WHEN DID EVERYTHING GET SO EXPENSIVE?!?!?!?!? kids are expensive ...

[ImcLoud]

I finally finished up my sons school shopping, my wife usually takes care of this but this year it's my bag...

So they are 13 and 15 so they know where to go, we go to my friends shop for shoes, socks, and some T shirts, this is where it started... $129 for a single pair of sneakers and they both wanted the same ones, then $68 and $80 for gym shoes, after socks, and a handful of t shirts the bill came to $540

Next we go to target, get underwear, pads, pens, what ever else... just over $200

Next we go to old navy- this wasn't bad at all $160 of jeans and a couple more shirts...

Now onto the clothing store- 4 more pairs of jeans, 5 or 6 pairs of shorts, a couple shirts, some button ups, underwear, under tees, a few under armor shirts, a couple new hats, some more socks, 2 backpacks, and some misc odds and ends like my oldest wanted a new belt, and my youngest had to have this ugly pull over that was $60...
Are you sitting down? $1300 at expression!!!!

So I spent around $2500 on school clothes and supplies today!!! So I walk in the house thinking my wife is going to say "why would you spend that much!?!?!?!" I wish I video taped her reaction, I said " do you know what this just cost me?" this women turns to me looks at the bags and says "$2800?" I said "WHAT?" she said "its usually rite under $3000, was it more than that?" I just walked away... So if they have 5 more years {avg'd} of school left, that means I will spend another $12-$15K on school clothes!!! This is not happening next year, NO MORE of this sh!t... Next year all shopping done at old navy, them jeans were $20, shirts were $15, the same thing as they picked out for $80 and $40 shirts at the other place..... And no more expensive sneakers, $50 limit... I haven't told my wife or the kids this yet, I figure I will break it to them next year, why argue about it for a year, this years damage is done...

2500 fkin dollars, wtf is wrong with me? I am tempted to go take everything back and redo the shopping myself.... $3000 last year my wife is out of her mind... Thats a decent used compact car...

 

[its phillip]

Yeah. You definitely don't need to spend that much money on clothes and school supplies for kids.

 

[slipperybidness]

Yup, and then they outgrow half of it before it wears out.

Oh yeah, you think you're "done" because they turn 18??? College ain't cheap either!

Modern Average cost to raise 1 child till aged 18? $250K!

 

[ImcLoud]

OK, it just got worse...

So I go to walk by their rooms and they are tossing clothes in garbage bags.. SO I say "what are you guys doing"? Reply= "mom said to toss in our last years clothes for good will" I start looking at the clothes, some have tags on them, brand fkin new, I spent $65 on a pair of jeans he has never worn!!! That are the same size I just bought him!!!!! WTF, so I start making noise about it and my wife comes in... "whats going on" she asks, so I explain it to her.. Shes not phased... "bag it up" she says... WTF I am in the fkin twilight zone here...

So I am not going to argue with my sick wife, but I told my sons to leave them bags in the loft and there better not be any clothes that still fit them in there!!!! I am all for donating what we don't use, but if I am going to donate $300 of brand new jeans I would rather just done the $300 fkin dollars... Oh man I wish I never found out about this, because this is going to drive me bananas!!!! I may be shopping at walmart by the end of the week, no, no sa, I couldn't even type that with out shaking my head no at the same time...

 

[ski2xblack]

Well, it sounds like suicide is the only answer.

(Sorry to poke fun, Irv, but many folks would love to have your "troubles".)

 

[lsiberian]

You went to the wrong clothing store dude. Go to Ross next time makes sure it's the one buy the best mall in town.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

I think the problem is not the prices, but lack of any financial responsibility nor money appreciation. Seem like both your wife and kids rely on your well-off income and don't fully appreciate it
Some folks might even call it spoiled

Me and my wife are well paid professionals (well she still is - I'm between jobs) , yet my car is 15 years old. Why is what? Simple - we were saving money for the house we just bought.
In fact my car is the worst car in the whole neighborhood, yet my new house is far from it.

 

[j_garcia]

My kids are both out of the house. They're still expensive.

