Thanks for voting!Another school year is around the corner. That means catching the bus, making lunches, after-school drop offs & pick ups—and, of course, back-to-school spending. According to the National Retail Federation, the average family with children up to 12th grade will spend $606 on back-to-school items such as clothing and supplies, up from $548 last year.
But you don’t have to break the budget setting the little ones up for success. Here’s a short list of ideas to save some cash—and some sanity—when back-to-school shopping.
Shop at home. Have your kids really outgrown all of their shoes and clothing? Do you have an abundance of pens, pencils, folders and rulers? Take an inventory of what your family already owns to avoid spending hundreds of dollars.
Save on supplies. Try ordering online and save at places like Discount School Supply and EZ School Supplies, where 10% of your order actually goes to your kids’ school. Take a look at the generic supplies so you’re not paying for labels. The scissors will still cut and the glue will still stick. Take advantage of back-to-school sales, too—there a plenty between now and Labor Day.
Brown bag it. There is no need to spend your hard-earned money on daily school lunches made up of meat-like substances, macaroni and “cheese” and cobbler surprise. Brown bagging it will save you a ton of money—and this is one thrifty tip your kids will likely be more than happy to go along with.
Don’t cave to the kids (at least not all the time). Of course, they’ll tell you they just have to have only the coolest name-brand clothes and backpacks. We remember what it’s like to be young, but remember that discount stores often have the same brands, or similar styles, for way less cash. Clothes, especially for young children, should be durable.
So, follow these simple strategies, review your reciepts and give yourself a gold star for a job well done. You’ll save a few bucks—and teach your kids a little something about financial independence in the process.
Tags: Back to School, Shopping
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Hey We the Savers, thanks for talking about this topic. The retailers are trying to help out as much as possible too! We’re a major mall developer and we’re giving away free school supplies when you redeem coupons at customer service http://www.backtoschoolvalu.com/ and we’re retweeting sales on our twitter account. So it’s absolutely possible to go back to school without going broke. Thanks for the good work
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