Planning for back to school with Aldi Specialbuys

Yes, yes, I know. Don't start on the Back to School stuff now, the kids have only just finished - unless you are one of the unlucky ones who hasn't quite reached that days. But still - I always have my uniform bought as early as possible. I don't know if it's just me, or my children, but whenever I go to look for their sizes, the choice is either limited or non-existent so I tend to snap it up as I see it.

I also try to pay as little as possible, given that my two manage to destroy uniform at an alarming rate. I have a bagful of stuff that is no longer good enough - polo shirts get covered in all sorts from food to paint to mud to grass stains, as do dresses, skirts, trousers. Consequently, I refuse to pay top dollar for uniform that will get trashed in a few weeks. This year seems particularly bad  as I've already binned some disgusting looking polo shirts.

This year, I have a saviour in Aldi. Starting from this Thursday 25th July, they have uniform on special buy in their stores. They sent me some uniform to try on the children and really, I am pretty impressed. The polo shirts (Why did our school choose white?) look fairly sturdy, ready to accept paint and food stains come September. For Monkey, they sent a pair of trousers that just fit him so will be perfect once he's had 6 weeks of rest and growing time. And for Missy, a lovely pleated skirt that's long enough to reach her knees. To give you an idea, they both have 8-9 year sizes - my little Missy is tall and catching her brother!

Best of all, Aldi also sent us two fab winter padded jackets which will be ace when - perish the thought - it gets cold all over again. The children thought I was a bit odd making them try them on in this heat because they ARE cosy. Missy has a lovely comfy fur trimmed hood and Monkey's has a hood - you wouldn't believe how many winter coats don't have hoods on them. This is Lancashire, you know. There is rain.

What I like most, however, is the price. A two pack of polo shirts are £1.25. The skirt and the trousers are both £1.50. You can get a multibuy deal of a pack of polo shirts, a round neck sweater - which we don't use as school have crested ones - and a skirt or trousers - for £4. That's amazing. The quality looks good and I noticed that it's all easy to wash, and tumble dry and has Teflon coating to repel stains. Obviously, they do have other colours available if you need them; we just have the basics of white and grey.

Both jackets cost £9.99 which I think is excellent for the quality. There are lots of other items available too - PE kit, socks, vests, pants, plimsolls, even ballet kit! I may have to get down there myself tomorrow to finish off my uniform buying!

These uniform Specialbuys are available from tomorrow - 25th July - in Aldi stores, and will only remain available whilst stocks last so get yourself down there. And sorry if this is too early to be talking about going back to school but in a few weeks, you'll be praying for that day!

(Aldi sent me the items shown to try out for free. All opinions are my own.)

Review: Tesco's Back to School Pack

So, a week or two ago, I was tagged by the lovely notSupermum to receive a Tesco Back to School pack. It arrived this morning, a bit late for most people's return to school, but still useful nonetheless, particularly as Monkey seems to wear out or destroy things, being the type of "typical" boy that runs around as much as he can at playtimes.

Inside this lovely box - which was fetchingly tied with a smart black bow - was all this:

2 skirts
2 pairs of boys trousers
1 pair of girls non-iron trousers
2 packs of 3 white polo shirts
1 pack of boys white shirts
1 girls white shirt
2 packs of pencils
2 packs of gel pens
2 packs of exercise books

And on top, a treat for Mummy - a £30 voucher to spend on the Clothing at Tesco website. Monkey and Missy Woo descended on the stationery as they LOVE pens, pencils and crayons (unfortunately, I don't as half of it has ended up on our walls at some point). Missy Woo even deliberately drew in all the other pages of her book that school gave her to do stuff in over the summer so that she could start on a pack of exercise book.

The clothing is of very nice quality, although obviously, we've not had chance to road test them fully through everyday wear and tear, and a wash. One thing I will say is that the most creased thing to come out of the box was the pair of girls non-iron trousers! Hmm, thinking that might need a bit of work on it as I reckon I'm going to have to iron them before Missy Woo gets round to wearing them. Pretty much everything is labelled as having "Dirt Defence" to help prevent stains and improve the removal of any stains in the wash. Again, this is another good thing for Monkey as he is one of the world's messiest eaters and is a big fan of pasta with tomato-based sauces. Time will tell whether they look as good after he's worn them a few times and I've washed them!

Overall, it was a great pack - something, literally, for everyone (except Daddy, he might have to have a look in on the voucher), so a big thanks to notSupermum for tagging me and giving us some Wednesday excitement as Monkey and Missy Woo LOVE parcels arriving for them to open!

(I was provided with a pack, contents listed as in the post, to review. This included a clothing voucher. I  have received no other compensation. The opinions stated here are my own, and have not been influenced by this compensation.)