 

[ImcLoud]

I think the problem is not the prices, but lack of any financial responsibility nor money appreciation. Seem like both your wife and kids rely on your well-off income and don't fully appreciate it
Some folks might even call it spoiled

Me and my wife are well paid professionals (well she still is - I'm between jobs) - yes my car is 15 years old. Why is what? Simple - we were saving money for the house we just bought.
In fact my car is the worst car in the whole neighborhood, yet my new house is far from it.

Not sure if its "lack of financial responsibility", it would be irresponsible if the electricity was 3 months behind and we were buying expensive art for the hall way... The issue is not whether or not I can afford it, the issue is something is wrong that it costs this much... We were by no means the only people in the stores we went to, there was a line in every store.. I think the issue is the prices, for name brand clothing...

I don't buy myself $80 jeans or $120 sneakers, nor does my wife, I don't think... Believe me I am going to be looking further into this... I don't want my kids thinking they can just walk in any store they want and buy what ever they want... They were not even looking at prices, and in there defense neither was I, and I should have been, but I was caught off guard, I wasn't expecting the day to add up to $2500... We are going to have a talk about how to manage money and I am going to have to do some thinking about this, and how I am going to teach them. I wish I knew this before we went shopping...

The shoe store I knew the prices, BUT the owner is a friend/customer of mine, I don't mind spending money there, I installed a pretty expensive heating system for him, and I do his entire families heating and cooling service and installs, so to spend some money in there doesn't bother me at all... Actually I like shopping in the stores we go to because they are mostly family owned, that doesn't bother me, what bothers me is no one, including me looked at the price tags, I honestly didn't pay attention to the cost until we were home and I was filing the receipts!!! Thats when it really sunk in, I admit, this was not smart... I should have been looking at every price tag... I can't say my kids just picked expensive stuff because they didn't look at price tags either, they picked the jeans and shirts they liked...

I talked to my wife about it for a few minutes and she said "its once a year", and I understand that but, this year was new football cleats, pads, and unders for around $650, and earlier in the year it was new atv helmets for what ever amount, never mind birthdays and xmass...
I got a little scare today, not because of the money, but because of how my kids don't pay attention, but its definitely mine and my wife's fault, because I didn't pay attention either...

15 years is a long time to have a car for us, we drive a lot, live far from work, well far from anything. My wife averages 25K miles a year, I do almost double that, so if I drove a 15 year old car it would have between 375K and 750K miles on it lol , and we are in New england with salted roads so it would be rotted to oblivion by then too... If we drove less I would keep cars longer, and I don't by expensive cars {anymore, I used to, lol but learned pretty fast its a waste of money}, we go to parties, restaurants, stores, school functions, ect around here and we always have the cheapest cars, always newer and well kept but I park next $125K bmw's, mercedes, bentleys, ect ect ect, especially in the summer, its insane.. Then in the winter the escalades, benz suv, land rovers, ect take over.. We have a jeep wrangler 4 dr rubicon, my wife just got her car {hasn't even driven it yet} hybrid avalon, ect.. Nothing super exotic....

I guess I was just shocked today, my wife assures me everyone spends this much and it is just once a year and I am over reacting, but I think this is a big issue I want to dael with before next year

 

[j_garcia]

Not sure if its "spoiled", I don't buy myself $80 jeans or $120 sneakers, nor does my wife, I don't think... Believe me I am giong to be looking further into this...

I do, as long as I know they'll last me longer than cheaper ones. I buy expensive shoes because they tend to be more comfortable and they need to last. If they don't last me long enough the first time I try them out, then I won't buy them again, so there's spending more but getting more value. For kids it tends to just be "I have to have what everyone else has to fit in and be cool." That has nothing to do with quality or value. Be different, just like everybody else. There's actually no point in buying kids clothes before the first week or so of school, because in two weeks they will want whatever is popular, not what you bought.

