Sit down with your family and discuss and set a budget for back to school clothes.  Unless they have out grown all of last year’s clothes, they really only need a few new items.  In earlier posts I suggested garage sales and thrift shops as excellent places to find good, name brand clothing at very low prices.  Teach your kids how to bargain shop and how to stay within a budget for all their needs.  When our kids were in Jr. High, we began allowing them to choose all their own clothes but had a set budget amount.  When they reached that amount, they were done.  Of course, we shopped with them and offered advice, but the choices were theirs.  The first year, they made mistakes.  One HAD to have a very expensive pair of shoes which used most of the clothing budget, then wanted an expensive name brand outfit.  That combination used the entire budget.  We held firm, and a good lesson was learned.  The following year, the same child found much lower priced items and had a more extensive back to school wardrobe.  By the time our children were in high school, we would give them their clothing allowance and drop them off at the mall or clothing stores of their choice.  They made all their own purchases.