S/O How much do you spend per child on back to school purchases? - Page 2

[Storm Bride]

Originally Posted by frontstreetmama

What I start to resent is the constant requests for $$ that come from the school all year that really add up!!! (pizza day, hot dog day, sub day, book orders, etc.)

Oh, I know! DS1's school supplies were the least of my problems in elementary school (the numbers are bigger in high school, but less...constant). I almost went crazy with the requests for $5.00 here and $10.00 there all the time.

However, there are no more pizza days or hot dog days. Our schools (not sure if it's all of BC, or just our school district) won't sell junk food, anymore...no more candy vending machines, no more french fries and donuts in the high school caf, no more burgers & hot dogs at Sports Day, and no more hot dog/pizza days. Of course, this didn't happen until ds1 had already moved on to high school.

[funkymamajoy]

So far I've spent under $10. $1 on a pack of 150 sheets of college ruled paper (99cent store) and $7 on a 3-ring notebook/organizer (Big Lots! store). Dylan still needs an agenda and a new backpack (Office Depot and Big Five Sporting Goods store, probably). The backpack will do him for the next 2-3 years. We always have pencils, crayons, markers, colored pencils and lined paper on hand. Dylan likes to draw on the lined paper because he gets the proportions right that way. So I'm constantly buying him packets of lined paper. He needs shoes but then he always needs new shoes twice a year anyway. And I don't count clothes unless it's uniforms required by the school. Depending on how much the backpack is, I expect to pay about $50-60 total. Half or more of that will be the backpack and I don't include shoes or clothing since they are an on going need regardless of whether he goes to school or not.

[somanythings]

We homeschool (5yo and 10yo) and I spent about $15 on things like crayons, markers, paper, etc.
AFA clothes, I do school clothes all summer long at yard sales, so I don't have a big "August purchase season", but I never spend more than $2 an item for either child, unless it is a great pair of shoes or a heavy winter coat/ski pants, something like that. I have lucked out two summers in a row now at "bag day" at rummage sales - got dd's entire winter wardrobe for $7 (and she's in ladies sizes) including 3pr of shoes, and I'd say all of ds's clothes have been under $10 so far. (Found him some great vegan Ugg knock-offs for .50cents!)

[CarrieMF]

Originally Posted by frontstreetmama

I don't buy mine new ones because they have holes, they just seem to always be a bigger size come fall!!! And, well, they get more sneaker/runner type shoes after living in flip flops and sandals all summer!!! So, they haven't had new shoes since last fall!!!

I see. Mine get them in the spring because of the same bigger size issue.lol

Oh, I know! DS1's school supplies were the least of my problems in elementary school (the numbers are bigger in high school, but less...constant). I almost went crazy with the requests for $5.00 here and $10.00 there all the time.

However, there are no more pizza days or hot dog days. Our schools (not sure if it's all of BC, or just our school district) won't sell junk food, anymore...no more candy vending machines, no more french fries and donuts in the high school caf, no more burgers & hot dogs at Sports Day, and no more hot dog/pizza days. Of course, this didn't happen until ds1 had already moved on to high school.

Our school doesn't have a cafeteria, so all kids bring their own lunches. Once a month there is a hot lunch day that parent volunteers make. They used to order in alot or do alot of hot dog days but with the volunteers we have now most of the stuff is made from scratch. We even did a big(and FREE) turkey meal for students & their families last Dec. There was enough food leftover that we did a 2nd "leftover" meal(for just the students) in january. Most of the hot lunch days are $2.50-$3.50.

bookorders are optional, I order books for each kid from 1 class a month. This year they did spring photos & yearbooks so that was additional costs we haven't had, BUT they didn't do a clothing order.

[Madders]

I would guess right around $300, but I haven't been keeping track.

One pair of shoes, a haircut and a backpack add up to $75. These are all very much needed back to school items for my children. Then we do a few new outfits, and of course actual school supplies.

