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Back to $chool

HA! I laugh at the idea of Old Navy being the cheap place to go. I do still agree that $500 is easily wasted in an price gouging, rich get richer - society.

I used to go to Walmart for clothes. They were cheap, then I found out the clothes were made as cheap as they cost.

I now go to Shopko because they actually have long shirts which I need. Shop online for everything else, I'm a big supporter of EBay. The answer is give money BACK to the people and stop feeding the Price Gougers!! I go back to Shopko because not only do they have my 'longs' but they are not Walmart. They are not the big and BIG and getting BIGGER companies that are taking over and monopolizing the public.

As America gets FARTHER ever day from what we wanted to be I say the smartest and the only people actually HELPING a cause in our economy aren't the ones who say WE NEED TO SPEND(middle class crap) but those who say.... We need to spend money BACK into the people. Help the poor or die with the rich.

The rich get richer.

George W. Bush must love the rising fuel costs as an oil barron himself. But as the cash crunch keeps on coming, I can still look forward to Utahns voting status quo and keep on sending the rich Republicans back to Washington.

"This budget crunch really is putting a damper on back-to-school. Who did we vote for last time? Oh yeah, they did a good job, check that box."

Wake up, this recession (yes RECESSION) was brought to you by 6 years of Republican controlled Congress, 8 Years of Republican White House, and 2 years of Democrats getting vetoed and stonewalled by those same Repubicans. So what will we do as Utahns? Vote in the same old party, with the same old people?

If you have only $500 to spend on clothes-you are not exactly poor. What's the matter with the sewing machine and washing machine? According to my calculations you bought 4 jeans per child. You only need 2 jeans per child-wash yer clothes lady. Dust off the sewing machine and make some clothes at a "discount" price.

If parents would support the school uniform programs the back to school costs for clothing would be much easier to bear. And the clothes would be of much better quality than the chineses throwaway 30 day garments. Uniforms could be passed down through large families and make school clothes shopping a simple task. There is value in a school uniform dress code beyond personal attitudes of students toward each other. Meanwhile, retail sellers don't get it yet and keep trying to convince the consumers they need to add more debt to their portifolio of already maxed out debt. Retailers and all businesses need to learn their is more to life than the indentured servitude of consumers and corporate mismanagement of its resources. The days of plenty really never existed as it was all a ruse buried in the annals of debt. Debt and prosperity can't co-exist, not for long anyway. Consumers have learned that plastic money really isn't a part of their income. Then to spend and save is impossible, antother ruse. Retailers are facing a reality unseen for 50 years, no middle class consumers anymore. Prosperity does not exist and the american dream to be self sufficient is deing.

I hadn't realized so many clothes came from China. I cringe to think of all the sweat-shop apparel I am wearing. I would rather pay more than wear slave-market goods; or support their lead export industry.

Her daughter was -complaining - becuase she only got one pair of shoes!!!! Oh my heck!!!! You know how many kids outside of Draper would consider one pair a blessing!!!!!!!!

Bob G is right about the school uniforms, my oldest child attended schools through the 4th grade that used uniforms, and it was amazing how much money was saved. The uniforms were so well made (and I made some too)that they lasted for years and were passed down to my other children.

When we moved, there were no more school uniforms and our clothing budget increased, even though I still make some clothing, it's expensive and I really wish for those uniform days!

Having uniforms are a positive in many ways, children dress alike, no one has better clothes than anyone else, which socially I think is helpful. We lived in an area where there were gangs, and the uniforms in schools helped with children dressing to identify with gangs. Why don't we incorporate school uniforms? There are so many positive aspects involved, it is something that might help!

I have to agree with S Car - only $500? That woman is not poor. Please, give me a break. We have a decent income, but I would never ever budget that much for school clothes. Is there something wrong with wearing clothes you already own? Or going to the thrift store and getting like-new clothes for a couple of bucks? My kids would be in heaven if I said OK we have $500 for clothes! The party would be on! It's just ridiculous that we are supposed to feel sorry for anyone who 'only' has $500. What a joke. We will be spending $100 max on all our 3 kids, and get a ton of stuff. What is the obsession in America with having to buy back-to-school clothes anyway? The whole idea is fed to us by the 'industry'. Use what you already have for goodness sake!