 

[shadyJ]

$2500 for school clothes, wow. However, maybe that's just the norm where you live. If you want to teach them the value of money, tell them to buy their own clothes with money they earned. I grew up in a lower middle class household, and that sort of expenditure on school clothing would have been unthinkable. Hand-me-downs was big in our family. The lessons I learned in those days have stayed with me, I make shoes, clothes, jackets and coats, etc, last a looong time. Cars too. One learns the value of something when one is deprived of it.

 

[MidnightSensi2]

Stuffs getting more expensive, and we're probably not getting paid more.

I think the real implications of how the economy is doing is being realized now as much as ever..

I'm not for this whole 'teach your kids to be broke' vibe on here heh. Yes, teach them the value of money, and shop as reasonable as possible.. but... I don't think 2,800 sounds like he was going nuts spending.

 

[GO-NAD!]

My daughter just turned 12 and has grown 5.5" over the last 2 years. So, we've (well, my wife) had to replace clothing on an almost continuous basis over that period. So, recent purchases for the upcoming school year weren't too significant. But, I'd hate to add up everything we've had to buy for her over the last couple of years. That said, my wife pays close attention to the prices of everything we buy for her. Yeah, kids aren't cheap. But, when you're really old and they're changing your diapers for you, you can remind them of how much it cost you to raise them.

 

[ImcLoud]

I do, as long as I know they'll last me longer than cheaper ones. I buy expensive shoes because they tend to be more comfortable and they need to last. If they don't last me long enough the first time I try them out, then I won't buy them again, so there's spending more but getting more value. For kids it tends to just be "I have to have what everyone else has to fit in and be cool." That has nothing to do with quality or value. Be different, just like everybody else. There's actually no point in buying kids clothes before the first week or so of school, because in two weeks they will want whatever is popular, not what you bought.

I agree, I can tell the difference between a name brand pair of jeans and the old navy stuff, but with the kids its kind of a moot point because they will grow out of them before they wear them out... Now with my oldest he can hand them down to my youngest, but they don't do that.. When I said today "why not give these pants to your brother" both of them said "WHAT?", like I am crazy they are buying jeans that look worn because they don't like wearing "new" jeans that look "new", but his hand me down $80 jeans from last year aren't good enough...
I have spoke to my wife more serious about this and her reply was "OK, we will buy them cheaper clothes, so we can take more money with us when we die", I just walked away again because I have no reply for that.. She is sick and not long ago was faced with her own mortality, I get that... We can not take money with us, I get that too... We do very well, I also understand that, but where does enjoying nice things cross the line with being wasteful??? Maybe this is a bad time to talk about this with her, and about the kids because she will go without before letting the kids suffer without for a half second, she's a mom, understood..

She walked up to the loft and said "I know why you are making a big deal out of the kids school shopping" and I should have known that was coming.. The other night she asked me to sell everything, it was a weird conversation, I recently sold a piece of property {that she didn't even know we still owned} and I think that made her think, we both still work full time jobs {I work 2 full time jobs, lol well at least 1 and a half, and when I am not working I am still thinking about it}... She said to sell the business, sell all the properties except for 1 {I have one that does very well, its paid for and taxes and expenses are only $7K a year and it brings 12+ times that in rents annually}, and not work any more.. I told her she could quit her job that day, she doesn't want that she wants to still work per diem and me to not work at all... I don't get it... We are young I am not ready to stop making money... I want my sons to run my business in 5 or 6 years...

Well long story short she stopped me in my tracks, I don't want to talk about retiring so I won't bring up the amount we spend on the kids again.....

 

[j_garcia]

You can't take it with you is not reasoning for spending it on something you don't need. I agree that kids need to learn the value of things and letting them suffer a bit and work for what they really want teaches them more than just the value of an item. It is the work, discipline, determination and satisfaction of earning something that mattered not the item itself.

 

[MidnightSensi2]

I want my sons to run my business in 5 or 6 years...

Seven. This rule is so underrated,
keep your family and business completely separated.
Money and blood don't mix, like two d**ks and no b*tch,
find yourself in some serious sh*t.

