How much do you spend of shoes for your child/children each year? Do you have a budgeted amount? What do you consider a reasonable dollar amount for a pair of kids' shoes? How much is too much? How long before they outgrow them? I guess the reason I ask is: yes, quality is so important, but most of us have $ limits on how much is do-able!

I hate spending a ton of money on something I know they'll outgrow quickly. How much I'm willing to spend depends on the kid (no, not a favoritism thing... my 14-year-old girl will get more wear out of a pair of boots than my 15-month-old boy will, so I adjust). Sometimes, I can find a good deal on namebrand shoes at places like Payless, Famous Footwear, and the like, but for my preschooler and toddler, I won't spend more than $10 to $15, if that.

Lylah, I completely agree. My kids are 6 and 3 and they outgrow (or in the case of my son wear out) shoes in 6 months (max). I pay approximately $10 to $15 for their shoes -- usually at Target. Once they get older, I'm sure I"ll be willing to spend a bit more, but for now this works perfect and saves money while they are growing so incredibly fast.

My son is 2, and I'm not really willing to spend more than $15 on his shoes, especially since he's barefoot most of the time. They don't wear their shoes inside at daycare, and he doesn't wear shoes inside at home. When he's going to regular school and wearing his shoes all day long, I'll be willing to spend a bit more. But still- you can get great shoes for under $25 if you look at the right places.

I use to spend on my sons shoes but now doing character sneakers that light up for 17.00. I never thought I would do light ups but he LOVES them and won't walk or run without them.

I went to stride rite recently and almost fell over - $45.00 for little baby shoes. Those days are over for me and kids. Stride Rite is great but getting costly.

Famous Footwear is great. We also have DAFFYS here where you can get a pair of Geoxx at a discount like 1/2 of what they are in stores and for that it's great. Marshalls is really good too. Some DSW's have a kids section. Target is awesome for little girl shoes and boy summer sandals.

Now I have a hard time spending more than 25.00 for shoes.

I spend $45-50 on each of the first 2 pairs when they are just learning to walk. I wanted the support and structure stride rite offers. I know there are other brands just as supportive, but when trying them out with the first they never held up to the wear and tear. Once they are running, jumping, climbing trees they get a lesser brand name.

I spend money on shoes and coats. Everything else I'll buy second hand but we need good coats because we travel to wintery places and I'm fussy about shoes. So I'll buy fewer shoes but at a higher quality. Especially for the pair of every day shoes; my daughter is really hard on shoes. At Stride Rite I shop the clearance shoes first. Always ask to see the clearance shoes. if they're not on the floor they'll be in back. I like Land's End sandals. They're rugged and run about $25.

Now that the Pidgelet is 5, I'm starting to buy the cheaper shoes but I still take a good look at them first to make sure they flex well and are well made.

The only time I've spent more than $12.99 on kids shoes was with our first, whose feet were sooo wide and fat that the only thing I could get her feet into was a pair from Stride Rite that were sized extra wide. The only reason I even bothered was because her daycare required that walkers wore shoes.

With babies who are learning to walk, they need soft sold, flexible shoes. Not major support.