When a company like MandM Direct ask you if you want to prove that you’re a cool Dad (ok the word they used was frugal) how could I resist!

I’m also competitive so an opportunity to crush the other dads is always welcome! hahaha hope you laughed other dads, no really! I’ve invested a lot of time with MandM Direct over the years in particular around their Christmas sales as I really can’t be bothered sweating it out in the big department stores and with size 13 shoes, they’ve normally got me covered. Literally!

Being a Dad to my two girls aged 14 and 16 months is one of the most amazing things in the world! We have so much fun as a family enjoying excursions, going out to museums and all of the tick list places for standard boring parents to a teenager and amazing to a toddler.

Having had a dramatic life change at the end of 2016 and pushing myself to walk the Coast to Coast and all of the training involved in that, it’s been pretty tough on family time and I’ve tried to include my girls in that where possible. We’ve also just taken up Tennis as a sport of choice and as you probably know, you need to look good!

 So with our budget at £100 and the aim to be the biggest saver out of all the dads, I didn’t want to waste the opportunity to actually solve clothing issues in the family and hopefully save a lot of money in the process.

Here’s our issues:

 ME

I’m mega tall, lost weight and none of my polos/chinos fit anymore! These used to be my staple for everything. Walk up a mountain, polo, play golf, polo go to sleep? Too far! So I needed an outfit consisting of clothes that fit, that are useful for all of the above and actually make me look half decent! No bagginess (Is that a word?), just form fitting and hopefully not taking up too much of the budget.

French Connection Mens Solid Top Polo Marine Blue – £9.99 Saving £25.00

First for me was this gorgeous French Connection Polo Shirt. I’ve a history with French Connection and I know how snug their clothing is. So buying a large I prayed it would fit and I really wasn’t disappointed. It’s snug, got movement for my tennis and golf swing as well as being pretty damn stylish too!

JACK AND JONES Mens Marco Earl AKM 165 Chinos Humus – £12.99 Saving £37.00

What stylish preppy Dad wouldn’t be complete without a pair of Chinos and coming in at 36 waist, 34 leg, these tick the new slimline me! Jack and Jones have made a great pair of chinos here with some attention to detail and fit. I’ll just need to find my boat shoes.

 Onfire Mens Polo Blue – £6.99 Saving £20.00

Looking through the Polos I found a ridiculously cheap polo shirt from Onfire. I’ve had their shoes before and for the price they were quality and lasted my just as long as my expensive leather ones. The polo shirt I picked was in Medium! I haven’t worn a medium since I was 22. It fits, perfectly, let’s hope the washing machine (wife) doesn’t shrink it 🙂

BETH

Karrimor Womens Supa 4 Low Hiking Shoes Grey/Blue – £24.99 Saving £40.00

Beth’s my number 1 hiking and tennis champion! We’ve worked really hard together to go outdoors where possible and having joined the local tennis club as a family, we wanted to make sure activity is a buzz word in our house. I’ve spent a ridiculous amount of money over the last year on camping gear and equipment and the last thing we needed was a pair of boots for growing feet. Now buying walking boots online isn’t always the easiest as they need to be perfect. However. We’re big fans of Karrimor and Beth was using my wives boots at 5 1/2 so the natural step up was a 6 in the Supa, the same style/fit. Beth’s not a fan of pinks and nor am I as a dad so the aqua/neon blue trim is just perfect.  New Balance Womens WX822 V2 Training Shoes Black/White – £24.99 Saving £50.00

Having picked the boots we start to look at the trainers and the amazing deals they’ve got. Huge savings on well-known brands and as we’ve all pushed ourselves to do more activity, she’ll need a new pair of trainers too. The training shoes have around £50 off the retail price and look decent. She’s happy, her feet are happy and now I’ve got an excuse to get myself some too.

New Balance Womens Accelerate Heathered Running Tank Lime Glow – £5.99 Saving £14.00

While we were looking at the trainers, we spotted a nice New Balance training top. Perfect for those hot days, training! Beth loves bright colours and why not! So that’s going in our basket.

DOROTHY

Converse Baby Girls Print Filled Chuck Patch T-Shirt White – £6.99 Saving £3.00

Dorothy is too young to play tennis properly, I’ve tried and she just can’t return my serve. But that doesn’t mean she can’t join in with her big sister. What better time to get them into sports that now. Beth is an indie kid, she loves Converse and when we spotted this T-Shirt for Dot, we had to get that too. Converse kids together! Unfortunately she did try her best to get Beth’s trainers on but her tiny feet were just too small haha.

RACHEL

 Onfire Womens 3/4 Sleeve AOP Dress Navy/Burgundy – £5.99 Saving £30.00

Saving the best till last, with the summer air and the cream teas and scone brigade, what better way to enjoy watching our girls play around than in a dress that not only looks beautiful, but is able to offer the durability for Dorothy’s breast feeding. This Onfire dress really is perfect, it creates a great silhouette and Mrs P doesn’t have to unzip or undo things when it’s feeding time. A really beautiful, practical choice.