Comments on: Back-to-School Shopping

By: Rebecca

Rebecca — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 17:02:21 +0000

Yeah, I don’t get the back-to-school = new wardrobe connection either. I don’t recall getting one new outfit ever on the pretext that it was “back to school” time. I got new clothes when my old ones were worn or I’d grown out of them, which had no correlation at all with the new school year.

By: Melissa

Melissa — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 13:17:19 +0000

Kristin couldn’t have said it better! As i was reading through the responses i was thinking the same things. I can definitely understand the need for new shoes for gym and outside, but the rest of it – doesn’t really make sense to me either.

By: kristin

kristin — Fri, 22 Aug 2008 01:10:05 +0000

mine isn’t in school yet but i don’t get ‘back to school’ shopping all together. aside from school supplies, why do we need a new wardrobe every september again???
you need new clothes when the old ones are worn or don’t fit, and whether that’s in april or september, i think this may just be another marketing trap.
i may be missing something but it seems like one more reason that the retailers have created to get you to spend your money when you may not have to.
k.

By: Tracy J

Tracy J — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 19:32:05 +0000

Yes! Budgeting, recycling and flyer shopping were all done this year!
I learned something about my son too.
You see, he had his list and we had gone through last year’s supplies to see what could be salvaged. One thing he needed was pens. (He HATES cheap pens and destroys them quickly) This year, instead of automatically buying the jumbo bulk pack to survive the year’s wanton mayhem, I asked him what would be better for him. He picked out a really nice looking metal pen for $10 and promised to care for it…. if it works, and he has pride of ownership that is terrific! It ate into his budget, but he thought it would be worthwhile so I let him.
Last year’s shoes are letting the toes escape so we had to get both boys fresh shoes (gym and outside shoes), they said they didn’t care if they had any fresh clothes so we will wait for the next growth spurt for them — hooray.

By: Nicki

Nicki — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 16:31:02 +0000

Last weekend my kids and I went to do our back to school shopping. Luckily both of their teachers for the upcoming school year sent lists home with their report cards last June of exactly what school supplies were needed. We took advantage of as many sales as possible, and as well what we already have at home, and spent $50 for the two of them (Grade 1 and Grade 5). I have learned that my kids have growth spurts in late winter/early spring, so I no longer buy back to school clothing for them, except for one pair of new running shoes each (unless I already had to buy new ones over the summer due to growth). I just bought both kids new pants in the spring due to the aforementioned growth spurts, and they will likely still be wearing summer clothes for the first part of the school year. I offered to buy each of them a new top for the first day, because I had room in the budget, plus it is nice having something special to wear on the first day when you are nervous. My daughter took me up on it and got a t-shirt ($13.00) with her favourite characters on it, but my son decided he has enough and it didn’t matter to him. I also got a great sale a couple of weeks ago on backpacks.

Growing up, I can see now that my parents were quite frugal, although I didn’t realize it at the time and certainly didn’t feel like I was missing anything. I guess that’s where I learned it. I remember I would get one new outfit for the first day of school.

By: Stephanie

Stephanie — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 16:08:23 +0000

Back to school at my house as a kid ment one outfit and a new pair of tennis shoes. If I had to guess it was always sale items. My moms reasoning for this was both my sister and I didn’t have a growth spirt until winter. She saw no reason to buy new clothes for us to grow out of. We only got new clothes when the ones we had were either worn out or didn’t fit anymore. My sister and I never felt if was an issue.

By: sandra

sandra — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 14:34:43 +0000

This made me laugh this morning.I hope that my daughter reads this today. Here’s my story of back to school shopping this year. My soon to be 16 year old was given 150.00 to go back to school shopping a few weeks ago.Thats my financial limit for her clothing budget for back to school, as I bought the supplies, which totaled $55.00 (including a stainless steel water bottle and lunch bag). She went through her closet and figured out what she needed and bagged up everything she no longer wanted or fit to donate to the Salvation Army. Her want/need list was not huge, t-shirts. jeans, cardigans, scarves, turtlenecks. A week before she went back to school shopping she spotted a pair of boots for $150.00. She wanted them, but did not buy them at the time, as she needed to think about the spending that much on footwear. She went shopping (sans mother)and came home with the BOOTS and nothing else that day.She decided that she could make do with what she already has. She had some money saved from working odd jobs, and bought for herself a few t-shirts, accessories and a cardigan. I have to add that she was responsible enough to buy the wax and spray to protect the boots and has did this as soon as she came home with the boots, as she wants to keep her investment in tip-top shape. (yes her boots are an investment to her mind, as she breaks down the number of times she wears them verses the cost.) LOL. Thanks again for the great posts.