July 31, 2025 • 10 mins
Alright, listen up! Today we’re diving into the back-to-school madness and how to keep your wallet from crying while still dressing your kids like champs. We all know the pressure to buy new threads can feel like a financial avalanche, but fear not! I’ve got some solid tips to help you save big without sacrificing style or sanity. We’ll talk about creating a needs-first list, hitting up thrift stores, and shopping smart to avoid those sneaky sales traps. So, let’s gear up for a stress-free school year, get your kids looking fly on a budget, and finally answer the question: How do I dress my kids for success on a budget?
Check out the full podcast episode here
The start of a new school year often brings a wave of nostalgia and a dash of panic for parents everywhere. We dive into the chaos of back-to-school shopping, where the pressure to buy trendy, brand-name outfits can feel like a financial tsunami. But hey, it doesn't have to be that way! We explore smart strategies to keep your budget in check while still making your kids look sharp and stylish. The episode is all about balancing the joy of new clothes with the reality of our wallets. We reminisce about our own school days, the thrill of fresh kicks and crisp jeans, and how those memories can guide us in making budget-friendly choices today. Remember, just because the kids want the latest 'must-haves' doesn’t mean we have to break the bank to get them. By planning ahead, shopping smart, and maybe even hitting up a thrift store or two, we can provide for our kids without the guilt or stress. In the end, it’s all about teaching our kids the value of money and contentment, so they grow up financially savvy and ready to tackle their own expenses down the road.
Takeaways:
- Back to school shopping can feel like a financial rollercoaster, but it doesn’t have to be.
- Planning ahead is key; a needs-first clothing list can save you cash and stress.
- Thrift stores and secondhand shopping can actually score some stylish finds for your kiddos.
- Involving your kids in budgeting teaches them valuable lessons about money management early on.
- Remember, stylish doesn't mean expensive; you can look good without breaking the bank.
- Teaching kids contentment with what they have is as important as buying new clothes.
Links referenced in this episode:
WATCH NOW ON YOUTUBE (OUR VIDEO VERSION)
WATCH NOW ON RUMBLE (OUR VIDEO VERSION)
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Submit your questions or ideas for future shows - email us at
ralph@askralph.com or leave a voicemail message on our podcast page
Mark as Played
Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Hey, for many of us a newschool year means new clothes and
new shoes. But let me ask youa question. Does outfit and your
kids feel financiallyoverwhelming? Well, today's show,
let's talk about how to savewithout sacrificing quality or peace.
So stick with me today becauseI've got some answers on today's
show. This is FinanciallyConfident Christian, your daily dose
(00:22):
of gospel grounded insight andfaith driven tips to help you break
the cycle of financial shamewith confidence. Hey there and welcome
back. Welcome back toFinancially Confident Christian.
I'm Ralph and we're in ourseries Smart Money for Back to school
and beyond. And we've coveredbudgeting and we talked about smart
school supply shopping andtoday we're going to talk about affordable
(00:44):
clothing or to say it better,how to dress your kids for success
on a budget. Hey, you know,truth is our kids are growing fast
and trends, they seem tochange day by day. And if you're
like most of us, our budgetsare feeling tight and you feel pressure
to buy everything new and youfeel pressure to buy everything branded.
(01:04):
And I can still remember thefun of those new clothes, shopping
and new shoes when I washeading back to school as a kid.
There's a visual for you. Iremember those jeans the first day
of school were still stiff andthose sneakers, they just were beautifully
white at the time and had noscuff marks on. Of course they were
a little strong and tight too,a little stiff if you will. And they
had to be broken in. Well, alittle reminiscing those, but that
(01:27):
was the good old days. Stillnot sure how my mom ever made it
work, but she did. But I canremember that like it was yesterday.
Now we had a special rule atour house and I can still hear my
mom's voice now, you can'twear those clothes until school starts.
