Does Anyone else WAIT until school starts to clothes shop?

[Mickeys.friend]

I am just curious. We are just flat busted broke right now....This Summer was horrible We were able to pick up a backpack and a few school supplies at 5 Below for our daughter. The issue is school clothes. We simply are not going to be able to afford to buy anything new before school starts. I have tried explaining to her that it's still warm enough to wear her Summer clothes and she will not need new jeans, etc...for a while. But, she is bugging me every day to go shopping...I admit that we can usually buy a few new thing before the first day and last year things were a bit better so she got more than a few things....However, I don't think it's so horrible to wait...I think the sales would be better...and I could afford to get more. Am I being a big meanie (although I don't really have a choice) by waiting or do some of you do the same???

 

[MickeyHereWeCome!]

I always wait!

I do let dd pick out a first day outfit, since that is important to her. My boys could care less what they wear (for now). I'd much rather wait until they go to school to see what their friends are wearing, and then make decisions. Plus, around here it will stay warm through October sometimes, so they wear shorts anyway.

We usually look for fall/winter clothes in early October...and can usually find good sales then.

 

[Darcy03231]

I've always waited. My kids are still wearing their summer clothes when school starts (I live in NH). I start buying their winter/fall clothes usually sometime toward the beginning to mid-October. They're older so they usually have enough to get by with when the weather turns a bit cooler.

As long as your child has clothes that fit and are appropriate for the weather, I wouldn't bother buying new clothes.

 

[GoofyBaseballMom26]

No you are not being a meanie at all.... you can only do what you can do. I'm sure her clothes are perfectly acceptable and that you are not sending her to school in rags!

I never went school clothes shopping. I bought my son clothes when he needed them, not based on the school year. But I realize boys are different.. they don't really care, at least mine didn't.

Just do what you can afford and don't feel at all guilty!!!

 

[espana94]

I usually pick up one or two inexpensive items, t-shirts, etc before school starts, just so they have one fun, new thing to wear. Otherwise, I wait to buy everything until about the 3rd week of school. The clearance is still good and my DDs know that if they wait, they will get more for our money.

Last week we ran into fantastic shoe clearance at our local Target. Both girls got 4 pairs of shoes (8 total) and I only spent $33. DD14 got two pairs of blue canvas boat shoes for $2.24 each! That was our before school starts shopping. Everything else will be bought after Labor Day.

 

[dzorn]

I am just curious. We are just flat busted broke right now....This Summer was horrible We were able to pick up a backpack and a few school supplies at 5 Below for our daughter. The issue is school clothes. We simply are not going to be able to afford to buy anything new before school starts. I have tried explaining to her that it's still warm enough to wear her Summer clothes and she will not need new jeans, etc...for a while. But, she is bugging me every day to go shopping...I admit that we can usually buy a few new thing before the first day and last year things were a bit better so she got more than a few things....However, I don't think it's so horrible to wait...I think the sales would be better...and I could afford to get more. Am I being a big meanie (although I don't really have a choice) by waiting or do some of you do the same???

Yep we wait. They will get one new outfit for the first day then we will shop as needed. I also don't have a clothes budget for back to school. We will go through their winter/fall clothes from last year and then go from there. We also go over the difference from want and need. We buy needed things. Wants can come from her money or Christmas.

Denise in MI

 

[Shelly888]

Nope, not being a meanie! Any chance of finding a clearance steal on a new summer outfit seeing as how she will likely wear it at lest a month or a bit more? Maybe by next spring it will still fit?

 

[princessmorgan]

You're not being a meanie by not buying clothes you can't afford

It's being responsible. There will be no shortage of clothes! That being said, I've bought quite a few things already, because there have been really good sales. Plus retailers get things for new seasons so early, so certain things might run out. Like the Gap has coats right now (it's still HOT here), but when it gets cold enough to wear these coats, they'll be sold out. Sometimes you have to buy ahead for certain things.

 

[momto2inKC]

We hardly ever buy clothes just because school is starting. The kids are still wearing shorts/tshirts until October here. I do start shopping a little bit here and there in Sept for fall clothes. They do get new lunchboxes and shoes. This year neither wanted a new backpack.

 

[Mickeys.friend]

Thanks guys...I feel better about it now! As a child, I never went shopping for clothes before school started either....I can't even afford to buy anything on clearance this year.We've been "robbing Peter to pay Paul" all Summer and now Peter is broke and we still owe Paul, LOL... My husband drives a school bus for special needs children and his Summer work was pittiful...and i just took care of the kids and the neighbor's and my friend's kids all Summer for pretty much just the cost to feed them....Next week I start doing some 'real" paid child care and hubby gets back to regular work so by late September I should be able to buy some things...

