Yikes! Kids are expensive!

[Anonymous]

OP’s original post did seem like need help finding something cheaper even she said could afford so people tried to suggest cheaper swimsuit, but some people just started to bully her. Suggest OP to report to site administrator Jeff to stop it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, what are you envisioning here. Your daughter can't repeat a bathing suit during spring break? She can't even wear the same rash guard twice? Athleta girl has some very cute two pieces that are actually reversible -- two suits in one.

The fact that you can afford it is irrelevant -- this is just being dumb with money and also teaching your daughter to be dumb with money. She's goign to be a 25 yr old blowing her entire paycheck on clothes because no one ever taught her how to budget properly (while still getting cute things she likes! there's very little sacrifice here).

Kids ARE expensive, but I assumed this post was going to be about the cost of braces, a special needs therapy for which no one takes insurance, or having to buy a new wardrobe for a kid who shot up 3 inches in a year or something. If you are experiencing sticker shock here, just wait until you actually HAVE to spend money on your kid for something a lot less fun than a new swimsuit for vacation.

Please - you've never indulged your kids in some frivolous way? I doubt that very much. These will be what she wears for the next two or three summers. I'm happy for her to have options she's chosen. She's sacrificed plenty in the name of not being financially wasteful, and I am not worried about her being careful with money as an adult.

WTF does this mean in the context of an 8yo? Wearing a few hand-me-downs is not a sacrifice if they are in good condition etc.

OP, you are an idiot. We have a high HHI, my DD has a ton of hand-me-downs, and she has 3 swimsuits. Two nice ones for parties and vacations, and one less expensive one for indoor pool lessons. They cost $100 in total.

It means that about 90% of her clothes and shoes are hand-me-downs. It means when she wanted to take ballet but a cousin handed down tap shoes, she agreed to take tap. I could give more examples, but you'll all find fault with anything I say. Apparently because I did one big thing for one of my children once, you've decided I'm a horrible person.

No. People are criticizing you for complaining about the cost of kids when you decided to buy an excessive amount of the most expensive of the most expensive items. Kids are expensive but not for the reason you are complaining about. It’s like buying a Birkin bag and then complaining that purses are expensive.

And your attempts to justify are just stupid. A kid won’t wear a swimsuit for multiple years. And rewarding a kid with excess because they had to tolerate hand me downs is ridiculous because hand me downs are not a hardship.

Just own it that you wanted to buy your kid some unnecessary and expensive things. So stop complaining.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP’s original post did seem like need help finding something cheaper even she said could afford so people tried to suggest cheaper swimsuit,[/b] but some people just started to bully her. [b]Suggest OP to report to site administrator Jeff to stop it.

Because she’s a whiny idiot. If she had an actual problem and wanted help people would actually be nice. Well as nice as DCUM gets.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:I just find it funny that op thinks her 8 year will be able to wear the same
Bathing suit for 2-3 years Hahhaha

My kids grow out of their bathing suits every year. My 4 year old grew 4” in a year. My 8 year old wears the same size as her 9 year old sister now so there is no more handing down clothes.

All of us try to rationalize our impulsive or emotional decisions. She binge shopped after clothes dieting for a couple of years.

[Anonymous]

We normally buy DD 3 new suits each year — 1 for her Easter basket and a couple for her birthday, which is in the summer. We have a pool at our house, they have grandparents who live in a beach town, and they are always enrolled in summer camps w/swimming twice a day, so the kids swim a ton. You can find cute suits on sale at places like Nordstrom ($20-25) in the off season. I just buy the size up for the next season and I’m all set. DD gets the look she wants and we don’t spend a ton of money for it.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP’s original post did seem like need help finding something cheaper even she said could afford so people tried to suggest cheaper swimsuit, but some people just started to bully her. Suggest OP to report to site administrator Jeff to stop it.