So that's something you takewith you for the rest of your days,
I think. But for most people,and you might be listening right
(01:47):
now, this time of year alsoleads to overspending, it leads to
guilt. And hey, if you're likemost of us, it leads to stress. But
I want to tell you somethingright now as we get started, your
kids needs can be met and theycan be met intentionally and affordably.
So I'm going to tell you rightnow, take a breath because today
on the show, I've got theanswer. Here's the thing. I want
(02:08):
you to start by understandingstylish doesn't have to mean expensive.
And I'm going to get rightinto the word of God to talk about
that right? Now, let's look atfirst Timothy, chapter 6, verses
6 to 8 says this in thescripture. It says, godliness with
contentment and is great gainhaving food and clothing, we shall
be content. Now, hey, it's agood charge, right? Well, let's look
(02:29):
at first Peter, chapter three,verses three and four, says this.
Your beauty should not comefrom outward adornment. So big question
today is, how do you equipyour kids well without falling into
comparison and pressure?Because if you're like me, you're
thinking, man, this is goingto be an expensive year. Like I said,
(02:50):
I still don't to this day knowhow my, my mom did it. But I thought
today as I was planning this,you know, there's thrift stores out
there. We can shop the sales.And, and the big key takeaway is
if you plan, there'll befreedom and there'll be stewardship.
Now, I can already hear someof you saying, Ralph, my kids are
never going to wear you stuffor from the thrift shop. But please,
(03:11):
let me get into this. So nowyou're thinking, Ralph, what can
we do? Well, I've got asolution today. And the solution
really comes down to beingmindful and planning. And here's
my solution for today. Andencourage you to create a needs first
clothing list. And once you dothat, then we'll talk about exploring
secondhand and strategicallyshopping sales. Because at the end
(03:32):
of the day, my goal today isto help you dress your kids with
peace and not panic. So here'syour one action step for today. We're
going to start by doing acloset inventory. I can still remember
as a kid when my mom wouldsay, okay, back to school time, kids.
Let's set. Let's spend sometime. And I remember to this day
she would pull everything outof the closet. I'm talking everything.
(03:52):
She was back in the innerrecesses of stuff that I hadn't seen
in months. But I'm going toencourage you to do the same thing.
Start with doing a closetinventory. Look at what fits. That's
a big deal to this wholething. I remember I was one of those
kids kind of chubby from thestart, and seemed like every year
I was a little bit morechubby. So a lot of times stuff didn't
fit. My mom was like, yep,we're putting it in the, in the Salvation
(04:13):
army, the Goodwill pile. Sostart with what fits, then start
looking at what's needed. Now,as you do that, I want to encourage
you to list only what'sEssential. Now you're saying to me
already, Ralph, yeah,essential for me and essential for
my kids are two differentthings. So this may very well be
the battleground with yourkids because they may see essential
a bit different than you. Andthis as an, as an example of that.
(04:35):
I can still remember when Iwas in middle school. Now I'm dating
myself, I'll be 53 inSeptember. But all the rage were
the suede Puma sneakers, youknow, with the swish on the side.
They were all the rage. Andfor me, hey, those were essential.
So my mom took us to the mall.We went to the store and my mom saw
the price and she's like, Idon't think so, son. They're not
going to be on your list thisyear. We settled for whatever sneakers
(04:58):
were on sale at the time. Butthat's what I want you to do. I want
you to start with the closetinventory because you might be surprised
what you can make work. Soonce you've looked at the inventory
in your closet, then I'm goingto say, hey, let's move on to that
secondhand shop. Now I canalready hear people sighing across
the cyberspace saying, fromyour kids, mom, are you kidding me?
(05:19):
I'm not wearing something fromthe thrift shop. I'm not wearing
something on consignment orfrom Facebook Marketplace. But I'm
really going to encourage youright now. Look for one or two items
before buying new. You mightbe able to find some quote, vintage
stuff. And here's a littletrade secret. Maybe use this as a
negotiation strategy. Hey,listen, and I understand sometimes
(05:40):
second hand won't fly. Then wemove on to step number three, and
that one is truly shop smart.And this is the key to the whole
thing. You've got to researchdeals for only what's on your list.
