My parents spent almost nothing on my education, just a couple of $ per year to buy a notebook or two. I used the same pens for almost ten years. I participated in zero sports, had zero tutors... I did ok but I had peers with even less resources and not all of them did good.
The clothes were fine: good condition, clean, etc. Just old from the perspective of kids who didn't understand they came from money or that their parents were bad with money and headed toward disaster.
/u/raisedbyninjas was hopefully kinder than those kids even though it sounds like they were in the same cohort by how small $20/month sounds to them.
Elite parents (read: the ones with discretionary money for schooling) do not see education in this way. They see it as an endless arms race to optimize every possible advantage they can for their child. From the moment the child was born, everything about their life was structured to optimize future earnings, which requires admission to an elite school, which requires exceptional learning tools.