Back-to-School Shopping
Posted by John Draper | Filed under Kids & Money, Money Management
There’s nothing like a great back-to-school sale to get a person’s juices flowing. Shopaholic or not, the new school season brings out the crazed consumer in most. Clearly there are smart and not-so-smart ways to arm our kids with all the stuff they’ll need to face a new school term, but the distinction is not always clear. So here are some guidelines:
DO shop the sales. You can make your dollar go a lot further by gathering up the flyers and doing a little prep work. I buy my kids’ next season’s clothes at the end of the current season, usually at fifty to seventy percent off. Add up the cost of a snowsuit, boots, and the next-size school wardrobe and the savings are huge.
DON’T buy things you don’t really need no matter what a great price they’re going for. Going out of business sales and retail closures can tempt even the savviest shopper. Make a list before you go and stick to it.
DO involve your kids in the experience. Giving them a budget to work with for school supplies or at least part of their clothing purchases will initiate them in the budgeting process. Help them to set priorities and to determine quality.
DON’T be unilateral, as in “You can’t buy that. It’s stupid.” Once you give your child the money you also have to ante up the responsibility or she won’t learn a thing. If she’s determined to make a bad purchase (in your opinion), let her. The consequences will teach the lesson. Just don’t stick your hand back in your wallet to rectify the situation when she sees the error of her ways. With responsibility should come accountability. Let her earn the money to rectify her problem.
DO hold off on shopping until you’ve done a complete inventory of what your child has and what he needs. If last year’s jacket still fits, that’s one less expense. And if you wait until he’s back in school to do the school-supplies run, you’ll end up getting what he needs, not what he thinks he needs.
DON’T forget about extra-curricular expenses such as sports equipment, music books, uniforms and the like. You’ll likely have to come up with extra money during those first few weeks of school to cover all sorts of activities, so hold some back when you’re off shopping.
DO stick to your guns about what you can afford to spend on your child’s clothes. Even if she has to have that jacket, you can say “No.” She won’t break. You could, of course, allow her to upgrade using her own money to make up the difference between what you’re prepared to spend and the brand she absolutely has to have
DON’T miss the opportunity to guide your kids. This is your job. Remember to keep talking about the cost in terms of what else that money could buy, as in “Sam, I know you really want those jeans, but you also wanted to save for your ski lessons. Which one’s more important to you in the long run?”
DO show your children your budget so they have realistic expectations. Many parents hate to talk about money with their kids. And they’re dead set against disclosing the realities of their financial circumstances. Then they get ticked when their children don’t show sufficient appreciation for how hard they have had to work to provide those no-name jeans. Well, if you don’t tell ‘em, how are they supposed to know? Being smart about money isn’t intuitive. It’s learned. And you are your children’s most influential teachers… of both good habits and bad.
DON’T burden your kids with the horrors of your financial mistakes. If this seems to be a contradiction of what I just said, it’s because there’s a fine line between being up-front and truthful with children, and burying them in reality. Kids deserve to feel safe. Telling them you haven’t got the money to buy groceries doesn’t add to their sense of security. What you want is to create a sense of reality for your children, not to worry them to death.
August 21, 2008 at 10:34 am
This made me laugh this morning.I hope that my daughter reads this today. Here’s my story of back to school shopping this year. My soon to be 16 year old was given 150.00 to go back to school shopping a few weeks ago.Thats my financial limit for her clothing budget for back to school, as I bought the supplies, which totaled $55.00 (including a stainless steel water bottle and lunch bag). She went through her closet and figured out what she needed and bagged up everything she no longer wanted or fit to donate to the Salvation Army. Her want/need list was not huge, t-shirts. jeans, cardigans, scarves, turtlenecks. A week before she went back to school shopping she spotted a pair of boots for $150.00. She wanted them, but did not buy them at the time, as she needed to think about the spending that much on footwear. She went shopping (sans mother)and came home with the BOOTS and nothing else that day.She decided that she could make do with what she already has. She had some money saved from working odd jobs, and bought for herself a few t-shirts, accessories and a cardigan. I have to add that she was responsible enough to buy the wax and spray to protect the boots and has did this as soon as she came home with the boots, as she wants to keep her investment in tip-top shape. (yes her boots are an investment to her mind, as she breaks down the number of times she wears them verses the cost.) LOL. Thanks again for the great posts.
August 21, 2008 at 12:08 pm
Back to school at my house as a kid ment one outfit and a new pair of tennis shoes. If I had to guess it was always sale items. My moms reasoning for this was both my sister and I didn’t have a growth spirt until winter. She saw no reason to buy new clothes for us to grow out of. We only got new clothes when the ones we had were either worn out or didn’t fit anymore. My sister and I never felt if was an issue.
August 21, 2008 at 12:31 pm
Last weekend my kids and I went to do our back to school shopping. Luckily both of their teachers for the upcoming school year sent lists home with their report cards last June of exactly what school supplies were needed. We took advantage of as many sales as possible, and as well what we already have at home, and spent $50 for the two of them (Grade 1 and Grade 5). I have learned that my kids have growth spurts in late winter/early spring, so I no longer buy back to school clothing for them, except for one pair of new running shoes each (unless I already had to buy new ones over the summer due to growth). I just bought both kids new pants in the spring due to the aforementioned growth spurts, and they will likely still be wearing summer clothes for the first part of the school year. I offered to buy each of them a new top for the first day, because I had room in the budget, plus it is nice having something special to wear on the first day when you are nervous. My daughter took me up on it and got a t-shirt ($13.00) with her favourite characters on it, but my son decided he has enough and it didn’t matter to him. I also got a great sale a couple of weeks ago on backpacks.
Growing up, I can see now that my parents were quite frugal, although I didn’t realize it at the time and certainly didn’t feel like I was missing anything. I guess that’s where I learned it. I remember I would get one new outfit for the first day of school.
August 21, 2008 at 3:32 pm
Yes! Budgeting, recycling and flyer shopping were all done this year!
I learned something about my son too.
You see, he had his list and we had gone through last year’s supplies to see what could be salvaged. One thing he needed was pens. (He HATES cheap pens and destroys them quickly) This year, instead of automatically buying the jumbo bulk pack to survive the year’s wanton mayhem, I asked him what would be better for him. He picked out a really nice looking metal pen for $10 and promised to care for it…. if it works, and he has pride of ownership that is terrific! It ate into his budget, but he thought it would be worthwhile so I let him.
Last year’s shoes are letting the toes escape so we had to get both boys fresh shoes (gym and outside shoes), they said they didn’t care if they had any fresh clothes so we will wait for the next growth spurt for them — hooray.
August 21, 2008 at 9:10 pm
mine isn’t in school yet but i don’t get ‘back to school’ shopping all together. aside from school supplies, why do we need a new wardrobe every september again???
you need new clothes when the old ones are worn or don’t fit, and whether that’s in april or september, i think this may just be another marketing trap.
i may be missing something but it seems like one more reason that the retailers have created to get you to spend your money when you may not have to.
k.
August 22, 2008 at 9:17 am
Kristin couldn’t have said it better! As i was reading through the responses i was thinking the same things. I can definitely understand the need for new shoes for gym and outside, but the rest of it – doesn’t really make sense to me either.
August 22, 2008 at 1:02 pm
Yeah, I don’t get the back-to-school = new wardrobe connection either. I don’t recall getting one new outfit ever on the pretext that it was “back to school” time. I got new clothes when my old ones were worn or I’d grown out of them, which had no correlation at all with the new school year.