It's official. The money tree in the back yard is completely wilted, dried up and dead, DEAD, DEAD!! This evening I took the girls clothes shopping for back to school. By the way, we're still not done!
Oh, how I remember when I was in school and we wore uniforms. My mother would buy two new shirts and four new pairs of socks a year. That's it. My blazer, sweater and 4 skirts saw me through four years of high school. I even wore the same gray boat shoes the entire four years as well. Of course that was high school and I wasn't growing tall, TALL, TALL....but still...come on, people! Give me a break!!
The girls decided they wanted to go to a specific store since they had sat down and circled everything they wanted in the catalog. Somehow they had managed to dig the catalog out of the recycling bin (obviously I didn't hide it well enough). And of course this store also calls you after they send out their catalog. "Erin" leaves a pre-recorded message on the answering machine reminding you to hurry in to the store and buy, BUY, BUY! Off we went to the store only to discover that if they each were to choose two items a piece the total would come to $100. Well, that's no way to build up your fall wardrobe. No-sir-ee! Not happening, my friends. Out the door we went to one of my favorite stores to replicate all of the current fashion combos but for a fraction of the cost. We had fun picking out and pairing together outfits and though we saved buckets of money we still spent a nice size chunk. And did I mention...WE'RE STILL NOT DONE?
When we were checking out the girls asked me how much I thought the total would come to. I looked at everything we bought (in addition to the clothes I also had two bottles of bleach, 24 Kraft cheese sticks and dishwasher tablets). I guessed between $200-250. Wrong-o! How about $310!!
How's your back-to-school shopping going? Do your children wear uniforms? Do you go shopping with a pre-determined amount for each child? Do you foot the entire bill or do your children have to pay a portion?
When we were checking out the cashier told my girls they should remember to tell their mom and dad thank you for buying them these things. There are some kids who do not get enough food to eat let alone new clothes for school. And it's true. We are blessed. So truly blessed.
But I do need to find a way to revive that money tree.
19 tweets and twitters:
We won't have to deal with the school uniform issue for one more year, but that is a really interesting thought of having the kids pay for part of it.
I can imagine some would say that is just horrible and it's the parent's job to provide the necessities, etc...
BUT...I think that could be a really cool way to teach children about budgeting and how to decide between needs and wants.
When you revive yours let me know how you did it so I can save mine too! Graham is my oldest starting Kindergarten tomorrow (snif!) but I spent about $200 on him for new shorts, shirts, socks, undies, etc etc. What is hard for us is that school is year round, so he needs summer AND winter wardrobe for school. I'm broke!
I hear you - I spent $125 today on 4 pairs of shoes (none were for me, btw). I tell my children I will by them a specific amount of clothing items (so many pants, tops, etc), and how much I am willing to pay, which I base on the prices of the less expensive stores. They make up the difference. And if they are really good about it, which they have been, then I just might splurge on a couple of extra things. I've told them that when they stop growing I will buy them some good quality clothing (my oldest wanted a leather jacket a couple of years ago, for example - that has to wait until he'll be wearing it for a loooooong time!). I still spend tons of money throughout the year, but it could be worse.
Try watering the tree. A little sunlight, maybe? ;]
When you revive that tree will you give me a small seedling?? We don't have to worry about the new clothes for school thing with homeschool, but the boy will need some pants and stuff for fall and winter.
Elise
Another perk to homeschooling...I think C4's boxers are about $2 each. Ha! Sounds like fun to shop, though...especially for girls. One of my favorites it Kohls. Have you tried there?
P.S. Next time you speak to "Erin", tell her to quit calling me.
SO thankful to not be dealing with that yet. My kids wear 95% hand-me-downs from their cousins and friends and are happy about it.
They are also blessed to have a mom who is so fashion savvy!
I hear you about that money tree! BC's glasses just ran us $275ish. Yikes!!! Not fun but what can you do? Not a thing! I am sure the girls will look wonderful in their new clothes. Can't wait to see what they decide on for the first day of school!
Ah, yes, clothes shopping with the girls. Oh, how I remember those days; wait it's not over yet even though they are married. Now I have grand kids to buy for and three sons still at home!
Here's a tip, when raising girls, boys, and grand kids, you need MULTIPLE money trees, that way when one dies you can start on the next one! It's what I do! I have a forest of them!
I will have a cute post to make about the money trees! Thanks so much for the idea! It'll post this week sometime!
So glad Evie's still little enough that I can buy the bulk of her "new" clothes from Once Upon a Child. I certainly don't look forward to the day when she's heading off to school and needs a whole new wardrobe. There is NOTHING better than uniforms! Of course, we didn't think that when we were IN high school but once we were paying our own bills, oh my, how uniforms just seem like the perfect thing!
I'm so excited, I have two in school in the fall! Chris in 1st grade and Anneli in Preschool.No uniforms here, but I think it would be much easier. We are actually all done our school shopping from clothes to backpacks. We just need to get shoes later in August. I hit some pretty good sales this summer--including Talbot Kids closing with 75% off!! I LOVE SHOPPING! The bulk of their clothes came from Talbot Kids, Gap, LLBean and Anneli got a few dresses from The Children's Place. I buy way too much, but I probably only spent about $400-$475 total so far. I've also got some Christmas shopping done...you know me..I like to be done by Halloween! :)
Oh Rae...I feel your pain. I too just completed school shopping for...teenagers...who cannot just wear anything. Thankfully they do wear uniform shirts, but jeans/pants and shoes are still a must, oh and yes they cannot possibly use the same backpack two years on a row...it is unheard of. I cut way back this year and didn't do as much and I am sure they will look wonderful and live to tell:)
When you figure out how to revive your money tree, share those tips. ;)
is it me or is the price of clothing going up too?
Hi Rae,
I'm so excited! My kids start tomorrow. We finished school clothes shopping last week. I don't have a predetermined amount. I just buy what they need. The weather here stays consistent so we don't need a lot of heavy clothes. My youngest had plenty of shorts so we just bought shirts. My daughter buys clothes when she has the money. So she was easy to buy for. My middle child needed everything. He grew a ton this summer. Anyhoo I can't wait for school to start. At least now I can pee in peace. ;-)
I'm lucky that my seven year olds birthday is right before school starts, so she gets a lot of clothes that way. But she still needs more, and now my 4 year old is starting preschool so he'll need a few things too. My favorite is the outlet stores in Park City, but now gas is so expensive, I can't talk the hubby into going.
I totally feel your pain...posting on this very same thing later tonight or tomorrow!
My son is entering Kindergarten this year and they wear uniforms. Polo shirts with ths schhol emblem. Black dress pants and shoes. I love it. My youngest is in pre k and she wheres just about anything. If you figure out how to bring life into that tree, please pass the info on because my tree has flatlined.
i have some thoughts on this, i need to post them, they'd be useful as your kids get older, especially.
We haven't done the clothes thing yet, however we did spend $86 at Walmart and another $35 at Staples on supplies that were listed on the website from their school. Ugh!
We have $85 shoes on order for the boy and the girl was good with $35 Skechers.
I'm just glad they can still wear their summer clothes to school for a while - I need time to save up for the new fall clothes.
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