Easter dresses/clothing - Do you spend a lot?

coasterqueen wrote: Last weekend we went into town to get Ryan some dress pants for work (because he's gained, not lost ) and while we were shopping I looked at the Easter Dresses that were out at the store. Kylie found one she REALLY loved and just had to have. So I looked at the price tag and it was on sale for $30! It was regularly $45. I was, um, no way, I'm not paying that price! It was a beautiful dress, but it is fancy enough that you could only wear it for really special occasions and I would rather find a dress she can wear for more than just that occassion. I felt really bad for saying "hun, we can't really afford a dress like that for you to only wear it once". She was a bit sad, but quickly found a cheaper dress and one she could wear many times.

I still feel bad, but in all reality she will thank me when she's older and going away to college and her college is paid for. I know it. I just can't see spending $30 on a dress that she will wear once. Course I'm a cheapskate. I can't see paying $30 for a dress she'll wear many times when there were cuter ones for less. And I'd rather that money go to her college fund (the extra that would have been spent on the more expensive dress).

Is anyone else like this or am I REALLY a cheapskate? I guess not having my college paid for and still struggling to pay it off (which won't be for YEARS) puts things in perspective for me on what is really important to spend money on, ya know?.

MyBlueEyedBabies replied: Well...I think I spend about $30-$45 on full outfits if I buy them for Katy. But that is skirt, shirt, sweater, tights, shoes, then she also wears all the pieces seperately so It's not really just one time. For one time wear I think the only time I have spent that much is for matt's tux for my sisters wedding. I had missed the sale (by a day) so spent $65 and not only would he not need a tux again but he had outgrown it before he could possibly wear it again.

moped replied: No you are right Karen - for boys it is a bit different, I don't buy occasion outfits for him, but I never buy any clothes are regular price..........................I think if I had a girl I couldn't say no to pretty dresses................LOL.....but I am a shopper, it's jsut in my blood so I buy what Ilike as long as it is a bit of a sale - LOL

luvbug00 replied: fortunately my grandmother buys ALL of mya's easter dresses and she better too because they are all from stratsburg and that = high dubble and tripple digit pricetags and I'm more the "is there a way to get a discount on the sale price?" kinda gal!

MommyToAshley replied: I'm guilty of splurging on the cute little dresses... I just don't have the willpower to say no. I always justify it by saying that Ashley will only be this little once and I won't be able to dress them in ruffles forever. I convince myself that I will sell the dress after the special occasion, but then I remember how cute Ashley looked in it and have a hard time getting rid of it.

I guess we all have our weaknesses... mine happens to be little girl's dresses.

3_call_me_mama replied: I tend to buy them off season on clearence (like after easter for next year)
But if I hadn't and i saw a cute one I usually can't resist.. $30 woudl be the limit I thkn unless I got tights and all teh ato go with it. I generally buy ahead though.

As far as putting the money in an account for college.. Are you really gonna take teh difference and put it into teh account? liek if the dress cost $18 instead of $30 are you going to go put that $12 in the account, or are you just doing it for logical reasoning? Cause I wouldn't put it in teh account. it woudl just get spent on somethign else But that's why I'm not allowed to shop too often

And as dee dee said.. cute dresses are my weakness..... hope this baby is a girl so we can get some more use out of hte cloest full that i have form kathleen !!

MommyToAshley replied:
Same here. I didn't get Ashley's Easter dress at the end of season last year though, so I will have to pay full price. (I do have her Christmas dress for next year). I think you can get some really cute stuff for $30 and under. I don't think I have paid over that.

coasterqueen replied:
Well all and all my kids in general are my weakness. I mean anything I buy I buy for them, not myself. I rarely ever splurge for me, it's always for the kids. So shopping for them is always my weakness.

I don't literally take that money I didn't put towards a dress in their savings, BUT when I buy them something it comes straight out of our spending money. What spending money we don't use each week DOES go into their piggy banks. Every month their piggy banks get cleaned out and put into savings account. Their savings account dumps so much money each month into their college fund (some months more than others). So essentially, YES what I wouldn't spend on their dress would go in their savings/college fund.

