This post is sponsored by First Alliance Credit Union. More tips for Managing your Money in Minnesota.
Children can have a lot of feelings about going back to school in the fall. Some might be excited about getting to see their friends, while others might be unhappy that their days of relaxation and playing video games are coming to an end. Parents, on the other hand, all tend to feel the same way: stressed out.
One big source of this stress is back-to-school expenses. According to one survey, parents in 2022 were expected to spend $661 per child on back-to-school expenses, including new clothes, new school supplies, and even expenses like band instruments and sports equipment. If you have more than one child, you might be wondering how on earth you’ll be able to cover this amount without taking on credit card debt.
The good news is that you don’t have to sit back and accept these expenses. If you take the steps below, you’ll be able to reduce the cost of back-to-school supplies. You might even be able to help other families out in the process.
Search Your Home
The first step any parent should take when they get their child’s list of back-to-school supplies is to see what items they already have on hand before heading toward their big box store of choice. You can reuse backpacks, binders, and pencil cases, for instance, and you might just have some spare pens or pencils your child can use.
In addition to school supplies, you can also reuse clothes. Go through each of your kids’ closets before going out clothes shopping and see what still fits. Not only will this help you avoid overbuying new clothes, but you can also give the clothes your older children have outgrown to younger children to wear. You can even do clothing swaps with friends and family members!
Visit Second-Hand Stores
Once you know what school supplies you need to buy, don’t hit major retailers just yet. Instead, go to thrift stores like Goodwill and Savers. They usually have some gently used office supplies for sale, and they might even have a few new items.
Of course, while you’re at the thrift store you should also check out their clothing racks. Since kids will outgrow most of their clothes each year, you can get great deals on children’s clothes that haven’t seen much use.
Buy From Dollar Stores
In addition to thrift stores, you should also visit dollar stores, like Dollar Tree. They often have back-to-school supplies at a high-discount price, and you’ll usually get a much better price than you’ll find in stores like Target or Wal-Mart.
Start Your Shopping Early
No one ever said you need to wait until you get a back-to-school supplies list to start shopping. You probably have an idea of what your kids will need for the school year already, such as:
- Pencils
- Pens
- Notebooks
- Folders
- Crayons
- Glue sticks
- Scissors
- Binders
- Backpacks
- Loose-leaf paper
All of these are items you can pick up from stores year-round, so why not pick a few of these items up the next time you go to the store? It’s a great way to space out your shopping and spread out the expense over several paychecks.
If you really feel you need a list of back-to-school supplies for your child before making any purchases, though, you can try a few channels to obtain one. It’s not unheard of for schools and teachers to reuse the same school supplies list from year to year, so you might be able to obtain one from the school’s administrative office. You might even try emailing the teachers themselves to see if they have a list they could send you.
Save Over Time
Another way to defray the cost of back-to-school shopping is to start saving money as early as possible. You already know how much back-to-school expenses will cost ($660), and you know when you have to buy them (August).
All you need now is to make sure you have enough money to pay for back-to-school expenses, as well as know how much money you can save from each paycheck between now and then (if anything). Obviously, the earlier you start saving the less you’ll have to take out of each paycheck put toward your goal, but even saving three or four weeks in advance will help.
You can also get some help saving over time for back-to-school expenses by opening up a specialized savings account called a club account. There are different types of club accounts, such as a back-to-school account. When you open one, you’ll be able to put money into it to plan for back-to-school expenses each year. These are great for keeping you on track with your savings goals, as you won’t be able to withdraw money from the account until a predetermined date each year, for back-to-school club accounts that date is Aug 1st. When that date arrives, the credit union will transfer all the money in your back-to-school club account to your checking account so you can use it to purchase the supplies you need.
Avoid Name Brands
As you shop for back-to-school supplies, you’ll notice hundreds of name-brand items, from Spider-Man backpacks to Little Mermaid notebooks. These may look cool, but the reality is you’re paying extra money in licensing fees. Instead, go for the generic backpacks, the plain folders, and the unadorned sneakers.
While your children may be sad that they don’t get to take their favorite characters to school with them, you can use this as an opportunity to teach your kids about managing money. For instance, you can show them how much a Spider-Man backpack costs, then show them a similar, cheaper backpack without Spider-Man and point out the difference in price. You can also incentivize your children to save money by giving them a list of two or three school supplies to purchase for themselves, giving them some money, and telling them they can keep any money left over after they buy their supplies.
In addition to name brands, you’ll also want to avoid store loyalty. While you might prefer shopping at Target over Wal-Mart for instance, don’t be afraid to compare the prices between stores and give your business to the store that gives you the best value. Thanks to the Internet, you don’t even have to visit stores physically—just visit their website or download their mobile app and see what they’re charging.
Look for Coupons and Discounts
Speaking of stores and their mobile apps, you should know that many stores now post their weekly sales on their mobile app and website. You can use this information to check on the availability of back-to-school supplies and see if a store has them on sale. You can also follow brands and stores on social media to get news on their back-to-school deals and discounts.
While you’re searching for discounts online, don’t neglect the circulars that come in your mailbox. You might find coupons that could give you a substantial discount.
Buy in Bulk
Usually, the more you buy at one time, the more you save. If you have multiple children, you can take advantage of this by heading to a store like Costco or Sam’s Club and buying your children’s school supplies in bulk. It’s worth pointing out that you may also be able to get some deals on clothes in the process.
Given the nature of buying in bulk, though, you might very well end up with more school supplies than you need. You could save these for next year, but you might also want to join a local Facebook buy-and-sell group and sell them to other parents shopping for supplies for their children. You might even want to reach out to your friends with children and see if you can pool your money to buy all your school supplies in bulk and distribute some to each family.
Get Outside Help if you Need It
Of course, if you are really struggling to supply your child with the basic items they need to be successful in school this year, check out the United Way’s Running Start for School program. Through this program, every year the Rochester area community comes together to donate school supplies to families that need a little extra help to afford school supplies. The United Way then distributes those supplies to local schools and holds free events for families to collect the needed supplies and learn about other local support resources.
Prepare for Back-to-School Shopping With First Alliance Credit Union
It’s no secret that back-to-school shopping is expensive. However, you can take some steps to keep costs under control. By only buying what you need, prioritizing dollar stores and thrift stores over big box retailers, and searching for discounts, you’ll be able to lower the cost of back-to-school supplies and keep more money in your pocket.
Plus, you can keep track of your back-to-school spending with this free budgeting worksheet from First Alliance Credit Union. This free worksheet will help you plan how much you can spend on supplies and help you keep track of what you have already purchased.