 

[donnaf516]

We wait also. A new outfit for first day of school and that's about it. It's still so hot so they continue to wear summer stuff for the first month or two. I normally start shopping for fall/winter items in October.

 

[ChefMickey123]

I had a lot of Hand-Me-Downs from cousins. Don't overextend yourself. Tell your kids the truth about money, my parents did, and it hurt, but I am much better with my own for it now. I'm not a parent, but I have not forgotten my childhood.

 

[Mickeys.friend]

@ChefMickey...YES...I do definately agree with what you've said. Our oldest (son) is 16 and he knows what's what...I think it makes him appreciate what he does have...and he's offered to buy his own backpack and supplies with his Birthday money to help out...I think boys are different...he really does not care just yet about "new" stuff to start school my daughter, on the other hand is 10 and sees and hears about all her little friends shopping for clothes, etc....I know of at least one parent of a friend of hers that is sooo indebt and yet she buys her kid a new wardrobe every season...I don't get it....I am glad to hear that there are other's like me

 

[kyra's mommy]

Just curious how old your dd is? I have an 8 yr. old girl ( very skinny though ) so maybe if your dd is younger I could send some things my dd has outgrown to you. I'm not sure what we have but I'd be happy to help out.

 

[AndreaDM]

I always wait, there is nothing that is needed when school starts in August when it's still warm. I feel like my DD hardly got to wear all the new summer clothes I bought her just a few months ago, so I'm hoping it stays nice through Sept. so she can get some use out of them. We buy clothing etc. as they are needed, not because it's a certain season or because school is starting.

 

[Mickeys.friend]

Aww thanks Kyra'sMommy but my Mary is 10 and wears a size 14(sometimes a 12 if it's not skinny) in pants and tops... I do appreciate the offer though! I know our local Salvation Army store has everything half price tomorrow. i am going to see what i can sell on craigslist, etc today and hopefully make a few bucks to go check out what's there...I have seen brand new clothes with tags on them on occasion!

 

[QVCshopper]

My kids are young (in K and 1st), but I'm not planning on doing any school shopping. I was just organizing their clothes this morning, putting outfits together and pulling out the small stuff to give to the cousins.

I will pick up a couple pairs of pants if I ever find them for cheap, since the kids grew a lot since last winter. But, I mostly pick up good used items and clearance as I find them all year and we just go off of that.

If you have any consignment sales near you, I did get my kids some great stuff for less than $10 total this weekend, including a tags attached Gymboree shirt, Gap Xmas taffeta skirt, Gymboree skirt, Heartstrings sweater, and an adorable Xmas hoodie from Disney World (which I love).

Just tell your DD the truth; I'm always telling mine what things cost, how much I want to spend, etc. They are starting to get it.

 

[scrapquitler]

I am just curious. We are just flat busted broke right now....This Summer was horrible We were able to pick up a backpack and a few school supplies at 5 Below for our daughter. The issue is school clothes. We simply are not going to be able to afford to buy anything new before school starts. I have tried explaining to her that it's still warm enough to wear her Summer clothes and she will not need new jeans, etc...for a while. But, she is bugging me every day to go shopping...I admit that we can usually buy a few new thing before the first day and last year things were a bit better so she got more than a few things....However, I don't think it's so horrible to wait...I think the sales would be better...and I could afford to get more. Am I being a big meanie (although I don't really have a choice) by waiting or do some of you do the same???

I always wait. I buy a backpack and school supplies before school starts. I don't buy clothes until the end of Sept/early October, when they go on sale.

Our schools don't have Air Conditioning, so it's pretty hot in the classrooms the first 4 or 5 weeks anyway, so the kids aren't going to be wearing all the jeans/long sleeve clothes that are sold for back to school anyway, at least not those first few weeks. Waiting also lets my child see what kind of things her friends are wearing and then she can decide what she wants to get based on that.

My DDs birthday is in mid-October, so by waiting, I don't have to buy as much, because she always gets clothes for her birthday from her grandmas

 

[momplus3]

I never buy winter clothes for the start of school by DS10 and DS12 are growing like weeds and by the time it gets cooler out, the jeans I would buy in August would probably be too short by October. Also, they both will wear shorts until I put my foot down that it is too cold.

I did buy each of them new t-shirts and shorts at VERY good clearance prices. They also got new socks and underwear and tennis shoes - also at very good prices. (I spent $ 15 per pair - one pair is a man's NIKE hightop an the other is an Avia basketball shoe - I had Kohl's cash and 15% off coupons and it was a great sale!) Overall, we spent approx $150 on 2 boys for back-to-school.

 

[DebMcDonald]

I used to wait, but this year some of the same were very good that I went ahead and did everything, so we're now done until x-mas shopping and winter clothes.