The Back-to-School Style Guide: Tips and Tricks

Back-to-school clothes shopping can be the most expensive part of preparing for the new school year, but with proper planning and practical strategies, parents can stay on budget while ensuring their children have what they need.

• Prevent overspending by setting a firm budget before shopping
• Use cash instead of cards to help maintain spending discipline
• Sort through last year's clothes to determine what's still usable
• Create a capsule wardrobe with interchangeable pieces
• Check for hand-me-downs from siblings or friends
• Look for uniform exchanges on social media or at thrift stores
• Choose proper closed-toe shoes for school activities
• Remember that "less is more" - fewer clothes means less laundry
• Consider shopping during tax-free periods when available

Follow us on Instagram and YouTube @thegagispod. Make sure you're liking, sharing, and subscribing so that anytime a new episode is released, you're one of the first people to know.

Chapters

• 1:09 Welcome and Series Introduction
• 2:02 Preventing Overspending with Smart Budgeting
• 5:13 Sort Through Last Year's Clothes
• 9:11 Hand-Me-Downs and Sharing Resources
• 13:19 Creating a Capsule Wardrobe
• 15:49 School Shoes and Proper Footwear
• 20:00 Closing Thoughts and Song Reference

Transcript

Speaker 1: 0:35

Hey guys, welcome back to another episode of the gag is pod. I am your girl, charlie Fonte. Thank you for joining me on another episode and, like I always say, if it's a new episode then it must be Friday. So thank you for tuning in, or whatever day you're listening to this, it doesn't matter. Thank you for being here. Before we get started, please make sure you are following us on IG at the gag is pod or on YouTube at the gag is pod as well. Before we get started, go ahead and grab your drink, whatever it is that you get when you listen to this hopefully, listen to this in a car on the way to work. Turn it up, drink your coffee, whatever you do.

Speaker 1: 1:16

So today we're going to be continuing on with our back to school series because it's a few more weeks before school starts, so I want to make sure that you know each week I'm not overloading with stuff to do for back to school. So this week we're going to talk about clothes shopping. Now, I think this is like the biggest pet peeve of back to school shopping, because you know it's the most expensive, in my opinion. You know the clothes, the shoes, the accessories, the toiletries and different stuff like that. So this has to be the most expensive portion outside of sports. This has to be the most expensive portion of back to school and I got my notes over here because when it comes to back to school clothes shopping like there's a lot to unpack there and I know for a fact that I've been trying to get new face socks for two weeks. We went to the store this morning and I still forgot socks. We got halfway home I looked at him. I said you know what I said? We forgot socks. And he was like oh yeah, so I'm gonna have to make a trip one of these days this week to get socks. Now this week or this month, I should say um, instead of doing a tax-free weekend, florida has opted to do a tax-free month. So that means clothing, shoes and anything under $100 is tax-free. Some laptops and some other back-to-school items are included as well. So you just have to check out the Florida website just to see what is included on that.

Speaker 1: 2:54

So my first tip for you guys is going to be prevent over shopping, which prevents over spending, and it keeps you on budget. I feel like when you go into clothes shopping with a budget, it makes it much easier for you, because if you say, oh, I'm only going to spend $400, you know my max is going to be $500, because you do have to have that cushion. Because if your child is going from a small size and then you know they're right on the border and they're going into that next size, then you have to allow a little cushion, because the bigger the clothes, the bigger the shoes, then sometimes there is a price jump. So I would say, give yourself that cushion, give yourself that margin, but absolutely stay on budget. You can't go in the store and be like, oh, so you like that. Oh, you like that, let's go ahead and get it. Because when you go in a store you just grab, grab, grab, messes up your budget and then your budget's blown.

Speaker 1: 3:48

One thing that I did not put in here, but it just came to my mind as I'm recording this, is in order to stay on budget. I use cash. I set aside a weekend that I'm going to go and I use cash because it's easier to stay on budget with cash than it is with a card, because with a card you're not thinking about it and you're just swipe, swipe, swipe. When you have a cash, when you start buying stuff and you see, oh OK, my money dwindling down a little bit. Then you're like, ok, I have to be conscious about what I'm going to continue to buy next, because I don't have that much money. I do bring a card with me just in case I need a little overage or something, but for the most part I don't rely on my cards for shopping, unless you're going to use on your credit card and then you're going to pay that money back. But that's not what this episode is about. Tip one stay on budget.