See, it's so easy to fall intothat back to school sale trap. Amazon,
Target, all the stores do agreat job of telling you what your
(06:01):
essentials are. But when youreally look at that list, and remember
we started off with making alist of what you actually need. So
don't fall in for those saleson non essentials. That's what, what's,
what the retailers see isessential and those back to school
must have because these mightnot be the needs that are on your
list. So that's the thirdthing. Fourth thing, involve your
(06:22):
kids. I, I think this isreally important. It's something
my mom really encouraged whenwe were children and that was teach
us strategy. My mom would showus how to budget. She Would say,
listen, kids, okay, here's thedeal. Here's what I can afford to
spend. Each of you has suchand such. I can't even remember.
We're talking back in the 80s.Yes, I'm really dating myself now.
But we were talking back inthe 80s. And she would say, okay,
here's your budget for back toschool and here's the list of essentials.
(06:45):
Now, back then, I was going topublic school, so it was a couple
of T shirts and some jeans andsome sneakers, of course, and then
probably a back to schooljacket because like I said, I was
in. I was wearing those huskysizes. So it was always seemed like
things weren't fit. Now, oneof the things that I'm going to encourage
you to do when you involveyour kids is maybe let them pick
one fight item. So I've got astory for you. Here's one. Here's
(07:07):
what they're really going todate me. Remember the Michael Jackson
silk jackets? I don't know ifyou ever saw the. The video for the
Thriller music video. It had,you know, the black and the red and
the pointy, pointy shoulders.Clearly, I'm dating myself. But.
But I remember at the store, Isaw that and I said, I gotta have
one of those. My mom looked atme like, son, you're crazy. You're
not gonna wear that. But shemade a deal with me. She said, look,
(07:30):
here's what I'm gonna do. Ifyou really want that jacket. I can't
remember how much it was. Itwas like on a secondhand rack or
something like that in. In aclearance aisle. Because I think
no wanted to wear it either.But she said, here's the deal. I'll
let you get that, but you'regoing to have to go do some other
things. Save on some otherthings over here. So she let me get
it. I can still rememberwearing it to school the first day.
(07:50):
The truth is, I look like aclown. I never wore it again. I looked
ridiculous. I guess that was alesson I learned. But seriously,
this is a great way tointroduce budgeting and saving with
your kids. Now let's talkabout why all these things help.
Because one of the bigtakeaways here, it's going to reduce
that financial pressure. Backto school. Time is a time of expense.
Hey, listen, clothes are notcheap. Shoes, sneakers, whatever
(08:13):
you want to call them, are notcheap either. So we want to work
to reduce that financialpressure and save significant money.
And at the same time, we canteach children to be contentment.
That's what The Bible versesare about today, not adorning yourself,
but actually findingcontentment. And we can start to
teach them strategy becausethese are strategies they're going
to have to employ the rest oftheir life. And, and here's the big
(08:34):
takeaway. It keeps your fallbudget intact. How about we pray
together now? Father God, Ijust thank you for providing clothing
and every good gift that yougive all of us, Lord. And we confess
that back to school clothingoften feels stressful and spending
pressures are all around us.Help us to be wise, Lord, and help
us to be creative with what wehave. And also, Lord, help us to
(08:56):
guide and teach our childrenstewardship and teach them contentment.
And Lord, we just ask that ourshopping reflect gratitude and peace.
And we ask this in confidence.In Jesus name, amen. Listen, you
don't need to overspend tooutfit your kids. Well, you just
don't. It starts by creating aplan and then shopping intentionally.