[EviesMom]

I'm in NYC, and homeschooling this year, so I bought more stuff than I did last year for public school. Based on my costs last year though, even for 1/2 day Pre-K, I would say this would be roughly what I think I would end up spending this year for K:

$100 for new clothes for fall and winter
$100 for new snow gear (I buy pants and coat every other year; boots, hat, gloves every year; this is what I'm spending this year with new coat/pants on sale)
$50 literal school supplies that the school requests certain brands, etc.
$50 School fees for field trips, swimming, art, extracurriculars
$50 donation to the school fund (and that was considered very low, BTW, most do school fund and classroom fund both)
$30 lunchbag and backpack
$400 ish

I spent less on donations and lunchbag, etc. bc we're homeschooling, but the cost of curriculum and supplies negated that. Between homeschool association fees instead of school fees, supplies and curriculum materials, I spent about that for each child homeschooling.

I also have extracurricular classes either way, and things like zoo membership.

[AndrewsMother]

Originally Posted by Knittin' in the Shade

$190 to the school for supplies?! That seems like a LOT, especially for preschool (where I'm assuming you're already paying tuition). When my boys were in preschool, the most I ever spent on supplies was $20 or so for sending in tissues and crayons and things like that.

$190 covers all materials, books and classroom supplies. All students grades Pk-12 are responsible for purchasing books. Well, there parents are responsible.

Originally Posted by shaywyn

I don't think 200 dollars per child is an unreasonable amount, at all. Not everyone has the opportunity, or time, to find all those great, like-new, secondhand clothing deals, kwim?

:
When I have the time to roam the mall, or my favorite stores, I can find great deals, but between school, home, DH and DS, I don't have time.

Originally Posted by annethcz

This is a hard question because I have a hard time defining back to school.Regardless of where they're spending their days, my kids need shoes and clothes. So I don't necessarily consider clothing and shoes to be back to school purchases. Although I would consider uniforms to be a back to school expense if my kids were required to wear uniforms to school.

I don't think that spending $200/child for back to school is unreasonable, but I think that it can be done cheaper if you're motivated to do so.

I purchased clothing specifically for back to school, because after a summer of play nothing looks crisp and fresh. DS also gets a few outifts that are not earmarked for school use.

I purchase sandals, flip flops and other shoes for summer that I don't think are appropriate for back to school wear. I also purchase shoes that aren't really for school use, so shoes are definetly a part of our pack to school shopping.

I don't think that finding less expensive clothing has so much to do with motivation as it does with time and location. I have yet to find an decent second hand stores in the city where we live, and I don't have time to visit the mall and other stores in search off off season markdowns.

[akwifeandmomma]

About $140 for clothes. (Uniforms - solid polos and navy/black/khaki slacks.) He'll need new shoes soon, that will be another $40-50.
$100 for supplemental / activities fee paid to his school
$50ish on supplies (including supplies for the actual school - paper, tissues, ziploc bags, tissues, napkins, et cetera)
$20 for a new lunchpack and some reusable bags

So around $350 total for one kid.

[sunnysandiegan]

$0

We have not had a single school supply list in the three years DD has been attending the neighborhood public school (which is a GOOD school, btw). The district supplies everything students need in the classroom.

We purchased a backpack a few weeks into Kindergarten (as recommended by her teacher the previous Spring when we registered her) and she used it for two years and still uses it for sleepovers and such. We purchased a backpack before second grade just to get a water bottle pouch on the outside and because she requested something other than PINK and I was VERY happy to oblige. She'll be using the newest one again this year and, between the two of them, one will be used throughout elementary school. We'll buy her a new one for middle school and/or if BOTH become destroyed for some reason.

She received three lunchboxes as gifts before Kindergarten and is still using the last of those. The first one last two years, the second lasted about a month, and the third still looks fabulous after nearly a full year. (I will be on the lookout for this style on clearance whenever I am out shopping in the next few months, so that we are prepared for the eventuality of replacing it.)

We purchased a stainless steel food jar (short, open-mouth Thermos) sometime during Kindergarten and she still uses it. She has received various water bottles for various things over the years and uses whichever one she wants each day.

She generally brings her lunch to school, but we do have a lunch account for her set up and ready to go at any time. She learned her PIN in Kinder, but decided she didn't like school lunches much. A few situations arose in first and then in second grades that necessitated her buying her lunch frequently for a few short periods of time. We normally fund that in 10-meal increments starting at the beginning of the school year and add when there are two meals left. She didn't use up enough near the end of school back in July, so there is plenty of money in her account for awhile.

