10 Tips: Back-to-school savings

Unless it’s already happened where you live, the new school year will descend upon you any minute now. Are you and your kids ready?

With fuel and food costs rising and the economy slumping, it may be more crucial than ever for you to give considerable forethought to back-to-school purchases this year.

The following tips can help you avoid spending too much on the clothes, shoes, backpacks, notebooks, paper, pencils, pens, protractors and art supplies your children will need – not to mention the high-tech gear you might get tapped to provide.

1. Begin by shopping at home. One way to get around spending hundreds of dollars per child is to avoid buying everything new. Take an inventory of what your family already owns. Have your kids really outgrown all of their shoes and clothing? Do you have an abundance of pens, pencils, folders and rulers? (Note: It’s not hard to hide company logos on folders and notebooks with stickers!)

2. Start sleuthing for bargains. Now is an excellent time to become highly attuned to clearance sales in your area and coupons that can help you at this time of year. When you find a good sale for school supplies, stock up for the entire year, not just the immediate future. Be aware that some of the best sales for backpacks, Thermoses and lunch boxes are likely to surface in September after school has already started. Can your kids make do until then?

3. Get thee to a dollar store. You might be surprised by the selection of paper products and other school supplies you’ll find there. Bring your child – a potential bargain-hound-in-training! – to the store with you to get his or her buy-in on any purchases you make.

4. Scour garage sales, thrift stores and consignment shops. These places typically require some legwork, but the bargains to be had are astonishing. On certain days of the week, some thrift stores allow you to fill an entire bag with clothing and buy it all for $3 or $4. Thrift stores and yard sales also can be godsends for young people for this reason: They often serve up designer name-brand finds for $1 to $5, as opposed to $50 to $100. Why not give it a try?

5. Remember eBay and craigslist. If your child simply will die without a specific high-end designer brand, look for new or slightly used clothing online at sites like these. The savings could be substantial, and the process could be less time-consuming than the thrift-store-and-yard-sale route.

6. Set ground rules for clothes shopping. Choose clothes that will give your children room to grow. Pick up extra pairs of shoes in larger sizes when you find a good sale. Solid, neutral colors and classic styles – such as simple pullover shirts – are ideal because they’re easy to mix and match and less likely to look dated over time if you have younger kids.

7. Buy the right backpack. If you know your child is likely to overstuff his or her backpack, opt for a smaller one. Kids shouldn’t carry more than 20 percent of their own weight on their backs. Any pack you buy should have wide, padded shoulder straps. Rolling backpacks are available – if your child really will use the wheels and not just carry that extra weight around.

8. Don’t overspend on technology. Homework can be almost impossible to do these days without a computer and access to the Internet. If you’re thinking of investing in a personal computer exclusively for your child’s use, look for deals. There’s no need to pay top dollar for this purchase. Again, check out eBay and craigslist, and remember that refurbished computers are another option. As for other technology – such as a cell phone, an mp3 player, a handheld video-game player and the like – only you can be the judge of what your child should get to have. If you view a cell phone as a necessity for safety reasons, be careful to sign up for a calling plan that will actually work well for your family, and teach your child not to subscribe to joke-of-the-day services, special ring-tone services and other kinds of “premium text messaging.” Otherwise it’s all too easy to get clobbered with astronomical cell-phone bills.

9. Track down the right calculator. If your child needs a fancy calculator for trigonometry class, bite the bullet and invest in a good one. It will last for years – so many years, in fact, that one of your kids’ grandparents might already have one that you could borrow free of charge.

10. Teach important money lessons. Back-to-school season lends itself to having frank discussions with your children about money, budgeting and needs vs. wants. Depending on their ages and maturity levels, you could negotiate back-to-school budgets with your kids and allow them to manage those budgets entirely. If they want anything above and beyond the dollar amount you’ve agreed to provide, let them use their allowance money or babysit, mow lawns or wash cars to pay for it themselves. For more information about allowances and money management for young people of various ages, check out this past “10 Tips” package on the subject.

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