Speaker 1: 4:40

Tip two I feel like this is the most important, because I'm guilty of this too, and I've done this in the past few years, from the time Marco Polo was in school up until now. I'll just go out there and shop and then both of them end up with an excess of clothes. And then they end up with clothes. I know it was like two years ago I didn't go through new faces, stuff, and he ended up with about seven brand new outfits that he had more shirts, pants, and then by the time I discovered them, they were too small and I had to give them away. It was stuff that still had the tags on it. So in order to prevent from doing that.

Speaker 1: 5:22

My tip number two is sort through last year's clothes to determine if there are any clothes that are salvageable. I always make sure I go through new faces clothes, because where is the rule that says that kids have to have a brand new wardrobe when they go back to school? Now I get it. I do get it that you want your kids to have the latest and the greatest, but also the latest and greatest cost money as well. What you can do is see what your child has, and so now that New Face is in high school, what I've done is I'm starting to create him like a quote unquote capsule wardrobe.

Speaker 1: 5:57

So he's going to get a certain number of shirts, a certain number of pants, and then he's an athlete. I know what my child wears, I know what he doesn't wear, so I know I'm not going to. You know I'm going to look at what he has See. If there's anything salvageable, then we'll take it from there. So if he gets rid of four shirts, then I know that I need to buy four shirts. If he gets rid of five pair of pants, I know he needs five pair of pants. He's been leading a lot of pants because he's just been growing, growing, growing. He's at that six foot mark now. So you know he got to get new pants. But if I say he need 10 pants and 10 shirts, then okay, that's cool. If you got rid of four shirts and five pants, I know I got to go get you four shirts and five pants and you're going to be made whole. I know he don't like shorts so I would not go buy him shorts. I know he likes sweatpants. I'll buy him sweatpants. I'll buy some jeans.

Speaker 1: 6:54

He's in this baggy phase that all the kids went through, have gone through, including myself, that they like the baggy pants and stuff like that. So that's kind of where we are. But go through their stuff first and this will prevent you from over shopping. I can't stress this enough because I mean, if they have, it's okay to get them some new clothes, like I said, but no need to over shop. And because they're going to tear it up, it's going to get a stain on it, it's going to get whatever.

Speaker 1: 7:26

And the way that I do it during the school year is if something becomes too little or gets ribbed or gets a stain on it, then I replace as needed. I just don't start the whole entire school year off with a fresh wardrobe. It's not necessary. Just don't start the whole entire school year off with a fresh wardrobe, it's not necessary. He don't need five new outfits for the whole first week of school. My child he gonna wear the same five, six shirts anyway. So I ain't finna go out here and spend a whole bunch of money. He's going to wear the same stuff over and over. So I make sure that his shirts can coincide with his pants and he can make different outfits. Like that he not finna, get a shirt that only go with this pair of pants, or this pair of pants that only go with this shirt, because then if something happened to one or the other, then he can't wear that outfit no more because he ain't got nothing to coordinate it with. So, number two sort through last year's stuff to see what is salvageable before you go out there and you ball out and you get most of.

Speaker 1: 8:20

Number three this one is the most important and I feel like some people frown down on this and they frown upon it, but I feel like this is the best piece of advice for cost saving and I might actually add a little another piece to it. If your child has an older sibling of the same gender, see if there are any clothes that doesn't fit them anymore and that they can pass down to siblings. This has been so helpful to me because Marco Polo is six, five new faces, six foot. So there are some pants that in some shirts that Marco Polo doesn't want that he gives to New Face, and when he does that, that adds into what he already has, which means I don't have to buy that much more stuff. Especially when it comes to pants and sweats and different stuff like that. I don't have to do that because he already got it. So it saves me.