(09:19):
And at the end of the day, Iwant you to enjoy this season. Listen,
my kids are in their 20s now.We don't have that back to school
time. And as I'm preparing forthis series right now, it's kind
of, it's leading me back tosome nostalgia. Kind of miss those
times. I don't miss standingin the, the, the, the, the changing
rooms at the stores, trying toget my kids to try on different stuff.
But I don't really encourageyou to enjoy the season. I'm also
(09:41):
going to encourage you toshare the show. See, there are a
lot of other people who aredealing with this same back to school
situation. So I'm just goingto encourage you. Send them a text,
send them an email, point themto financiallyconfidentchristian.com
and say, hey, Ralph's goingover the back to school budget tips
and how to save money asyou're getting your kids ready for
school. And maybe that wouldbe helpful for them. Now, tomorrow's
(10:02):
show, we're going to talkabout those extracurricular expenses
and how to manage and budgetfor those, you know, those sports
and clubs and all those thingsthat your kids want to be involved
in. So I'm going to encourageyou to don't miss it. So let's all
go out there today and befinancially confident Christians.
You can do this. I trulybelieve in you. Believe in yourself,
(10:22):
stay financially savvy, Godbless you and you have a great day
today.
Hey, for many of us a newschool year means new clothes and
new shoes. But let me ask youa question. Does outfit and your
kids feel financiallyoverwhelming? Well, today's show,
let's talk about how to savewithout sacrificing quality or peace.
So stick with me today becauseI've got some answers on today's
show. This is FinanciallyConfident Christian, your daily dose
(00:22):
of gospel grounded insight andfaith driven tips to help you break
the cycle of financial shamewith confidence. Hey there and welcome
back. Welcome back toFinancially Confident Christian.
I'm Ralph and we're in ourseries Smart Money for Back to school
and beyond. And we've coveredbudgeting and we talked about smart
school supply shopping andtoday we're going to talk about affordable
(00:44):
clothing or to say it better,how to dress your kids for success
on a budget. Hey, you know,truth is our kids are growing fast
and trends, they seem tochange day by day. And if you're
like most of us, our budgetsare feeling tight and you feel pressure
to buy everything new and youfeel pressure to buy everything branded.
(01:04):
And I can still remember thefun of those new clothes, shopping
and new shoes when I washeading back to school as a kid.
There's a visual for you. Iremember those jeans the first day
of school were still stiff andthose sneakers, they just were beautifully
white at the time and had noscuff marks on. Of course they were
a little strong and tight too,a little stiff if you will. And they
had to be broken in. Well, alittle reminiscing those, but that
(01:27):
was the good old days. Stillnot sure how my mom ever made it
work, but she did. But I canremember that like it was yesterday.
Now we had a special rule atour house and I can still hear my
mom's voice now, you can'twear those clothes until school starts.
So that's something you takewith you for the rest of your days,
I think. But for most people,and you might be listening right
(01:47):
now, this time of year alsoleads to overspending, it leads to
guilt. And hey, if you're likemost of us, it leads to stress. But
I want to tell you somethingright now as we get started, your
kids needs can be met and theycan be met intentionally and affordably.
So I'm going to tell you rightnow, take a breath because today
on the show, I've got theanswer. Here's the thing. I want
(02:08):
you to start by understandingstylish doesn't have to mean expensive.
And I'm going to get rightinto the word of God to talk about
that right? Now, let's look atfirst Timothy, chapter 6, verses
6 to 8 says this in thescripture. It says, godliness with
contentment and is great gainhaving food and clothing, we shall
be content. Now, hey, it's agood charge, right? Well, let's look
(02:29):
at first Peter, chapter three,verses three and four, says this.
Your beauty should not comefrom outward adornment. So big question
today is, how do you equipyour kids well without falling into
comparison and pressure?Because if you're like me, you're
thinking, man, this is goingto be an expensive year. Like I said,
(02:50):
I still don't to this day knowhow my, my mom did it. But I thought
today as I was planning this,you know, there's thrift stores out
there. We can shop the sales.And, and the big key takeaway is
if you plan, there'll befreedom and there'll be stewardship.