 

[BoredSysAdmin]

I do, as long as I know they'll last me longer than cheaper ones. I buy expensive shoes because they tend to be more comfortable and they need to last. If they don't last me long enough the first time I try them out, then I won't buy them again, so there's spending more but getting more value. For kids it tends to just be "I have to have what everyone else has to fit in and be cool." That has nothing to do with quality or value. Be different, just like everybody else. There's actually no point in buying kids clothes before the first week or so of school, because in two weeks they will want whatever is popular, not what you bought.

I whole heartily agree about shoes - you buy comfortable ones , price is secondary. We usually shop for shoes at CDW - it's out of the way, but they have great selection at some stores.
My work shoes are almost always from ECCO, but for sneakers I am less picky as long as they comfortable and don't look ridiculous. Sneakers don't last anyways, but my ECCO office shoes - with good care - they last for 4-5 years easy of daily wear.

We don't have kids yet, so I can't say anything about it, but sometimes one could wish for they had school uniforms (like I used to have back in my school days)

 

[ImcLoud]

I would like them to run the business, no where else are they going to walk into that type of money, in 6 years I will be ready to walk away, sell off a bunch of property, and retire {cash retire, not annuity style}.. If my math is correct at 1.9% inflation {used to be 5%}, I should be able to sell all of my real estate for around 4.75 million dollars with zero debt owed, so after uncle sams 37.5% I can keep a little under 3 million... That 6 years of property value increase and its present income is over a two million dollars!!! As for my business that is for my kids, they both come to work with me and already pay attention. I would still own the business, but when they are 20 years old ish they should be able to run the show, I have office manger, service manager, sales manager, its not a hard job, lol and they can walk into it making $50-75K a year each, then after they no longer need me they can take it over completely, they will have licences to get, business degrees to get, ect.. I am just not handing them the keys to what I worked my entire life to build... But in the end I want them to do it... Now don't get me wrong if they came to me and said "I want to be a surfer" I would be like "OK, good luck" and sell the business, lol... Time will tell... We just don't know what tomorrow will bring, but as a wise man said, "even a bad plan is better than no plan"....

 

[ImcLoud]

I whole heartily agree about shoes - you buy comfortable ones , price is secondary. We usually shop for shoes at CDW - it's out of the way, but they have great selection at some stores.
My work shoes are almost always from ECCO, but for sneakers I am less picky as long as they comfortable and don't look ridiculous. Sneakers don't last anyways, but my ECCO office shoes - with good care - they last for 4-5 years easy of daily wear.

We don't have kids yet, so I can't say anything about it, but sometimes one could wish for they had school uniforms (like I used to have back in my school days)

I buy all my shoes from one place, he orders my size {16} for me and tells me when there are specials in my size, shows me pictures and charges me cost, I can't complain about his service... He has been selling me shoes since my kids were born. I remember being a young dad and saying "I want him to have little sneakers and work boots" ,he said, "NO, them are not good for a babies feet, soft shoes, like socks is all you should put on him until he is walking..." and we did, then when he was walking I said "I want him to have little sneakers and work boots" he said "No, stride rite soft sole, only thing should be on his feet" so I bought them, then after he knew how to walk he was ready for little sneakers and work boots he said "no work boots, these sneakers" so I bought them, then years later when I didn't care what was on their feet he said, "them kids need boots..." ...

My uncle owned a shoe store and was good friends with this man, he runs a good business and he is a good guy, I would buy the shoes there if they were $300 a pair...

 

[Irvrobinson]

Yeah. You definitely don't need to spend that much money on clothes and school supplies for kids.

That's right, you don't. Irv, you're not winning any sympathy from me. Spending money like that is a decision, not a requirement. We all know you're rich and successful, and no successful business runs itself, so you must be pretty smart too. You just decided not to manage your back-to-school spending to the same level you do your audio purchases, no less your car purchases. You'd walk out of a car dealer if you thought you were overpaying by $2800 for a vehicle you'd drive for 100K miles or more. You either actively manage something or you get what you get, and, my friend, it sounds like you've been blowing unnecessary thousands for years now. You're just well off enough that the overspending got lost in the noise, until you got directly involved.