No one is bullying OP. And the only reason there was a pile on is that after several posters politely explained that swimsuits don't need to be that expensive and there are lots of ways to outfit your kid for swim on way less money, OP kept pushing back and complaining. She also felt the need to repeatedly justify her expense for various reasons that not everyone agrees with, but I don't think most people need her to justify it. Why would I care how much OP spends on swimsuit? But OP came on here to explain how kids are very expensive and then provided an example that has nothing to do with kids being expensive and everything to do with OP's personal spending habits.

No bullying. If OP is this thin-skinned, maybe don't post this stuff to DCUM. I don't even get what she was expecting. A bunch of people to say "oh I KNOW I can barely outfit my kids for summer for less than 2 grand, kids close are so expensive and they hardly ever discount the kids section at Tory Burch or Burberry." Come on.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:Why does she need 5 swimsuits and 2 rash guards?!

This. Swimsuits don’t make great hand me downs either. Chlorine fades and stretches them, the beach sand gets embedded in them. Unless your child is on swim team, I would have bought 1 one piece, 1 tankini, one rash guard.

[Anonymous]

We like to do:

1 inexpensive one piece for swim lessons, knowing the chlorine will destroy it and we'll need to replace it often.

1 rash guard suit for the beach. We like the one-piece rash guard suits with a zipper, because then you only have to sunscreen legs, hand, feet, and face.

1 general purpose suit for trips to public pool, vacation, etc. This is the one where I'll splurge and get something really cute that she really wants. The other two will be from Amazon or Target and I'll let her pick but only from a group I've preselected.

I also don't consider hand me down suits some kind of hardship. Some of the nicest suits she's had were hand-me-downs from friends, because suits that get passed on tend to be high quality. So a lot of her hand me down suits were nicer than ones we buy for her now. Plus a lot of hand me downs are barely worn, so it's basically free, new suit.

[Anonymous]

I don’t think it’s uncommon to have 5 swimsuits. We go to the pool every day in the summer and each of my kids have 5+ swimsuits. However, you can absolutely spend less than that — many cute options at old navy, target, and Amazon. I choose to buy my daughter suits from shade critters, Biden, minnow, etc. but certainly don’t complain about the price.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Where the heck are you buying your kids swimwear? Even at Biden (which I consider on the pricy end, though quality is good) that would wind up being like $200-250. And yes, PP is right-- if you shop sales and use brands like Carter's/Target/Old Navy, you could buy it all plus a pair of sandals and a coverup for a little over $100.

OP here. We shopped at Athleta Girl. We looked at Old Navy and Target, but only found two DD was okay with, but not enthusiastic about. After spending her whole life just accepting what she was given, I thought it'd be nice for her to get to choose and be enthusiastic about them.

lol “her whole life”… all 8 years of it, and likely 3 that she consciously remembers

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Did you not look at the price tags?

I just put things in the cart that caught her eye and then looked at the total. We can go back and remove things if it's too much. Again, swinging the price isn't a problem - I'm just surprised as I've never purchased these before.

So why do you need 5? Have her pick her favorite 2.

Lol, it's strategic - she's the oldest of three girls.

That's stupid. I buy my older daughter 2 swimsuits a season unless she fits into last year's suits. My younger daughter gets what is handed down and still in good condition. If there's only one, then she gets a new suit. It's cheaper than your weird method.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, what are you envisioning here. Your daughter can't repeat a bathing suit during spring break? She can't even wear the same rash guard twice? Athleta girl has some very cute two pieces that are actually reversible -- two suits in one.

The fact that you can afford it is irrelevant -- this is just being dumb with money and also teaching your daughter to be dumb with money. She's goign to be a 25 yr old blowing her entire paycheck on clothes because no one ever taught her how to budget properly (while still getting cute things she likes! there's very little sacrifice here).

Kids ARE expensive, but I assumed this post was going to be about the cost of braces, a special needs therapy for which no one takes insurance, or having to buy a new wardrobe for a kid who shot up 3 inches in a year or something. If you are experiencing sticker shock here, just wait until you actually HAVE to spend money on your kid for something a lot less fun than a new swimsuit for vacation.