CLOTHING -
Our school schedule is September through July, with a month off in the winter and another month off in the spring and six weeks off in summer. I do not consider clothing a school purchase unless it is a logo item from the school. She has outgrown both of her school shirts now, so she'll get to order a new one of her choice once they are available (late Sep-late Oct sometime). Shoes really don't count as a school purchase to me. She needs them when she needs them and it has nothing to do with when she is in school or not since she is in school during every single season. (I would consider uniforms a school purchase, if that situation applied.)

The really ironic thing to me about back-to-school shopping is the clothing available here in San Diego at this time of year is what would be considered winter clothing here and winter is such a SHORT season here. (I have a major pet peeve with merchandisers here! The clothing available should be geared towards the climate it is being sold in, IMO!) The first year of school, I bought her the CUTEST "back-to-school" outfits on clearance that she LOVED. She modeled them for out-of-town family and we did a photo shoot and made a big deal of new clothes for school. What an incredibly silly thing for me to do! She couldn't wear any of them until December of that year and never even wore them all that winter. (I bought different sizes because her growth patterns are erratic.) Some never ever got worn because when they fit, the weather was way too hot, or they never fit due to her body shape and I had guessed wrong. Um, yeah, never did that again. Now, she identifies a "back-to-school" weather-appropriate outfit early on and stays away from wearing it too much before the first day of school, mostly so she doesn't get bored with it and so it will feel new to her. I *would* buy her some end-of-the-season clearance summer clothes as back-to-school clothes. However, her growth patterns just don't mesh with the school schedule and she can wear summer clothes (specifically shorts and skorts) for 2-4 years because of how tall and slender she is. She hasn't needed new clothing for a few years now due to various things. She refuses to wear dresses these days, but I did buy her a few new dresses before first grade on clearance for fun because she grows out of THOSE quickly. I do have to buy her new jeans every year, but not until December or they don't fit. I cannot buy her jeans in advance at all. Period.

So, yeah, not a dime and she is ready to start school the day after Labor Day. Granted, she just got out of school on July 21 (half-day).

[karne]

I have to say, our back to school list is much more modest. Both kids have truly minimal requests from their teachers in terms of school supplies, less than ten dollars a piece. They will both use the bookbags from last year-LL Bean, still going strong. Their stainless steel water bottles and thermos' will see another year. It's still hot and summer for the start of school. My kids are going to wear their summer clothes (shorts, polo shirts and dresses) and sneakers/sandels. They will be comfy, and seeing as they only started wearing their summer clothing 8 wks. ago, I'm not ready to retire it yet!

Both are getting new lunchboxes, which are g'parent gifts.

[phatchristy]

Here is what we've spent do far for TWO kiddos:

$40 clothes (we have a dress code, 'uniforms')
$10 for backpack/lunch box, other dd still has one from last year to use.
.....but, they had a great deal at TOYS R US, $13.90 for two lunch kits and a backpack shipped so I bought it for next year!

$ 7 Washable Markers/Crayons/Pencils/Notebooks/Paper/Folders
$12 for two pairs of shoes...technically I bought them last year, but I'll include them in the total since they're going to be used for this year. I bought all the bigger sizes when they were on clearance! So, YES, good deal! Otherwise, I usually average about $12 on each pair, this was a GREAT deal!

So, that's just $70 for two kids.

I'm surprised people pay so much for shoes! Even my birkenstocks--got them off of ebay and bought them at Sams club. On ebay they were like $25.00, and at Sams club they had them reduced a couple of years ago to $6.00. I kid you not! They were $40 regularly! I stocked up and bought 6 pairs when this happened. I have two pairs I wear right now (tan and cocoa) and DH is on his second pair of tan. I've had them for 9 years.

[annethcz]

Originally Posted by phatchristy

I'm surprised people pay so much for shoes! Even my birkenstocks--got them off of ebay and bought them at Sams club. On ebay they were like $25.00, and at Sams club they had them reduced a couple of years ago to $6.00. I kid you not! They were $40 regularly! I stocked up and bought 6 pairs when this happened. I have two pairs I wear right now (tan and cocoa) and DH is on his second pair of tan. I've had them for 9 years.

