School shopping for kids, going broke?

i remember when I was a teen, I had to get certian jean because all other ones just look horrible on me. Anyways, those jeans were $100 each. My poor mom always got me at least 2 pairs for back to school and then some shirts and stuff. Lucky for her, I tried to keep my back packs for as long as I could before buying a new one and same with shoes. I didn't get a new pair each time school started. I got them when I needed them. You are spending about average price (which is really grose). The older they get the more expensive the clothes get and as teens, they MUST have the best of the best to keep up with their friends. I buy my daughter all the cheap stuff now (which really isn't that cheap - $40 for 2 pairs of jeans? - She's only 5!). I know that once she get's older, she'll want the expensive clothes so I'm trying to save for that now! Everything is becoming more and more pricey and unfortunately our pay cheques aren't getting any higher. Just when everyone thinks they are doing ok financially, the prices of things go up and we are back at square one. I try to stagger out buying my daughter clothes. I don't do ONE big back to school shop. I buy her things when she needs them and what she doesn't she makes due with. I buy things throughout the summer as apposed to buying them right before school. It does help spread out the money situation a bit. Good luck on trying to save money when having 3 teens!