Dress the family on a budget with MandM Direct

As a larger family, we’re often trying to figure out how we can juggle life, especially expensive aspects. We take day trips to big parks instead of theme parks, we eat picnics and packed lunches instead of going to the in-house restaurants and we have lots of min staycations instead of lots of holidays… all these things are just a part and parcel of being a larger family that doesn’t have the mega bucks yet. In a world of £50 t-shirts for 2 year olds, something we refuse to spend a lot on is clothing. For any of us. That being said, Adam has some rather expensive brands that he likes, and he won’t really compromise on that. The kids and I could care less, clothes are clothes, but we do like to look nice and in turn feel nice, and I like to make sure that the kids are smart (can’t instagram a tonne of ruffians now can I?!)

In a world where everything is so costly and wages just aren’t going up, there has to be some give somewhere doesn’t there? Do we spend £300 on a big family day out once a season, or do we spend it on clothing for us all for summer? Do we enjoy a night at the cinema with the kids or do we promote shell out on designer tshirts for the children?

Well, both actually.

MandM Direct is one of my latest parenting hack discoveries, though how I’ve not noticed it before when it’s been going for 30 years I have absolutely no idea. MandM Direct is a hub of designer clothing, all at MEGA knock down prices. We are talking 75% reductions all year round on a lot of the stuff, which means that the bulk of our wardrobes can cost next to nothing for each season and we can chuck our hard earned cash towards other things like family holidays, big day trips that cost a fortune and the basics like the bills and grub. It’s hard enough in this modern society to cope with the cost of life in general, so this feels like one less thing to stress about.

MandM Direct got in touch with me and challenged me to dress the entire family for less than £100 – so 3 kids (sized 2years, 4-5years and 7-8years) and 2 adults for under £100 spondoodallies. That is a pretty big ask if you consider the cost of most attire nowadays – let’s be frank here, it’s not unusual to pay £20 for a dress for a child or even a t-shirt for a man, so stretching £100 for all of us is impossible in most places, even with the best intentions.

 

But it wasn’t impossible with MandM Direct. Not even remotely. In fact, we came under that figure by quite a bit, this is what we got:

Reuben:

• Yellow Kangaroo Poo t-shirt £4.99
• Fluid Twill Shorts £9.99

Total cost: £14.98

Tobias:

• Converse Kids sweater £9.99
• Ben Sherman Jeans £10.79

Total: £20.78

Edith:

• Converse onesie £14.99

Total: £14.99

Adam:

• Men’s On Fire combat shorts £14.99
• Jack and Jones Rajib t-shirt £9.99

Total: £24.98

Me:

• Jacqueline de yong Neva knitted dress £9.99

Total: £9.99

Family total: £85.72!!

Not only will this set us up, but in reality you only need a few outfits each, especially once the kids go to school. I’m not a moron, I know that we all have a lot more clothing than just a few outfits, Christ, I’ve recently broken my ikea draws because I’ve shoved them so full of clothes (most of which don’t fit me at the moment #awks) but I do think that if you’re on a budget, especially for summer clothes that you’re probably only going to wear for 2.4 days before our beautiful British clouds reappear, you only need a few items. Reuben will probably have 2 pairs of shorts this summer because now that he is at school he only needs clothes on a weekend and even then, we tend to have one day in our pjs just relaxing. I wash every day and sometimes (rarely) clothes aren’t dirty after a few hours wear in a soft play centre, so it’s a no brainer to not over load the wardrobes!

That’s not only do-able with style and ease from MandM Direct, but it also frees you up for those guilt free splurges on one or two special items.

So fellow bargain hunters, go and celebrate you’re new found bargain haven!