Maxi will be going in to year three and Mini in to Year two in September and as a budgeting mum I have become quite experienced in finding the best deals for school uniform and was challenged by vouchercodes.co.uk to try and kit them out for £80 and I wanted to share with you my top tips.
I have been amazed at the quality and cost of school uniforms on offer from the supermarkets this year. We were sent some Aldi school uniforms, which are amazing value and seem to be comparable to the other uniform we have tried out in the quality stakes, my only issue being the trousers do not have adjustable waists (but what can you expect for £1.50 a pair), but you can always buy a snake belt.
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Retailer
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Polo
shirts
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Sweaters
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Trousers/skirts
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Overall
cost
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Comments
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£1.25
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£1.25
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£1.50
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£4
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Offer starts on 2nd August. Same price regardless of size.
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75p each
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£2
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£1.75
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£4.50
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Prices apply to ages 3 – 16.
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£1.25 each
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£2
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£2
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£5.25
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For ages 3-5 only. Prices go up incrementally for older children.
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£1.25 each
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£2
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£3
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£6.25
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Prices apply to ages 3 - 16
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£1.50
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£3
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£3.50
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£8
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For ages 3 – 5 only. Prices go up for incrementally older children
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£2.50 each
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£3.00
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£4.00
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£9.50
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Prices from 4-6 only. Prices go
up for incrementally older children
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I have to say that I love Aldi's school coats (£9.99) and went and bought one for each of the boys. They have had them for the last three years and they have washed and worn exceptionally well.
Shoes are the one thing that take my shop over the £80 mark, as I insist on Clarks shoes for the boys, especially Mini has he has ultra wide feet with a high instep. This year Mini's shoes were £42 and his plimsolls £9. Both boys need to have trainers for school for outdoor sports, so for Mini these have to be from Clarks again and cost £24 for the Clarks outlet shop.
My top tips on saving on Uniform are:
- Buy generic sweaters and find a local embroiderer who will put the school badge on them. Our village one charges £4 for a badge.
- Buy earlier as you can as lots of the shops have offers on. Sainsburys often have a 25% off and Marks and Spencer were offering 20% off earlier in the summer
- Don't buy shorts. Turn any trouser which are too small or have damaged knees in to shorts by cutting them and wonderwebing hems.
- Buy an elastic belt to help keep trousers up.
- Clothes Plasters are a great way of making trousers last longer.
- Buy short sleeved shirts. Schools are warm places and there is no need for long sleeves
- Always check for offers on sites such as vouchercodes
Clothes plasters are a new one on me - will have to look them up and I have a very destructive 9 year old! I struggle to save on shoes which are generally £40 a pair (and with two kids that's my budget blown!). I won't buy shoes that haven't been properly fitted which is part of my problem I suppose - but thanks for the tips on clothes - much appreciated!
ReplyDeleteI have just stumbled upon your blog, it's great, definitely being bookmarked for me! I have an 8 yr old and 11 yr old and am always looking for ways to save money. Unfortunately my children's school has brown uniform and good polo shirts, neither of which are readily available in supermarkets/discount stores. I would agree with shopping early, my son has always been a few sizes ahead of his age (currently age 13-14) and once he hit age 10 clothes I found it harder and harder to buy him school trousers in the bigger sizes (asda is my favourite for grey school pants) so now I stock up. He is off to senior school soon and the uniform is black trousers/jumper/blazer and white shirt so hooray finally I can get cheaper uniform instead of paying school shop prices, will start shopping now though to stock up!
ReplyDeleteSue x