Labelling kids’ school uniforms hacks could save parents £2,000 a year

Using this one trick when labelling your child’s school uniform could save you as much as £2,000, according to research.

Whatever your feelings on school uniform, most UK schools have one. They don’t always come cheap – though school uniform grants can help some parents – and it doesn’t help that children often lose items. With the primary school years costing around £6,000 for parents, and expenses like pocket money gradually adding up too, any way to save some money is welcome.

One thing you can do is simply use your child’s nickname when labelling their clothes, says Sonja Adams, founder of Tiger Tags. If your child is one of two or three Sophias or Olivers in their class, it can be tricky for teachers to identify who owns which item – using a more unique nickname can be really helpful if things go missing or get mixed up. 

Use sticky or iron-on labels on everything, from schoolbags and lunchboxes to clothes and shoes. Sonja told the Daily Express, “Every year we see two waves of parents placing their name tag orders - the first is toward the end of the current school year when they're thinking ahead and trying to get on top on their school admin for the next year, and the second is literally within days of the new school year starting as they frantically tick off the school supplies that still need to be picked up.”

Something else she recommends is using a checklist with your children. With her own kids, she attached a small laminated checklist to the inside of their bags, so that when getting ready to leave school, they could check that they had everything.

She added, "It helped to incentivise this at times, whether that be with stars and stickers, or a monthly 'reward' for remembering to bring everything home – aka not losing anything – that month."

Once your children have outgrown their uniform, here’s how to turn it into cash, while here’s how to save money on back to school costs. You can check if your child is eligible for free school meals too.