Now, I can already hear someof you saying, Ralph, my kids are
never going to wear you stuffor from the thrift shop. But please,
(03:11):
let me get into this. So nowyou're thinking, Ralph, what can
we do? Well, I've got asolution today. And the solution
really comes down to beingmindful and planning. And here's
my solution for today. Andencourage you to create a needs first
clothing list. And once you dothat, then we'll talk about exploring
secondhand and strategicallyshopping sales. Because at the end
(03:32):
of the day, my goal today isto help you dress your kids with
peace and not panic. So here'syour one action step for today. We're
going to start by doing acloset inventory. I can still remember
as a kid when my mom wouldsay, okay, back to school time, kids.
Let's set. Let's spend sometime. And I remember to this day
she would pull everything outof the closet. I'm talking everything.
(03:52):
She was back in the innerrecesses of stuff that I hadn't seen
in months. But I'm going toencourage you to do the same thing.
Start with doing a closetinventory. Look at what fits. That's
a big deal to this wholething. I remember I was one of those
kids kind of chubby from thestart, and seemed like every year
I was a little bit morechubby. So a lot of times stuff didn't
fit. My mom was like, yep,we're putting it in the, in the Salvation
(04:13):
army, the Goodwill pile. Sostart with what fits, then start
looking at what's needed. Now,as you do that, I want to encourage
you to list only what'sEssential. Now you're saying to me
already, Ralph, yeah,essential for me and essential for
my kids are two differentthings. So this may very well be
the battleground with yourkids because they may see essential
a bit different than you. Andthis as an, as an example of that.
(04:35):
I can still remember when Iwas in middle school. Now I'm dating
myself, I'll be 53 inSeptember. But all the rage were
the suede Puma sneakers, youknow, with the swish on the side.
They were all the rage. Andfor me, hey, those were essential.
So my mom took us to the mall.We went to the store and my mom saw
the price and she's like, Idon't think so, son. They're not
going to be on your list thisyear. We settled for whatever sneakers
(04:58):
were on sale at the time. Butthat's what I want you to do. I want
you to start with the closetinventory because you might be surprised
what you can make work. Soonce you've looked at the inventory
in your closet, then I'm goingto say, hey, let's move on to that
secondhand shop. Now I canalready hear people sighing across
the cyberspace saying, fromyour kids, mom, are you kidding me?
(05:19):
I'm not wearing something fromthe thrift shop. I'm not wearing
something on consignment orfrom Facebook Marketplace. But I'm
really going to encourage youright now. Look for one or two items
before buying new. You mightbe able to find some quote, vintage
stuff. And here's a littletrade secret. Maybe use this as a
negotiation strategy. Hey,listen, and I understand sometimes
(05:40):
second hand won't fly. Then wemove on to step number three, and
that one is truly shop smart.And this is the key to the whole
thing. You've got to researchdeals for only what's on your list.
See, it's so easy to fall intothat back to school sale trap. Amazon,
Target, all the stores do agreat job of telling you what your
(06:01):
essentials are. But when youreally look at that list, and remember
we started off with making alist of what you actually need. So
don't fall in for those saleson non essentials. That's what, what's,
what the retailers see isessential and those back to school
must have because these mightnot be the needs that are on your
list. So that's the thirdthing. Fourth thing, involve your
(06:22):
kids. I, I think this isreally important. It's something
my mom really encouraged whenwe were children and that was teach
us strategy. My mom would showus how to budget. She Would say,
listen, kids, okay, here's thedeal. Here's what I can afford to
spend. Each of you has suchand such. I can't even remember.
We're talking back in the 80s.Yes, I'm really dating myself now.
But we were talking back inthe 80s. And she would say, okay,
here's your budget for back toschool and here's the list of essentials.