I guess this is just one area I'm a cheapskate in. I probably wouldn't be so cheapskate about it IF she could wear it more than once. I don't even like to buy anything I'm going to wear once. FWIW, I think she looks just as beautiful in a cheap, not fancy dress as she would a fancy dress - and that's what I try to teach her - that she's beautiful no matter what she wears.

coasterqueen replied:
You know I'd do that but Kylie keeps me guessing every year as far as how she grows. I just can't justify spending money on something that she may be able to wear next year. I did that once and it bit me in the tush. I can't hope that Megan might be able to wear it either because I did that by saving all Kylie's clothes and Megan hasn't even been able to wear 1/2 of Kylie's clothes.

3_call_me_mama replied:
Ah that is a good idea.. nice sstem for actually putting $$ away We'll have to look into that .. as we are always trygni to find ways to add to their accounts without cutting our family $$ short

And yeah It is hard to buy ahead sometimes. I bought 2T stuff for kathleen hoping for this upcoming fall.... but she's already wearing most of it. Good thing is that now i don't hae to go out and buy more cause i had it on hand.

luvmykids replied: I'm guilty. But I go to Burlington Coat Factory most of the time for holiday stuff, then I justify it by saying that even if I spent $50, it would've cost me $90 somewhere else!

~~*Missi*~~ replied: i bought sabrinas easter dress at the christmas sales. It was normally 50 bucks and i got 50% off plus I have a kaufmans cc so i got an extra 10% which was sweet.

I watch EBay. I got alot alot of clothes off there for sabrina In fact i just bought her 8 dresses brand new with tags 80$ total shipping and all


I am notorious for buying next years clothes and this years sales. I don't see spending 40 when i can spend 20

PhiMuMommy replied: i am.. i thrift shop all the time.. i love it.. you get soem really nice stuff if you look. oh and yard sales.. woohoo.. some of them are soo awesome. i hate paying that much for new stuff..

when alex was a baby his dad used to buy him tommy jeans.. i mean like 6 mos old wearing TOMMY>.. that is 40 bucks for INFANT clothes ... i was soo mad....

Maddie&EthansMom replied: I found a dress the other day that I was in love with and I put it back b/c it was $30. I just didn't feel like spending $30 on a dress that she may or may not wear. IMO it is hard to find her dresses under that now that she is older. We don't go to church as often as we should. I probably would have bought it if we did go more b/c she would need it.

Easter outfits this year...my mother bought. They are sailor looking outfits. I'm not sure how Ethan's will look on him, but I'm doing it to please my mother. And, she wants me to have their pics taken in them. Maddie looks great in her dress...it's so pretty. Of course I think she's pretty in everything. It was $40.

I'm rambling...I guess my answer is no...personally I don't like to spend a lot on one dress...I like to shop for sales. Of course I spent a fortune for one outfit for Ethan at the children's place the other day. I think i'll take it back.

MyLuvBugs replied: I'm totally a cheapskate too. I refused to go to the store to get Lorelei's Easter/dress for SIL's wedding. So, I went online, found a pretty dress for $20.00 that I could pay with paypal. S&H on it was only $2.50, so I figured, she's going to wear the dress at least 3 times, it's worth $23.50. But that's her most expensive dress. The one she's wearing to the rehearsal next friday was $8.00 at Walmart. lol I just don't see the point in spending tons of money on clothes that are going to be worn a couple times, stained, and grown out of in just the blink of an eye. KWIM?

C&K*s Mommie replied: I do not think you are a cheapskate, Karen. However, I agree with DeeDee. They will be little only once.

My mother has been the one to buy their Easter dresses since they were born, because she gets out more often than I do. That is also one of her traditions with them. She just paid $25 for Christians, and $20 for Kellies but they are beautiful (IMO). I am happy she snagged them while they were still available in their sizes. For other special occassion dresses, I look around early, check ebay and if I find something very nice I will pay extra for it but more than $30/$40 is too much. I usually have an idea of what I am looking for, though. For Christmas I already had the girls' dresses, but the one that I was thinking of and found at a dept store was $60! Too much, IMO. I wanted to go back to get it after it went on sale after Christmas (if it were still available) but I forgot. Hopefully, next yr I will get out early and catch sales, and find something like it again.