Speaker 1: 9:16

And I will also say on this if you have friends that have kids that are a little bit older than you and they outgrow their stuff, see if you can get some of their stuff as well. I mean, there's no law that say that you can't wear old clothes because when you think about it, some of the old clothes are starting to come back into style. There's nothing that says that you can't wear older clothes or whatever, and how the kids going to know that them kids ain't that you didn't buy those clothes brand new. You know what I'm saying. So it's kind of like utilize your resources, cause I know when new face was a baby like I, used to get clothes from other people, like baby clothes and stuff, and ain't nothing wrong with them clothes, because they're going to grow out of it and New Face is still growing. So there you go, if I have clothes that are too small for New Face.

Speaker 1: 10:06

I have people that I know that if Lorenzo has a pair of jeans that's in good condition, I'll be like hey, I got these size pair of pants, can your child wear these? Or would you like these? Because I can put them in a bag, I can bring them to you, I can meet you I know I post on the HOA thing. Be like if there's anybody in the neighborhood that's wearing this size, I have a couple pair of pants, would you be interested in them? And stuff like that. There's nothing wrong with that, especially in today's economy, because everybody can't afford all the clothes. So I would say utilize what you have, either from an older sibling or if you have a cousin, a neighbor, a good friend or somebody that has clothes that maybe you can fit your child in. The clothes are in good condition, go for it. Who going to know? Ain't nobody gonna know. Your child is at school, your child is close. So who, who, who gonna know? Less is more. Let me say this again Less is more Because, just like how we go out and we buy all these clothes, laundry got to get done and don't nobody want to be doing laundry all weekend because we have all these clothes. Okay, we're not going to do that. Less is more. So this portion is pretty much tailored to kids. So this portion is for my people who kids is in private school or they are in charter school. I've I've been in this situation so I can kind of speak for both sides.

Speaker 1: 11:43

When your kids are non-uniform wearing, my suggestion is create a capsule type wardrobe, create interchangeable outfits and, like I said I previously mentioned, prevents clothes from not being worn often and in an event that something gets messed up, you can. I was ahead of myself. You can still wear the matching pieces If you got to stick with the basic colors white, black, brown, blue, red, whatever and just different washes of jeans to make it interchangeable. I mean, do that you at school to learn. This ain't no fashion. Show you there to learn, get your little jacket to go with it or something, because kids love sweatshirts in the summertime. Get them a sweatshirt different, something like that, just something to help them to go with their stuff. For my people that have uniforms, don't break the bank on this. I know that when you go to open house they'd be like, well, you can order the uniforms here and you know it'll be easy. It'll just come to the school or you can have it come to your house or whatever.

Speaker 1: 12:57

Before you do this, there are always groups on social media that pertain to that school that a parent has started and they may be offering up uniforms because their child was in, went to that school last year and they have outgrown that instead of paying $20 for this shirt with the logo on it, they may just be trying to get rid of it and maybe charging $7 for it. Check these groups first instead of just going buying new shirts and then just kind of pass down, like I said, if the clothes are cleaned or not torn, they don't have stains on them and you know once you get them you can wash them again. This kind of saves money, you know, because then I know when New Face went to charter school, he we ran into the issue that they didn't have enough shirts because they buy a certain number of shirts and put the logos on and send them out like that. He actually had to wait and so for a couple of weeks he had to go to school with non-logo branded shirts. To prevent this, check your local groups. I know some people are like I'm not doing that. Sometimes you got to put your pride aside to save a couple of dollars. I put my pride aside to save me a couple of dollars. No shame in my game, none at all.

Speaker 1: 14:11

You can also shop thrift stores. Thrift stores that are local to your area. Like every little school area has a thrift shop and they're going to have these back to school shirts, these uniform shirts, shorts, skorts for the girls and different like that. Check there too, because they do have the logo ones. I've gone, I've seen that they have the logo ones for the different charter schools that are in the area that I live in. So check there too, because those shirts be like five $6. Like I said, you bring them home, you wash them up. They're going to be good as new because if they elementary, they're going to be good as new, because if they're elementary they're kids.