(06:45):
Now, back then, I was going topublic school, so it was a couple
of T shirts and some jeans andsome sneakers, of course, and then
probably a back to schooljacket because like I said, I was
in. I was wearing those huskysizes. So it was always seemed like
things weren't fit. Now, oneof the things that I'm going to encourage
you to do when you involveyour kids is maybe let them pick
one fight item. So I've got astory for you. Here's one. Here's
(07:07):
what they're really going todate me. Remember the Michael Jackson
silk jackets? I don't know ifyou ever saw the. The video for the
Thriller music video. It had,you know, the black and the red and
the pointy, pointy shoulders.Clearly, I'm dating myself. But.
But I remember at the store, Isaw that and I said, I gotta have
one of those. My mom looked atme like, son, you're crazy. You're
not gonna wear that. But shemade a deal with me. She said, look,
(07:30):
here's what I'm gonna do. Ifyou really want that jacket. I can't
remember how much it was. Itwas like on a secondhand rack or
something like that in. In aclearance aisle. Because I think
no wanted to wear it either.But she said, here's the deal. I'll
let you get that, but you'regoing to have to go do some other
things. Save on some otherthings over here. So she let me get
it. I can still rememberwearing it to school the first day.
(07:50):
The truth is, I look like aclown. I never wore it again. I looked
ridiculous. I guess that was alesson I learned. But seriously,
this is a great way tointroduce budgeting and saving with
your kids. Now let's talkabout why all these things help.
Because one of the bigtakeaways here, it's going to reduce
that financial pressure. Backto school. Time is a time of expense.
Hey, listen, clothes are notcheap. Shoes, sneakers, whatever
(08:13):
you want to call them, are notcheap either. So we want to work
to reduce that financialpressure and save significant money.
And at the same time, we canteach children to be contentment.
That's what The Bible versesare about today, not adorning yourself,
but actually findingcontentment. And we can start to
teach them strategy becausethese are strategies they're going
to have to employ the rest oftheir life. And, and here's the big
(08:34):
takeaway. It keeps your fallbudget intact. How about we pray
together now? Father God, Ijust thank you for providing clothing
and every good gift that yougive all of us, Lord. And we confess
that back to school clothingoften feels stressful and spending
pressures are all around us.Help us to be wise, Lord, and help
us to be creative with what wehave. And also, Lord, help us to
(08:56):
guide and teach our childrenstewardship and teach them contentment.
And Lord, we just ask that ourshopping reflect gratitude and peace.
And we ask this in confidence.In Jesus name, amen. Listen, you
don't need to overspend tooutfit your kids. Well, you just
don't. It starts by creating aplan and then shopping intentionally.
(09:19):
And at the end of the day, Iwant you to enjoy this season. Listen,
my kids are in their 20s now.We don't have that back to school
time. And as I'm preparing forthis series right now, it's kind
of, it's leading me back tosome nostalgia. Kind of miss those
times. I don't miss standingin the, the, the, the, the changing
rooms at the stores, trying toget my kids to try on different stuff.
But I don't really encourageyou to enjoy the season. I'm also
(09:41):
going to encourage you toshare the show. See, there are a
lot of other people who aredealing with this same back to school
situation. So I'm just goingto encourage you. Send them a text,
send them an email, point themto financiallyconfidentchristian.com
and say, hey, Ralph's goingover the back to school budget tips
and how to save money asyou're getting your kids ready for
school. And maybe that wouldbe helpful for them. Now, tomorrow's
(10:02):
show, we're going to talkabout those extracurricular expenses
and how to manage and budgetfor those, you know, those sports
and clubs and all those thingsthat your kids want to be involved
in. So I'm going to encourageyou to don't miss it. So let's all
go out there today and befinancially confident Christians.
You can do this. I trulybelieve in you. Believe in yourself,
(10:22):
stay financially savvy, Godbless you and you have a great day
today.
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