This is a sponsored guest post.
Dressed to the nines, your children are cute as a button. Somehow, dressing them in mini versions of stylish “grown-up” outfits makes them ten times more adorable, but these hot fashion items often come at ten times the price.
Although it may be hard to ignore the temptation to dress your little ones in designer brands, there’s really no point in investing a fortune in their wardrobe. Here are three reasons why you should avoid spending too much on their clothes.
1. A bigger price tag doesn’t mean better quality
Some parents are willing to shell out the big bucks on items because of the name on the tag. They reach for these premium brands because they think they’ll last longer than the generic alternatives. These same parents get mad when their kid wears out the knee in their designer jeans.
This might not always be the case, as several factors influence clothing prices. Things like licensing expenses to shipping costs may raise the cost of a single item more than the quality of the fabric.
Make sure you look beyond the price tag to look at the make of the item, paying close attention to the seams and hems. Return any clothes that have any irregularities, loose stitches, or hanging strings, as they indicate they’ll fall apart after a few washes.
2. They grow too quickly
Most fashion gurus will tell grownups to avoid “fast fashion” options — or trendy clothes at an ultra-low cost. And because fast fashion is disposable, it’s easy to fill your closet with stuff you don’t need — a lot of which ends up thrown away.
The alternative is more expensive, often bespoke items that you keep for a long time. Made under fair conditions, they’re definitely the more ethical choice, but it doesn’t always work for kids.
While you can justify a $200 pair of jeans for yourself as an investment that you’ll wear for years to come, your children don’t have the same luxury. Kids grow at an astonishing rate, adding roughly 2.5 inches in height and as much as 7 pounds in weight every year.
What fits them now may not fit them next week, let alone years down the line. If you’re attempting to clothe your children in the middle of a growth spurt, disposal fashion makes sense for your budget.
3. It can topple your budget
Last year, parents on average spent a record-breaking $942.17 on back to school shopping. They spent most of this (or roughly $237) on clothes, while new shoes came close to the tune of $138. This combined total of $375 doesn’t even count all the other shopping trips throughout the year that parents go on to play catch up with growth spurts.
It’s important to note these figures are just averages — your bills can end up being more or less depending on your shopping habits as well as luck. Clothing costs will also impact your family depending on your income.
When roughly 4 out of 5 Americans live paycheck to paycheck, a sudden growth spurt that requires a whole new wardrobe isn’t just an annoying chore. It could amount to a financial emergency.
Luckily, there are loan alternatives that work quickly to get the cash you need in an emergency. Many online installment loans work on an expedited time frame with applications that take a few minutes to fill out and loans that arrive by the next business day of approval. If you’re stuck between choosing clothes that fit and buying groceries, make sure to check this out for more information about installment loans online.
As a parent, you already have enough to worry about without adding the need to apply for an installment loan. While they’re a fast-acting backup in an emergency, you shouldn’t rely on these to help you fill your children’s closets all year round.
Make life a little easier for yourself by ignoring expensive, high-fashion clothes for your kids. Opt for more affordable clothes that fit with your budget, and you’ll keep more of your money where it belongs — in your wallet, not their closets.
