When I became a parent I nearly choked at the price of children’s footwear. Literally. Some shoes are obscene prices and it makes you wonder what else you could buy for the same money. At the same time, you want the best for your children and you want quality footwear that fits well.

Any parent will know that children’s feet are one of the biggest expenses, especially in the first five years when their growth rate is so fast.

The footwear itself can be pricey but it’s more the volume of footwear you have to buy in one go that’s the expensive part.

When they grow out of shoes they also grow out of trainers, school shoes, wellies, flip flops, sandals and any specialist footwear they have for activities like riding boots, football boots or ballet shoes.

Times all that by a few children, and it can come to hundreds of pounds!

It is sensible therefore to make savings whenever you can.

• Buy things in the sales, buy two of something at sale price, one in the next size up and save for later
• Take advantage of offers like buy one get one half price or special slashed prices of different brands
• Look online, not just in store
• Shop around and don’t just buy things when you desperately need them, buy them when they are at the best price

There are some great offers on children’s footwear online at the moment. For example children’s Converse are reduced in Jones Bootmaker at the moment. They have a range of colours, styles and sizes. These last well and I even put them in the washing machine and tumble dryer to keep them fresh looking.

Sports Direct is a great source for all sorts of children’s footwear. You can get trainers, school shoes, and other more specialist footwear and they always have sales and discounts available, even on the top brands.

Brantano is another shop that can be good as well for shoe bargains. I even managed to buy some Osh Kosh toddler shoes from there a couple of times.

How do you tackle the never ending shoes and wellies cycle? Where do you buy children’s footwear from?