large clothing purchases.

[geye]

I need to get the kids clothes for summer (I have four kids), and like yesterday because it's been so warm here lately. Since I'm budgeting (instead of throwing it on a card ) I'm a little shocked at how much this is going to cost me. Even shopping sales and buying store brands, it looks like I'm going to need to spend at least $400 .

Is that reasonable? It works out to an average $33/month per kid, assuming I'm not buying them anything else until September. That number is much easier for me to swallow. But I still don't know if that's reasonable. I think a part of me feels that I should be getting their clothes from freecycle if I'm filing bankruptcy.

[blessed]

Sounds reasonable to me. That's only $100 per kid and for that you can't get a whole wardrobe. Freecycle is a bit unrealistic, as are summer play clothes from Abercrombie IMO. Get nice stuff in the middle price range and don't stress over it.

[momofthree]

That sounds reasonable to me. You can always try ebay if you want to spend less. I just bought my oldest son's (7 years old) summer wardrobe off of ebay a couple of weeks ago (poor middle kid gets all the hand-me-downs, lol). I got 28 pieces of clothes that look brand new for only $41 after shipping! That's less than $1.50 a piece and there are brands like Nike, gap, etc. Ebay is cheaper than yard sales these days, but you do have to put about a week's time into it. I usually go thru, look at all the auctions (seriously at least 10 pages), and save any possibilities to my "watching list". Then I go thru, look at what I'm willing to spend for each piece in the lot ($2 for that shirt, $3 for those pants, $1 for that set of pjs), then take the total, subtract shipping, and write down the total amount I'm willing to spend on each particular auction in the "notes" section of each auction. Then, if the price gets above my max, I delete it from my list. When the auction is minutes from ending, I place my max bid and hope for the best. I usually end up spending less than I was willing to....

[sunshinepa]

You may also want to try the Salvation Army and Goodwill. Believe it or not, my granddaughter is on a very low income budget and she get fantastic clothing for my great grandson at these places.......sometime with the original tag still on them.

Just a thought to save you money

[marie]

I agree...Goodwill has a Lot of decent clothes in good condition. You just have to take some time to sort through the stuff to find what you like.

[geye]

thanks, but my concern is more whether that's a reasonable amount to be spending, not whether I can afford it. I have the cash thanks to stopping cc payments and actually budgeting in things like this, but I don't want to throw any unnecessary wrenches into our August filing by looking like I'm going on a spending spree.

[GettingGoing]

thanks, but my concern is more whether that's a reasonable amount to be spending, not whether I can afford it. I have the cash thanks to stopping cc payments and actually budgeting in things like this, but I don't want to throw any unnecessary wrenches into our August filing by looking like I'm going on a spending spree.

You have nothing to worry about if you are spending cash on clothes like that.

[jadams]

$400 for four kids hardly seems unreasonable. I can't imagine you having any trouble justifying that. At best that's what, a few pairs of shorts a few shirts and a pair of shoes per kid?

Your original post kind of feels like you have some guilt over buying clothes when you are filining. Nevermind that you are allowed, consider this -- would putting that $400 towards your creditors really make any difference towards you needing to file or not? Unlikely.

Part of filing is to restore a healthy budget. A healthy budget allows you to buy summer clothes for your kids.

[geye]

Yes, I do have guilt. And it is a drop in the bucket compared to my debt and wouldn't even begin to touch the interest on it, let alone reduce the balance owed.

Before considering bankruptcy, we tried to live like no one else. If you get that reference, you know why I feel guilty. We haven't had a healthy budget in so long that I've lost touch with what one feels like.

[JEM]

Yes, I do have guilt. And it is a drop in the bucket compared to my debt and wouldn't even begin to touch the interest on it, let alone reduce the balance owed.

Before considering bankruptcy, we tried to live like no one else. If you get that reference, you know why I feel guilty. We haven't had a healthy budget in so long that I've lost touch with what one feels like.

I get the reference.

I know I have guilt when I have to buy things lately. But I try to remind myself that we are allowed to live "normally". Kids need new clothes. The dog needs to go to the vet. The house needs maintenance. We all need haircuts. And yes, from time to time we even eat out.

IMO, you have NOTHING to worry about. You are paying cash and $400 for 4 kids is very reasonable.