School uniforms | Imamother

amother

Royalblue

Fri, Aug 07 2015, 12:24 pm

With little kid's it probably costs more than dressing them in whatever, but once they turn into tweens and then teens depending on your kid you could be saving hundreds of dollars. This definitely depends on your daughter's personality and who her friends are but even buying 3 uniform skirts, 2 sweaters/sweatshirts and 5 shirts (which is a lot according to the owner of the local uniform store) is way cheaper than the clothing you'd have to buy for a clothes conscious teenager. (Who would NOT be willing to wear the same outfit twice in one week Rolling Eyes

)

seeker

Fri, Aug 07 2015, 12:46 pm

The uniforms are definitely expensive to buy new, if you have a specific design and not the plain solid navy or whatever that's sold all over. I agree with amother above that when they get older it is a huge savings - they only need a few skirts and you can buy them on the long side and they will last a few years. For little kids it's much more of a hassle, I'm finding - they are growing faster and because they're smaller in the first place there's less room to buy something bigger - if it's a few inches too long it'll be down to the ankles, but if it's not then they outgrow it that year. But oh well, you can't win it all. I'm feeling pinched arranging our first round of uniforms right now but at the same time EAGERLY looking forward to not having any more battles over what to wear on a given day.

PinkFridge

Fri, Aug 07 2015, 1:05 pm

I was somewhat torn originally; there is the idea of letting kids make good decisions. But I see too many pros. They still have enough non school time to need civilian clothes, and the lack of choices does make things a lot simpler. Probably cheaper too in the long run. For years I had a uniform bin that my kids would raid, and there is also a decently stocked uniform gemach. (Of course my kids did get new skirts/blouses as needed, and by needed I mean if they needed fresh stuff for their self-esteem [hopefully often enough].)
I never really crunched numbers - uniforms vs. clothes.

AFA school supplies go, I also had a school supply bin, stocked with paper, folders, dividers, glue sticks, notebooks, etc. that when really cheap I overbought. Of course there were the last minute additions, or things we couldn't find cheap, but I don't remember feeling resentful or annoyed. Having spent some time in the classrooms too, I really appreciate how much cheshboning the teachers do, at least some of them. Really, there is a rhyme and reason.

sotired3

Fri, Aug 07 2015, 1:09 pm

My kids are still young, so I guess I'm not reaping the benefits of uniforms yet. As far as school supplies go, I see I have to start stocking up on school supplies whenever their on sale. I let my daughter come with me to the store to pick, and ended up spending more than I anticipated.

PinkFridge

Fri, Aug 07 2015, 1:11 pm

sotired3 wrote:

No wonder you're sotired Wink

It's a hard call. You want to let them pick, but how much can they besides, say backpack and a few other things? Before the school mandated solid folders, dd would pick one or two say, Lisa Frank folders.