Name brands in clothing and shoes are so darn "important" to school kids. My daughter has a really well-paying babysitting job, so she's been buying a lot of her own stuff, but the job is going to end soon because we and the family she babysits for have to move soon due to commercial developers buying the places.

I'm so glad she's not above wearing gently-used clothes found on eBay. She got a new-with-tags Abercrombie sweater this week for $18 including shipping. It would have been $49.50 at the store. I wanna know where these eBayers find the stuff so cheap. And now if only my son was as receptive to the idea.

I will say one high-end brand item I won't buy again - Bolthouse Farms Baby Cut Carrots. They taste awful. Give me Green Giant over Bolthouse any day.