Just as the school year creeps up on your kids, school-related expenses can creep up on you. Many of these costs are inevitable, but you can cut your back-to-school bills with some creativity and planning.
Start With a Plan
- Jot down necessary school-related items, such as classroom supplies, and your kids’ “want” items, such as an after-school pottery class.
- Take a look at your family budget to determine the total amount you can spend. See which costs you can spread out, get rid of or at least reduce.
- When shopping with your kids, stick to your budget. And look for ways to help them learn to manage money — a skill that’s essential once they head out on their own.
School Supplies
Expect to pay for basic classroom supplies, an up-front cost that accompanies your child’s entrance into the classroom.
- Buy generic or store brands
- Check newspaper circulars for back-to-school promotions from now until school starts
- Compare local deals with what you can find online
Also, ask if your child’s school prints a master supplies list. These usually don’t vary much from one year to the next, so you can stock up year-round on items you know your kids will need — pencils, folders and glue sticks — when they go on sale.
After-School Activities
It’s hard to say ‘no’ when your kids excitedly ask if they can start a new sport or take a drama class or guitar lessons. Before you know it, you’ve forked over $500 for the coming season.
- Ask your kids to pick their favorite activity and cut one or more of the others (many kids are overbooked anyway).
- Find out up front what each activity requires in terms of your time and financial commitments. Will you need to bring team snacks or pay for overnight sports tournaments?
- Look for activities offered by the YMCA, community recreation centers and churches.
To save on equipment:
- Rent instead of buying an instrument until you know your child will stick with it
- Suggest grandparents or aunts and uncles buy uniforms, or even lessons and camp dues, as a birthday or holiday gift
- Ask your friends with older kids what treasures might be stowed in their storage room
- Scout secondhand deals at used sporting good stores or on Craigslist
Clothes
Take inventory of what your children already have.
- Your son wants the latest style backpack? See if last year’s pack still fits or if he can use an older sibling’s hand-me-down.
- Most of your daughter’s clothes still fit? Buy only a few must-have items before school starts and find others later.
After you decide what your kids need, determine what you can afford to spend before ever setting foot in the store (or hitting the purchase button online). Then, shop smart.
- Give older children a budget for buying back-to-school clothes and shoes. Or, have them contribute their allowance or summer job earnings to fund some of their new wardrobe.
- Grant younger kids choices within your budget and find opportunities to teach them about money. If your daughter is deciding between two shirts, one $12 and the other $20, explain to her that if she chooses the $12 shirt, she has $8 left to buy a hat or put toward new shoes.
- Find out whether your state has an annual sales-tax holiday for back-to-school shopping.
- Shop at consignment stores instead of the mall.
- Take any of your child’s ‘lightly worn’ castoffs to local stores for credit toward what you buy.
- Check to see if there are any “Just Between Friends” (JBF) sales, neighborhood consignment swaps, in your area.
Lunch
- Buy in bulk if you’re making lunch at home. A large bag of pretzels usually costs less than a box of small bags with the same total amount.
- Use reusable food containers instead of individually wrapped baggies or boxes. Over the long haul, you’ll spend less.
- Pack lunches with ice packs and ask your children to eat their lunch leftovers after school before they eat other snacks at home.
- Give your child a lunch allowance or see if the school provides debit cards parents can preload for school lunch. Your child will learn the basics of debit use and money management, and you can keep track of his or her spending.
Transportation and Child Care
Determine early on how your child will get to and from school and after-school activities and how you will deal with sick days or cancellations due to weather.
If you or your child is driving to school:
- Make sure to budget for gas and parking fees
- Try to find carpool options to reduce time on the road
- Look to the bus or other forms of public transportation
- Consider whether your student can bike or walk to school
For each child:
- Budget a week or more of sick days and snow days each year that require you or your spouse to take off work
- Coordinate with a neighbor, family member or day-care center that can be ready to watch your child at a moment’s notice
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