Back-to-school shopping season always sneaks up on me. One minute, I’m planning trips to the pool on hot summer days, and the next I’m searching for a sturdy, yet stylish backpack.
All the stuff we need to buy adds up quickly. NerdWallet’s annual back-to-school shopping survey found that back-to-school shoppers estimate they’ll spend an average of $611 on back-to-school expenses such as clothing, supplies and books.
That large chunk of change can be hard to manage in an environment where prices are higher on many everyday items, including gas and groceries.
Since prices are up across many categories, families have to search harder to find ways to fit back-to-school costs into their budget, says Andrea Woroch, a money-saving expert based in Bakersfield, California.
So how can we parents plan for this predictable (yet stressful) time of year? I asked experts for their best strategies. Here’s how to cut costs without sacrificing quality.
Shorten your shopping list
When you get the official school supply list, shop your home first, Woroch says.
“Look to see what you already have. You can reuse pencil cases and binders,” she adds. Sometimes, a composition notebook from a previous year has only a few pages used, so you can simply remove those pages and reuse the notebook.
You don’t need to buy the pricier items new every year either, says Kristian Brennon, an accredited financial counselor in the Kansas City area. If you know families with older children, you might be able to score gently used hand-me-downs and skip the stores altogether. Think backpacks, sports gear and shoes.
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Check on community resources
Many communities have consignment sales, back-to-school fairs and freecycling events in advance of the new school year to help you save on supplies and clothes. Community members can trade items and pick up what they need for a low price or free, Brennon says.
Sell or consign some of the stuff your kids have outgrown to generate some extra cash for this year’s back-to-school expenses, she adds.
Another smart way to save? Band together with other caregivers in your grade to buy items — like notebooks and folders — in bulk at a lower price. “If you have a close-knit community, coordinating with other parents can be helpful,” Brennon says.
Seek out the deals
The big-box stores like Walmart, Staples and Target are offering back-to-school sales comparable to the ones they’ve run in years past. Trae Bodge, a shopping expert based in the New York area, recommends taking advantage of those discounts to save as much as possible.
“We’ll see tiered discounts like ‘buy one and get one free’ and loss leader prices like 25-cent notebooks,” she adds.
Store-brand notebooks tend to be much cheaper than name-brand ones, Woroch says, even though the product is virtually identical. Plus, she says, some brands — like Hanna Andersson and Athleta Girl — offer pre-loved sections online, which makes it easier to snag lower prices on gently-used clothing.
Stick to warm weather clothes for now, though. Bodge recommends waiting to purchase fall clothing because prices tend to drop in October. Plus, she says, kids often get to school, see what classmates are wearing and then have a better sense of the items they want.
Another hack? Shop during any available state sales tax holiday, many of which occur in August.
Plan ahead with a sinking fund
Since back-to-school expenses come around every year, we can prepare for them by setting money aside in advance, Brennon says.
“We can treat it as an annual event like the holidays and set up some kind of sinking fund to prepare monthly for this big expense so we aren’t blindsided by it,” she says.
A sinking fund is a savings account dedicated to a specific expense, like back-to-school. You deposit money into it regularly throughout the year so you can use it instead of your paycheck when it’s time to buy.
Otherwise, it’s easy to forget the cost is coming up. “Especially in the summer, you’re out doing fun stuff. Who’s thinking about having to buy all this stuff?” Brennon adds.
Give your kids a budget
For some parents, figuring out how to budget for back-to-school shopping begins with a conversation with their kids about money.
“Create a list together and set expectations,” Bodge says. “We might not be able to get everything our kids want.”
That discussion can help kids build financial literacy. For preteens and teens, if they want a brand-name item, perhaps they can contribute to the cost through extra chores, their allowance or a summer job, Bodge says.
“They should be spending some of their own money, because if there’s just an open wallet, they don’t understand the impact,” she says.
I plan to embrace all of these techniques — especially that last one. Because teaching my kids to set their own budgets is a core curriculum in my house.
