I will, on occasion, spend a lot of money buying the kids *good* clothes, usually only 1 or 2 outfits each. But I buy the next size up so is last longer The other day I brought the girls these gorgeous Thomas Cook summer shirts which were $65 each, but they will last at least 2 years and I couldn't find any nice dress shirts in target, bigw or myer for them. I have brought RM Williams shirts for the boys too which are a bit expensive. Everything else I buy on sale if I can. A few years ago when DD1 was 4, I saw this gorgeous esprit summer skirt in a fancy kids clothes shop and it was $80!!!! so a simple cotton skirt! But when I was there later in the year I saw the skirt on the bargain 60% off rack and got it then. I was so pleased with myself LOL. I wont even include shoes in this because I think myself lucky if I can get them shoes for under $80. Except for DS2 who has bog-standard normal feet. Oh and water ski gear is expensive too. Last year the girls needed new life jackets and ski pants and that was about $250 for those items.