I didn't include it on my list, but I've spent about $200 on shoes for my kids in the last month. We've had bad luck with cheap shoes in the past, they simply don't stand up. So I chose to buy good quality trainers for my kids at REI and spend $45-55/pair. I suppose I could've taken my kids to the store to figure out which shoes will be most comfortable for my kid with skinny feet, and find out which pair of shoes will work best for my kid with extra wide feet. And then I could go home and scour eBay for those exact brands and sizes, but that just doesn't feel ethical to me. If a salesperson is going to spend an hour with my family to try and figure out which styles and sizes works best for my kids, then I feel that salesperson and store deserves our business. I don't mind paying more for good service. Plus, since we're members of REI, I'll get 10% of that purchase back via a member rebate next year.

I guess I feel that taking the time and spending more money upfront to buy shoes that will not only last, but also be really comfortable for my kids is a frugal practice. I'd prefer to buy one or two pairs of high quality shoes rather than buy several pairs of lesser quality shoes.

Now when it comes to ME, I don't mind buying off ebay. My shoe size hasn't changed in years, and it's more likely that I'll get a good fit.

[Lil'M]

Ok, I haven't done clothes yet, but my kids have a lot that still works and I just replace when its necessary. They get a lot of hand me downs and I save them and anything else I buy at the thrift shop that's great but too big and then when they need it, we go to that supply to "buy" new clothes. They are using backpacks and lunchboxes from last year. But for school supplies, Dd1's school had a package of needed school supplies for $40 so I bought that. They said individual teachers may request a few other things, but I have a lot of general supplies at home so I doubt I'll need to buy much else. After going through what we already had at home (I save everything that comes home from previous years if it is in decent shape), I spent $45 on supplies for Dd2 by going to a discount store and the dollar store before getting just a few things at Staples that I couldn't otherwise find.

[Pumpkin_Pie]

DS is starting preschool this year, but he is only 2.5, so he really only needed a small backpack that I found used for a dollar, a lunchbox that I bought on sale for $10, divided containers for the box (didn't really need these, they just fit perfectly) for $12, and a flexible re-usable ice pack for $3. Grand total this year: $26. Not too shabby!

[kay4]

I spent $20-25 for my younger 3 school supplies (each) K, 3rd and 6th grader. I haven't gotten my 9th graders yet (school starts aug 24 so i guess we will get it then)

On shoes, I spent $120 total.

Clothes, about $300 total

[serenetabbie]

Two kids, both in public school. I have spent nothing, and we have never gone "back to school shopping" except one time with my MIL when my older child was starting K and she offered to take him.

[Chicky2]

We homeschool. I don't buy shoes and clothes unless we need them. I recently bought shoes for 3 of the kids and spent about $80. I buy shoes twice a year. For clothes, I just bought jeans at the Old Navy sale (plus got points thru My Points) because we are about to go on a big vacation and they need something other than the cut off jeans from last year they've been wearing this summer, lol.

This time of year we stock up our basic arts and crafts supplies at the local sales, and online sales. I spent $200 at Discount School Supply for beads, rolling pins, stuff to glue (sequins, spangles, etc.), chalkboard contac paper, drawing paper, craft sticks, colored matchsticks, watercolors, stuff like that. Then I spent probably $50 on glue sticks, glue, crayons, markers, pencils, pens, construction paper, notebook paper, spirals, and colored pencils.

Then we have our high quality art supplies like charcoals, and gums, and pastels, watercolor pencils, acrylics, brushes, etc.... All that is left over from Christmas presents. Plus I was cleaning my closet and found a toolbox full of my mom and grandmother's old art stuff!!! Score!!

Books....I buy alot of books. I kind of have a problem, lol. I joined the children's book of the month club. 6 books for $2, plus one half off, plus one more free. Found 2 more books for a reasonable price, plus my mom's Christmas present (5 disc Planet Earth series), and fulfilled my commitment in one shop. Then I hit Barnes and Noble, lol. Then my 20 yo took my 10 yo dd and 2 of her friends on a book buying spree at the recycled book store.

I bought the 2 yo some big fuse beads from Perler. Did you all know those exist? They are great! I bought 2 bags and we are making a really cool set of alphabet letters out of them for her. Her siblings (all of them) and their friends love to get together to do fuse beads, but they are too small for her to do the regular ones.

So, I spent around $700 total, but this stuff will last ALL year long, plus I was able to give the neighbor kids a whole bunch of arts and crafts supplies to break up the boredom of summer (their parents aren't doing well financially due to the economy).

We won't have the $5 and $10 requests from the school, but we'll do things like museums (they love the science museum!) and small field trips throughout the year. We just consider that family fun time, though!