Mums cutback to buy school uniforms
Thousands of mums are making sacrifices to enable them to afford new school uniform for their children this month.
With families getting ready for the new school year starting September many parents are cutting down on luxuries according to a new poll by a discount shopping site
The surveyed across 500 mothers to asked what, if anything, are they cutting back on to allow them to update their children’s school wardrobes.
Mums think school uniforms offer value for moneyMore than one third of the women polled, 37%, said they are making some sacrifices to allow then to buy the items of uniform their children need.
Almost one in five, 18%, said they were cutting back on the weekly food shop by doing without treats and buying more own brand goods while one in eight of the mothers surveyed, 12%, said they were cutting back on personal purchases such as clothing and cosmetics.
A frugal eight per cent said they had cut back on their family holiday while five per cent said they had saved money by reducing their spend on family days out and leisure activities.
Yet three quarters of the women polled were happy to buy school uniform with 75% stating they thought they would end up spending more on clothing for their kids if schools operated a non uniform policy.
One mum said: “The school holidays can be an expensive time as it’s not cheap to keep three children entertained for six weeks but this year we have had to cut down on things like family days out because we’ve deliberately held money back to budget for new school uniforms.
“With the kids growing fast it’s pointless to get them kitted out until the end of the holidays so we have made sure we have held on to enough cash to be able to get them all the items they need.”
Another mum who took part in the survey said: “As back to school season approaches, I always know that my winter wardrobe is going to take a hit because I have to buy new sets of uniforms for my two children.
“It usually costs me £200 in total for their uniform so there isn’t much money left for me to buy things for myself.”
A spokesman for Promotionalcodes.org.uk said parents were happy to put the needs of their children first.
He said: “Parents always want the best for their children and with times as tight as they are at present that means many families are budgeting hard or making sacrifices to avoid going into debt.
“School uniforms are expensive items but our survey also revealed that a clear majority of parents think they represent good value as they would actually spend more on their child’s clothing if they didn’t wear a uniform to school each day.”
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