Backpacks and Budgets
Podcast Transcription
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Hi everyone, welcome to another episode of PFCU’s Money Talk Podcast. I’m your host, Maddy. I feel like it’s been a while since I’ve been here! It’s been crazy the last few weeks but I’m happy to be back. And I'm back right at back right at back-to-school time. Some schools have already started while I record this which seems early to me while others are starting next week and then my kids don't start until the week after. Either way, there is a lot happening for parents, students and teachers as they get back into the swing of things. I have two young kids; one is going into 2nd grade this year and the other into kindergarten and I really thought it was a good time to talk about all the things that going back to school entails from expenses to trying to shop as smart as possible, deciding what’s a need and what’s a want, spending decisions and reducing stress through all of this.
The reality of how expensive going back to school really is can hit you hard. Supplies being an obvious one. We all get the list of school supplies from the school that seems to grow as your kids get older. Find the store with the best sales or the cheapest supplies and buy there but make sure you’re getting items that last. I do get it, especially with young kids, you don’t want to get something just for the price that's cheap that's not going to last and it's going to fall apart or break the minute they take it to school. So really, does it save you anything? Debateable. So we want to look for quality and price, I would say. What can help you kind of balance your budget is to pick and choose your priorities and find what works in your budget. You can usually get the basic school supplies for pretty cheap. You know, the notebooks, the folders, the markers. It's the backpacks, the water bottles and the lunchboxes that can be where those bigger expenses come in. If you spend a little more on those things, get the quality that's going to last for more than a year. That will make it worth the higher price. Also, shop sales strategically, get generic brand when you can, check for what you might already have at home.
Next is to determine what is a need versus what is a want. Which, you might already know but does your child know? Do they really need the pencil case that’s double the price because it’s shaped like a cute fuzzy stuffed animal? Or the notebook that’s $4 vs $.50 because it has a special character on the front or sparkles? Focus on functionality and checking items off the list that they need before spending any extra if you do have that wiggle room.
Okay, speaking of needs versus wants, that’s a great segway into clothing. Shopping for school clothes can be so expensive, especially if you’re focused on new, name-brand clothes. This can get tricky and I’ve seen it even with my 2nd grader, let alone as kids get older to middle school and high school age. Peer pressure is very much real, kids just want to feel accepted at school and a big piece of that can be the clothes and the shoes that they're wearing and what brand they have on. However, we all know that name-brand clothes aren’t cheap. A youth Under Amour shirt is $20! For one shirt that your kid's probably going to grow out of pretty quickly. This is why I love thrifting for my kids’ clothes. I can find gently used name-brand items for $4-5 at a secondhand kids’ clothing store or for even cheaper if I luck-out at a garage sale. And since this is something that I’ve always done for them, it’s nothing new to my kids that they’re going to mostly get used clothes for school and throughout the year as needed and they couldn’t care less that someone happened to wear it before, especially if it’s something in pretty much new condition. I mean you can shop new if there are good sales, free shipping promos or clearance items and I’ve found that if you do order at the right time, you can get new items for the same price as used. It’s all about timing and being strategic with where and what you buy.
Okay, so we've got school supplies, we've got clothing, the things that you kind of buy before school starts but let’s be real, there are expenses that pop up every school year that either surprise us, that we completely forgot about or that cost more than we anticipated. This could be sports fees and equipment, band or music expenses or other extracurricular expenses, field trips, school pictures, lunches, homecoming, prom, club dues, yearbooks, fundraisers, spirit wear, the list could go on and on. Obviously school clothes and supplies are just the tip of the iceberg. Now there’s not much you can necessarily do to really offset a lot of these costs especially if they're high on the priority list for your family but there could be scholarship or sponsorship opportunities, volunteering that you could do to offset fees and maybe other options that could help based on your school district. Figure out what’s important, do you really need to do every activity or every sport this season that's out there? What can you reasonably fit into your budget considering all of the costs that come with it. And think about transportation to and from these activities, not only does that cost money but it takes time. How much can you fit into your budget and into your day.
Some other things to consider include convenience versus cost- what are you willing to sacrifice in convenience in order to save money? And I know that life gets really busy during the school year so make sure you plan ahead and prepare yourself for either those extra costs when you’re in a pinch or plan ahead so you don't have to spend the extra money on the convenience. I'm thinking like dinner on the go when you feel like you need to eat out, the extra snacks you need to have on hand to get yourself between activities to keep going, even things like a new tote bag that can carry all of your essentials easily. Like, all of these little things that can add up that can make your life maybe a little bit easier but we want to plan ahead to decide what's important, what can fit in your budget and what are you willing to sacrifice. Even going beyond what you consider convenience, could be your teens looking at convenience. So, them grabbing a coffee on the way to school or an energy drink or using the vending machine to get a snack during the day instead of you know, packing one. All of these conveniences that are costing them or you. Consider if you’re kids are going to bring lunch from home or eat school lunch. And I know in Michigan, public school lunches are free to students but how much is it going to cost to pack a lunch every day if your child does not want to eat school lunch. Or, you know, we attend a private school so we pay for our lunches, that's a big expenses every year.
And lastly, this is a great time to pull your kids into the conversation, no matter their age. If you have a teen that does stop for coffee or an energy drink every morning, sit down and show them how much that drink every day adds up. Or when it’s time to buy school supplies, shoes, clothes or sporting equipment, include your kids in the decisions, let them see how these costs fit (or don’t fit) into the budget. Keep the conversation open. Help them distinguish between what's a need and what's a want. Remind them too, this is a big peice of it, that social media creates unrealistic expectations. A lot of what we see on social media is not the real world, it's not real life. Remind yourself that as well, not just your kids. Comparing yourself and your family to those you see online or the people around you can not only hurt your budget but it can take a hit at your confidence as well as make it hard to appreciate what you have.
I really wish all the parents, the students, the teachers, the school staff the very best as this new school year kicks off. And I will see you next time.
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