Back-to-school spending
And you thought you had everything covered on your back-toschool shopping list. Think again.
This time of year, parents’ bank accounts can be exhausted faster than it takes to run through a pack of math flash cards with your third grader.
First there are new clothes, PTA membership fees, backpacks, school supplies and possibly a new laptop for the family. Then, don’t forget the extracurriculars — fees for sports clubs, scouting, ballet and dance.
Oh, and the start of the school year kicks off fundraising events. Think popcorn bins, candy bars, cookies and even early orders for Christmas wreaths.
Add it all up, and suddenly your bank account is leaking oil big time. It can be especially stunning if you’re shepherding a child to school for the first time.
Parents are feeling stressed. According to a Lending Tree survey, 75% of parents with kids younger than 18 are at least somewhat stressed about paying for back-toschool shopping, an increase from 67% last year.
If you’re concerned about blowing through your budget before you’ve even arrived at the mall or outlet store, here are some strategies to rein in expenses:
Start with some budgeting basics.
Make sure your monthly income is first covering the essentials, such as housing, food, clothing and transportation. Are you putting away $50 or $100 a month into emergency savings?
“Only then can (parents) really make sure they have enough for other nonessential things,” said Vicki Fitzgerald, a family finance expert from Portland, Oregon, and author of “Simple Guide to Saving For the Young & Broke” and “Simple Guide to Saving on Food.”
Make a list of requested school supplies.
This always worked for me, especially when I remembered to bring the list to shop. Start with the requested school supplies provided by your school district. Take inventory of what supplies you already have at home. Go through your kid’s dressers and closets to see what clothes and shoes they can still fit into before going out to buy a new wardrobe. And if you buy something new, something old should be given away.
The editors of Pennyhoarder.com remind parents to think about the costs that aren’t obvious. For example, do you need to stock up on masks and hand sanitizer? Will you need to buy uniforms or equipment for sports? Will your child need a physical before heading back to school?
Keep the extracurriculars in check.
“Even if it is not a stretch for parents to cover the costs of fees for sports, clubs and scouting, they still need to sit down with their children and have an honest discussion about the costs of the various activities and whether they should invest in those fees,” Fitzgerald said.
They also need to discuss whether they want to invest the time, which can be considerable for both the children and parents for these activities.
When one of my kids played club soccer, the expenses went well beyond the monthly fee that covered coaching salaries and league fees. There were two sets of uniforms, plus warm-up jackets and pants, and additional fees if traveling out of town to tournaments. The cost for one year of club soccer was several thousand dollars, and that was after some fundraising drives.
Look for back-to-school discounts.
Take advantage of sales tax holidays, if offered in your community. Shop the outlet stores and thrift shops for bargains. In addition, if your child needs a new laptop computer for high school, there are more deals on computers in August than any other time of the year except Black Friday.
The bottom line, Fitzgerald said: “Often the parents and children are presented with choices, so it’s best to decide as a family what makes the most sense for the family from a time, energy and budget standpoint.”