To S Car - You abviously havn't been to a fabric store lately. It costs much more to sew clothes as it does to buy them. The fabric alone is $5 - $10/ yard. It's why I've stopped sewing my kids clothes. However, my kids are already used to having me say no to buying everything they want. I also have them on a clothing allowance. Once it's gone it's gone. It's amazing how thrifty they can get.

I'm afraid sewing doesn't save a lot of money any more. It's hard to find fabric stores in many areas that carry more than crafting and quilting fabric. It's even harder to find quality clothing fabric and patterns that cost less than going out and buying the same middle-quality item of clothing. Does anyone know any secrets that can make sewing a real money-saver again?

After being in Utah for a year or so, it dawned on me the "back to school" ritual of new school supplies and new clothes was pretty lame. My kids had been out of school for three weeks before starting the next grade. They didn't need new clothes. Their crayons and pencils and notebooks still had a lot of use left. Life changes. Schedules change. We started taking a better look at our "traditional" buying patterns and made some changes that have been like "found" money to us which we've chosen to use for memorable vacations and long-term investments.

$500 on clothes?! That's ridiculous.
I did most of my back to school shopping at DI. (Fortunately my kids are still too young to care that their clothes are second hand.) It takes a little effort to sort through the junk to find the good stuff but you can find it.
My kids are going back to school in name brand clothes and it cost me $50.

I have to second the vote for Shopko. They have some really cute junior size clothes there all the time. Unfortunately, I have to buy my kids new clothes because they are teenage boys which means they are growing like weeds, and they wear their shoes and clothes out, so they can't be passed down (except for the Sunday ones). I won't be going to the mall, though. I'm also a teacher, so I usually like to buy some back to school clothes for me, too, but I probably won't this year.

Hey S Car, she's a single mother of 5 - that means she is probably working full time and then some. When is she going to find time to sew clothes??

We too give our boys a clothing allowance each month. Now that they have a budget, the DI doesn't look so bad. Besides, a lot of the clothes there are name brands and some of them have never been worn. In buying used clothes from the DI I feel like I am helping the earth by "reusing". What ever happened to that wonderful pioneer motto, "Fix it up, wear it out, make it do, or do without." ??

I have done some back to school shopping for grandchildren. I bought 6 outfits for $180.00 at JCPenneys. All items were on sale.

Sometimes more inexpensive clothing is really not a bargain because they don't hold up well. Some fabrics shrink too much and don't hold the shape.

Joanne's has a great selection of fabrics and they are always having a sale. I picked up cordury for 3 a yard a few weeks ago. They also have about one weekend a month when patterns are around 1. You can sign up to receive coupons for 40% off also. My daughter will be uniforms this year, and I have made about half of what she will need. Shopko had great uniform clothing for a really great price also.

Discover the joys of thrift-store shopping. You can buy all your school clothes for only 50-100 bucks. I don't bother with DI (too many 80s clothes, ha) but I'm an avid Savers fan. The Savers in Layton is my fav, though the ones in Orem and on 70th south are pretty good too. Also the DI in West Jordan isn't bad. With thrift stores I can find much more eccentric outfits that fit my style. Budget $20 a month and visit every 2 weeks or so and you can build up a pretty snazzy wardrobe. The only other place I get clothes is Hot Topic. The only problem is there you have to buy it from a vampire. :)

Just went to ShopKo and got out of there for $130 buying clothes for my 13 year old and 11 year old. We also got a lot of pencils, notebooks, etc. included in that price.

Nice clothes at a great price.

However, even if you buy the cheap stuff it only has to last one year before they outgrow it anyway!

It isn't hard if you just look around for sales.

Even better, just tell the whining kids no!

I'm sure there is spare time out there. I'm not saying it's easy, but oh well that's life. People worked a lot more hours 50-60 years ago, and got by on a lot less. Instead of looking for someone to blame, or trying to figure out a way to have the governemnt give us something. Let's do what our our ancestors did, and make it work.