Please - you've never indulged your kids in some frivolous way? I doubt that very much. These will be what she wears for the next two or three summers. I'm happy for her to have options she's chosen. She's sacrificed plenty in the name of not being financially wasteful, and I am not worried about her being careful with money as an adult.

I've indulged my kids in lots of frivolous ways. What I don't then do is go on the internet to complain about how expensive "kids" are because I spent $80 at a fancy ice cream place or bought my DD a ridiculously cute but expensive Easter dress from Maisonette. I get these are choices I make because I do like to indulge my kids from time to time, and not just how much things cost.

(By the way, after spending over $100 on an incredibly cute Easter dress for DD last year, this year she picked out a dress for $15 from TJ Max because she was obsessed with the matching hat and purse -- she obviously doesn't really need a new dress because last year's still fits, but it is making her SO happy I couldn't resist. So indulging your kids does not always mean buying them the absolute most expensive version of something, and buying a ton of it. I could "afford" to buy her a bunch of dresses at this price point but... why?)

It seems this is a misunderstanding. I was not complaining. As I've said, we can afford this. It was more marveling. I don't regularly spend this much on the girls. Sorry you all took it in a negative way.

You said Yikes! Kids are Expensive, which implies that this was a surprise to you. And then you relayed that you spent a lot of money on things you didn't need. So we criticized you because Yikes! Kids are, of course, expensive if you buy them expensive things.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:OP, what are you envisioning here. Your daughter can't repeat a bathing suit during spring break? She can't even wear the same rash guard twice? Athleta girl has some very cute two pieces that are actually reversible -- two suits in one.

The fact that you can afford it is irrelevant -- this is just being dumb with money and also teaching your daughter to be dumb with money. She's goign to be a 25 yr old blowing her entire paycheck on clothes because no one ever taught her how to budget properly (while still getting cute things she likes! there's very little sacrifice here).

Kids ARE expensive, but I assumed this post was going to be about the cost of braces, a special needs therapy for which no one takes insurance, or having to buy a new wardrobe for a kid who shot up 3 inches in a year or something. If you are experiencing sticker shock here, just wait until you actually HAVE to spend money on your kid for something a lot less fun than a new swimsuit for vacation.

Please - you've never indulged your kids in some frivolous way? I doubt that very much. These will be what she wears for the next two or three summers. I'm happy for her to have options she's chosen. She's sacrificed plenty in the name of not being financially wasteful, and I am not worried about her being careful with money as an adult.

WTF does this mean in the context of an 8yo? Wearing a few hand-me-downs is not a sacrifice if they are in good condition etc.

OP, you are an idiot. We have a high HHI, my DD has a ton of hand-me-downs, and she has 3 swimsuits. Two nice ones for parties and vacations, and one less expensive one for indoor pool lessons. They cost $100 in total.

It means that about 90% of her clothes and shoes are hand-me-downs. It means when she wanted to take ballet but a cousin handed down tap shoes, she agreed to take tap. I could give more examples, but you'll all find fault with anything I say. Apparently because I did one big thing for one of my children once, you've decided I'm a horrible person.

You're wrong sweetheart. We have decided you're a horrible person not because you did one nice thing for your child but because you did one big thing for one of your children and then acted all surprised about how much it cost you. We have not decided you're a horrible person, we just think you're a dummy.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:OP, you thought you were starting a cute little conversation, but, as usual, the DCUM harpies smelled blood and attacked.

You should consider asking that this thread be taken down.

I know, right? Give the OP a break! She’s never bought kids bathing suits before. I sometimes am shocked at the end price when I bring a bunch of stuff to a cashier, it just adds up so quickly.

But Athleta is overpriced and boring. Maaji has really cute swimsuits for girls, Billabong is cute too and these are similarly priced as Athleta. Athleta is too basic to pay those prices.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Why does she need 5 swimsuits and 2 rash guards?!

This. Swimsuits don’t make great hand me downs either. Chlorine fades and stretches them, the beach sand gets embedded in them. Unless your child is on swim team, I would have bought 1 one piece, 1 tankini, one rash guard.

If you rinse them in cold water asap they last longer.