Clothing

Clothing Kids on a Budget (Because £90 Trainers for a 7-Year-Old? Absolutely Not.)

Big brands are great. Everyone wants their kids to look their best, but let’s be real: who’s paying £90 for a pair of trainers for a 7-year-old just because they’ve got a UK size 4 foot? Or £150 on a tracksuit that’ll be wrecked in the park within the week? Not me. Not today.

I’m a mum of five. I work full time, run a house, keep a car on the road, and fund my children’s unhealthy snack habits (crisps alone could bankrupt me). Throwing silly money at clothes is not an option. Luckily, I’ve picked up a few tips and tricks for clothing kids on a budget — without them looking like extras from Oliver Twist.

1. If It’s Not Outgrown or Broken, Keep It

My kids wear clothes with stains. Not the dodgy pasta-sauce-all-over-a-white-top kind of stains — more like paint splatters, grass smears, or marker pen doodles. And do you know what? We embrace it.

Those marks are memories. The paint was from a masterpiece. The grass stain? Earned while carrying a pizza slice onto the trampoline. The pen marks? Probably homework avoidance, but still. Clothes with character are better than empty bank accounts.

Save the pristine outfits for “nice days out.” Which, let’s be honest, are rare here because my kids are basically feral. We’re the park gang, and we wear the stains proudly.

2. Vinted (and Charity Shops) Are My Secret Weapon

I don’t just scroll Vinted for one item — I stalk the seller’s whole page, fill my basket, and rinse those multi-buy discounts. The bargains are unreal. Just the other week I got my 3-year-old:

• A pair of Nike Air Force trainers

• A pair of Adidas trainers

• A Zara hoodie

• A Zara raincoat

• Two pairs of jeans

• Two Minecraft t-shirts

…all for £12.00 (with delivery it came to £15.75). Absolute madness.

And it gets better. One seller was flogging clothes at £1 each with 20% off. I bagged trousers, tops, a coat, a bag, and two pairs of shoes for £18.99 delivered. You can’t even get a decent pair of work trousers for that price!

Then came my charity shop jackpot: a pair of On Cloud trainers (yep, the ones that retail for £90 in sports shops) for my 7-year-old… for £4. FOUR QUID. I nearly skipped out of the shop with them — until I remembered I was juggling a toddler tantrum and a multipack of Wotsits.

I might be a mom of five, but honestly? I’m also a professional bargain hunter. A secret thrifter. My happy place is the charity shop rails.

3. New Clothes (When You Have No Choice)

There are some things I do buy new — mainly school uniforms and shoes — purely to avoid the playground politics and shithead bullying. But even then, I hunt for deals.

This year I got all four older kids’ school shoes from Deichmann, where it’s buy-one-get-one-half-price. Uniform basics? Supermarkets all the way. Shirts, skirts, trousers — cheap, durable, and nobody can tell the difference.

The real sting? High school jumpers at £36 each and ties at £8 a pop. Disgusting. My work outfits don’t even cost £36 each, so why on earth does a child’s school jumper come with a luxury price tag?

I used to be fully in favour of uniforms — they’re meant to create equality and unity, stop kids comparing outfits, and prevent bullying. But when prices are this high, parents are forced to send kids in last year’s too-small jumper because it’s simply not affordable. Something needs to change. Honestly? I think schools should supply the branded stuff (jumpers and ties) and let parents buy the rest from supermarkets. Put a real mom in charge and we’d have it sorted by tea time.

Final Mom Truth

Clothing five kids on a budget takes energy, creativity, and a strong sense of humour. But it is possible — with a bit of Vinted sleuthing, charity shop hunting, and refusing to panic about grass stains.

Because one day, when they’ve grown up and are buying their own kids £90 trainers, they’ll come running back asking, “Mom, how did you do it?” And I’ll just smile, sip my tea, and whisper: “Charity shops, multi-buy discounts… and not giving a toss about stains.”