How to Send Your Kids Back to School on a Budget
How to send your kids back to school on a budget! Read my 10 tips on how to keep back-to-school spending low.
Now that the Fourth of July has passed, the countdown to Back to School begins. School registration is soon, and before you know it, it will be back-to-school night.
Now that my oldest is going into 2nd grade, I have learned some tips on how to budget for back to school. Two of my kids are going to school this fall, and I am determined to keep the costs as low as possible. Read my tips below, and use these ideas to save money this August!
Back to School on a Budget Tips
Here are TEN tips on how to send your kids back to school on a budget!
1. Use a sinking fund.
My first tip is to use a sinking fund to save for back to school slowly throughout the year. A sinking fund is like a little savings fund for large, irregular expenses. For example, if you want to budget $300 for back to school expenses, then you would put $25/month in your school sinking fund. If you want $600 for school expenses, save $50 a month. And so on. This helps make saving for school a little easier, so you don’t have to come up with all the money in July or August!
2. Reuse school supplies year to year.
When the school year ends, kids may bring home their old school supplies, like scissors, pencil box, and glue. Investigate the school supplies, and save the ones that are still in good shape or unused to be used again next school year! No need to buy a new pair of scissors each year!
3. See if you qualify for free or reduced lunch & school registration fees.
Depending on your school and where you are located, you may have access to reduced lunch and school registration fees. The National School Lunch Program provides meals for kids for free or no more than 40 cents if you meet the income guidelines. Ask your school secretary for information on ways to reduce some of their fees.
4. Shop second hand.
Browse thrift stores, Facebook Marketplace, etc. for shoes, clothes, and other supplies! You can sometimes find brand new items or things in really good shape that way.
5. Look for items on clearance.
Get school supplies on clearance. The best time to get school supplies on clearance is actually right after school starts. That’s when stores cut their prices on back packs, school supplies, etc. End of August is a great time to stock up on next year’s supplies.
But you can also keep your eye out for school supplies on clearance throughout the year. You can find discounted crayons, pencils, folders, notebooks, etc. at all times of the year if you look in the right places! You can also look for other necessities, like tennis shoes, on clearance throughout the year. I just stocked up on tennis shoes for all my kids in June because they were on sale at Walmart!
Read my tips on how to save money at Walmart.
6. Skip the extras.
Skip the viral lunch boxes or bento boxes. You can find ones that work just as well for a fraction of the cost just because they aren’t marketed the same.
Skip the expensive back to school signs. You can print out a cute piece of paper for the first day of school pic, or hunt for a sign on clearance! I found mine on clearance for $2.
You don’t need all aesthetically-pleasing, matching school supplies. Buy the practical ones that last a few years.
7. Invest in quality items that last longer.
While you can get some supplies cheap, it may be worth investing in higher quality items for things like a back pack or lunch bag. Especially if you want to get multiple years of use out of it!
Help your child pick a back pack with a simple design, so they will like it for a couple years. A lot of the character back packs I see at Walmart are made of a cheaper material, but they cost as much as a higher-quality backpack (so not all things that are higher quality cost more!). And your kid might not even like that character next year!
8. Think about how many years you will get out of the things you buy.
When you are shopping for clothes, supplies, and other things for school, think about how many years of use you will get out of it before you purchase it. Like I mentioned above, a book bag with a character on it might cost just as much as a plain back pack, but the plain back pack might have three years of life in it, while the character book bag only has one.
Another example of this is a lunch box that costs $5, but only has six months of life in it, while a $15 lunch box might last 2 years. Which one will end up costing you more money in the long run? Making intentional purchases can help you save money.
9. Shop slowly throughout the summer.
Instead of waiting until the end of summer, buy one thing every time you get groceries throughout the summer. That way it is not a huge, overwhelming purchase. One week get the pencils, next time get the crayons, then a pack of socks, and so on.
10. Identify needs vs. wants.
Does your kid NEED new shoes or new clothes or a new back pack to go to school? Or do they just want it? I know for us, our kids are often outgrowing their shoes or their clothes have holes in them by the end of summer! But I encourage you that if you have what you need, then don’t stress about buying new things just because. Sometimes I need this reminder myself!
Conclusion
If you want to survive August without spending an arm and a leg, use the ten tips above to help you budget and save money on back to school! Be intentional, try to make things last longer, and remember that you don’t need ALL the new things to send your kids back to school. You can do it!!
Save for later!
