which is a private fund administered by the Local Education Authority. Providing applicants meet the necessary criteria, a grant of up to £25.00 towards the cost of a winter coat or a pair of shoes will be awarded per eligible pupil. Assistance is only available to pupils of compulsory school age (Reception to Year 11) and pupils are only entitled to assistance from the Fund twice during their school life – once during Primary Education and again during Secondary Education

Changes very much from area to area.

I also hate the fact schools state where uniform should be bought, one senior school where I live the tracksuit for gym alone is £70, if a parent says they can't provide these items they are told they shouldn't have applied to that school. Why not just have the school badges on sale so the parents can put them on I don't know. I also dislike that most of the uniforms round here are very dark colours, inc 2 with black blazer and sweaters, on dark nights when these kids are going home you just can't see them!

My Dad I remember had issues with this aswell when me and my sister were at senior school, more so because they changed the uniform 3 times in 5 years! My Mam got someone else to embroider my sisters sweaters at less than half the cost the school wanted, noone noticed for months until my sister mentioned it.

COOLTRIKERCHICK

last september my eldest started comp.... and i was panicking as i could only buy the uniform from the school.. whick is totally wrong imo..... managed just to get kitted out for first day.. but since then i have bought his school uniform from the local charity shop....

this year my other son is going to the same comp.... so i have now started going to the charity shop regular to get first pickings of the school uniforms handed in...

managed to get 2 pairs of black trs...for a £1. each.. m & s ones at that....

as for clothes etc.....as kids grow sooo quickly it is border lining whether to buy them in charity shops for somewhere like matalan etc..... depending on the age of them of coarse..

katherinedrex

I remember when our first son started secondary school and the stuff we had to get. As we had 2 more to follow, 1 the year after and then another a few years later, I kept all the outgrown uniform and sports stuff on one assigned shelf in one of my wardrobes. They were all past down in good condition just outgrown. Obviously trousers were usually worn at the knees so had to buy a couple of new pairs but most of the uniform etc was still in good conditions even football boots. As long as you look after them they are as good as new for the next one. Lucky I had all boys don't know what I would have done if I had had girls as well.:eek:

But why is it when they get to year 10 they suddenly change the colour of the school jumpers? So they can make more money from us

troll35

Our nearest secondary school has different coloured polo shirts/sweatshirts for each year group. They do keep the same colour through their time there, but it makes it difficult to pass clothes on either to your younger children or to friends. When my eldest nephew started secondary school the list of clothing was huge, my sister duly scrimped to buy it all and then found that half of it went unworn..eg rugby shirt, played once but no advance warning given so everyone had to wear normal gym kit, football boots - all outdoor PE done on astroturf. After that she only bought the basics and then got any extras as an when totally necessary.
I have to agree with the general concensus, schools do often seem to be trying to rip parents off. I think the only part of a school uniform that should need to have a badge is the blazer (and then you should be able to sew it on yourself).

edit - to OP have you tried a wanted ad. on your local freecycle?

aussielle

I agree with the poster that said contact the school...

Only last week my friend was telling me that now her son had finished his GCSEs she was going to donate his blazer and other uniform to the school. She said that they only accept the nearly new stuff, and use it to help out the parents who can't afford to kit out their kids.

Presumably they'd only know someone was having trouble funding the cost of uniform if the parent got in touch

I thought it was a really good idea!

me_and_me_monkeys

DS school has arranged for ASDA to come to our school open day with their uniform for sale so parents can get the cheapest uniform possible - and only in the correct school colours so hopefully our kids will all look very smart next year!