Don’t spend all your money sending your kids back to school

The 2017-18 school year will bring new challenges, growth and experiences for our children. It will also bring with it a less desirable financial impact for parents. School supplies, clothing, shoes and fees will affect our pockets. According to ConsumerAffairs.com parents anticipate spending an average of $200 per child. For my household that would be a whopping $600 that I don’t have.

I had to find ways to provide for the children and not break the bank. Here are a few easy ways to decrease the impact of financing back to school items.

▪ Coupons save on items that you buy regularly. I love cereal, paper towel and storage bag coupons because all of these disappear rapidly in my house. Larger grocery stores have digital coupons that can be loaded to your store card. They are automatically deducted at the register. The Sunday paper is also a good source for securing coupons. Lastly, maximize your savings by using coupons for items that are on sale. For example, a six count paper towel is on sale for $5.99. If you use a $1 off coupon the final cost will be 4.99. Score!

▪ Most stores in our area will offer back to school sales. Make sure you are getting the best price for school supplies. The Sunday edition of The Telegraph will have sale papers to make your research easier. If you prefer technology, apps such as Flipp and Sale provide weekly sales, deals and coupons. Lastly, several community organizations will have back to school events. Many of them will provide free school supplies to attendees. Take advantage of them.

▪ Grandparents, other relatives, godparents and friends are all part of our support network. Ask them for help and they may gladly do so. Whether it’s picking up school supplies, taking the children for haircuts or simply clipping coupons, enlist the help of your network. My soon to be second-grader, loves his Spider-Man shoes his godmother and he purchased last year. They got to spend time together, he got something he needed and I saved time and money by asking her to take on this task. It does takes a village to raise children.

▪ One of the largest expenses we will have is clothing. The first step is to take inventory of what each child needs. After taking inventory of my children’s wardrobe I learned they only needed a few more shirts and very few pants. I discovered some even had clothing with tags still on them from the summer. This gave me a better idea of what we needed prior to heading to the stores. Stores are now transitioning to fall clothing and that means savings on end of season sales. It will be warm here for months, so those short sleeved shirts will be perfect. Shop at overstock and discount stores like Marshalls, Ross and TJ Maxx. They have the same clothing for a fraction of the price. Make sure to scour the sales and clearance racks. My teen daughter is an expert at pairing a sale or clearance item with an older item for a completely different look. Take advantage of uniform sales. Most stores have polo shirts and uniform bottoms on sale now. Stock up.

This story was originally published July 19, 2017 at 1:36 PM with the headline "Don’t spend all your money sending your kids back to school."