Speaker 1: 15:11

How to tie their shoes, because you cannot send your child to school with Crocs on. They need real closed-toed shoes. Crocs ain't it, and that's fine, you be like. Well, I can get my kids the shoes that just slip on, that's fine. But you still need to teach your kids how to tie their shoes, because all shoes ain't slip on. Don't let your child be nine, ten years old, can't tie their shoes. No, they can't. They can't be grown. And just, I can't get these shoes because I have to tie them. I don't know how to tie my shoes. No, you better show them the bunny loop loop method or whatever it's called. Bunny foo foo, I don't know what it's called. But teach your kids how to tie their shoes.

Speaker 1: 15:51

Kids must go to school with closed toe shoes. Crocs are not considered closed toed shoes. Okay, they're closed toed on the front, but not in the back. When was a teacher? I cannot tell you how many times kids wore um crocs to school. Not only should they not wear crocs to school, because when it come to pe, you can't participate in pwe with crocs because it doesn't have ankle support and it doesn't have support on the back. And now your child losing out on grade because they can't participate in pe, because they ain't got no closed toe shoes on.

Speaker 1: 16:21

Parents, do not send your child to school with Crocs on. Okay, don't say, well, I can send my kid to school with Crocs on and then they can change for PE. Why are we doing all this? Just send them out the house with the correct pair of shoes the first time and just let it go. I don't care if little Johnny don't want to wear no tennis shoes. Little Johnny need to wear some tennis shoes because in an event they got to run or something like that. Like that, little johnny ain't gonna be at the ortho doctor because he got a broke ankle, because he ain't had no support, because he was wearing crocs and had him in sport mode.

Speaker 1: 16:50

Okay, um, tennis shoes and, like I said, any hard bottom shoes because they're going to provide the best protection for the foot posture. Um, and like I said, they can't participate in pe with crocs on. They can't participate in pe with flip-flops on them. Them little cutesy sandals and stuff like that, them little jelly sandals. Tennis shoes they ain't got to be the nicest tennis shoes Go to Walmart, they have tennis shoes. Support is support.

Speaker 1: 17:12

Okay, you got to stop this stereotype that all of our kids' clothes got to come from the mall, okay, they ain't got to come from the mall, okay. And last but not least I've said it before a limited wardrobe reduces laundry. You do not want to spend all weekend doing laundry. You can you have seven outfits that way. If you don't do laundry over the weekend, they still got two more till you can get to it, okay, this reduces the laundry. And, um, since we're doing this, let me go ahead and follow. Give me all the. You can't make this up.

Speaker 1: 17:56

Um, new face had his five teeth pulled a couple of days ago. Uh, he's doing well, but let me tell you, buddy ain't do good. He did good until we got home. And then he got home and he started crying and he trying to take gauze out his mouth and he would bleed. Now, it was a mess. It was a mess but nonetheless it was funny. I may throw a couple clips on there on. If you go to YouTube and watch this, then I'll insert a couple of clips in there. Um of him after the dentist and, uh, you can kind of see how that went.

Speaker 1: 18:31

Last, but certainly not least, um, my song lyric of the week. You know I'm being a little silly with it, since we're talking about clothes and we're talking about back to school shopping and wardrobe. I picked this song as a joke, okay, and I felt like it's kind of funny because when kids get out of school, the first thing that they do is they come home, they change their clothes and they throw their clothes on the floor, right. So I pick nearly hot in here because the lyrics say it's getting hot in here, so take off all your clothes. That's fine. You take your clothes off and put your clothes in the dirt clothes. See, that's my little jokey joke. It's getting hot here. Put them clothes in the laundry. Don't just take clothes off and put them everywhere. Take clothes off and put them in the laundry. I don't want to see clothes all over the floor. Okay, pick the clothes up. If you got to take clothes off, put and you change your clothes, put them in the laundry, don't put them on the floor. So my song lyric of the week is nelly hot in here.

Speaker 1: 19:31

I hope y'all understood the joke. If you don't, I don't know what to tell you. But, as always, make sure you're following us on ig at the gag is pot. Make sure you're following us on youtube as well. At the gag is pot. Make sure you're sure you're liking, you're sharing, you're subscribing, so that when anytime a new episode is released, you're one of the first people to know that the episode is released. Until next time, I'm your girl, charlie Shante. This is thegaggispod. Bye, guys.