How much do you spend on 'back to school'

[momx2]

This year, I anticipate I'll spend very little:

My kids have plenty of shorts and summer clothes, so no real needs there. I will take a look at their shoes to see if those need replacing. End of September / beginning of October, we'll evaluate whether they need jeans. I'd need to clothe them anyway, so I don't really consider that a "school supply".

They both have good backpacks; those don't need replacing every year.
They both have age-appropriate calculators; next year when my youngest starts high school, I'll have to shop for another graphing calculator -- but that's next year.
They'll need notebooks, paper, and so forth, but that's very easy to buy for next to nothing in August. I always pick up enough to last all school year.

I agree MrsPete, new clothes really are back to school costs since they have to have them anyway. Some years I barely buy any back to school clothes until fall when I buy for winter. It just so happened that this year both my girls grew over summer, so I had to buy "back to school" clothes all at once.

 

[Schachteles]

I have spent $250 on the kids (one in kindergarten and one in 3rd) for their school supply lists (including backpacks).

As for clothes, I have spent WAY too much already and still have a ways to go...
$250 at Justice (that was after the 40% off coupon)
$200 at Kohls for shoes and clothes
$100 at Gap

 

[NotUrsula]

DS is 13, and I am totally AFRAID to buy him any articles of clothing other than shirts this early. School doesn't start for nearly a month -- he could go up two shoe sizes by then! (Don't laugh: he started 7th grade in a boys' 5 shoe and ended it in a men's 8.5. He also grew over a foot taller. )

I did buy him gym shorts, because I had to buy men's sizes for height and I'm going to have to alter them to take them in at the waist, and heaven knows when I'll find time to get that done. (I can't find any with drawstrings that don't have colored stripes on the sides.)

I expect that I'll spend about $150 on clothes (including sneakers) by mid-October, and around $60 in actual school supplies. His school has the same list for 7th and 8th grade except for the novels, so most of what he used last year is going back.

PS: I thought this thread was just about clothing & supplies. If you add in tuition and textbooks, then I've already spent close to $6K -- it was all due on July 17th.

 

[gillenkl]

DD (10) private school
Tuition/fees/books: $5000
Uniforms: $130
School supplies: ? haven't bought them yet - $30 maybe

DS (10) homeschooled
Books: $400
Clothes: $0
School supplies: maybe $10

 

[ohanaMAMA]

school shopping in the south is way different that it used to be in Alaska where I grew up. school starts mid august here and its still hot as hades. Shorts and flip flops are neccesary. So i usually buy a few more summer clothes than I really need too in the spring.. they wear them from May-October! I buy as needed rather than one big shopping trip. I do tend to buy shoes in the fall though. In recent years its been 3 pair each. 1 pair of rainbow flip flops, 1 pair of sperry's dock shoes, and a pair of sneakers.wow. adds up fast doesnt it?

My DD15 's birthday falls in november and she always asks for and gets a lot of clothes for her birthday. so that takes her through to spring clothes.The little one is homeschooled so she just wears whatever is comfy and needs less "out and about" clothes than the older one. We pick up fleece stuff and comfy jammies for her a lot. why be uncomfy if you are doing your math at the kitchen table? Her birthday is april and that usually means lots of summer stuff for her.

 

[mom2val]

I have 1 dd going into 4th grade public school.

• 11 pairs knit yoga pants Childrens Place $70 -- she lives in these!
• new backpack- monogrammed, lunch box & binder kookoobear kids $92 -- these will replace the ones we bought from them 3 years ago- high quality and last a long time!
• new sneakers Geox $45
• New shirt for first day of school Disney store $5
• School Supplies $20
  

 

[Terry36]

Well my 6th grader in (Parochial school)

$175 Supplies (Arts, Science, and school fees)
$210 Workbooks, reading and language books, etc. (these are not textbooks)
$60 School Supplies List (estimate)
$60 Shoes (estimate)
$80 Tennis Shoes (estimate)
$50 PE Uniform

So around $600......

Thank goodness her uniforms from last year still fit and her LLBean backpack is fine.

 

[StitchBuddy]

Well, my DD is going into 8th grade.

Aeropostle- $100
Sperry Shoes $75
Delia's- $70
Walamrt- $20-$30 (guessing, haven't gone yet)

This doesn't include all the shoes I have purchased for club track and basketball though. I have spent between $250-$300 for that in the last few months. I think she is pretty much done until Oct. Of course I am sure she will get a couple more things. But, I remember my mom taking me on what seemed to me grand shopping sprees for new school clothes when I was a child. But, I grew up in NY, school didn't start until after Labor Day and (now I am dating myself ) you had to wear dresses to school.

 

[Mom2apirate&princess]

I just bought both of my kids all of their school supplies yesterday and it was just under $40.

They got new backpacks when we moved in late February so they will re use them.

I do plan on buying them new shoes, so probably around $60 for those.

Normally I buy new school clothes every year but they are both good on clothes. DS just went through a growth spurt and I had to replace most of his stuff.

I'll also be putting down a big chunk of money on their lunch accounts.

Not too bad this year.

 

[dreamin_disney]

hard to say. I think for next year I will start a special acct and put a couple of buck a month in it.

about 4-6 months ago I found some cute capris on clearance for $6-8 buck at khols name brand like levis, candies etc. we bought a few and bought a bigger size since dd is growing fast all of a sudden. We live in ca so weather wise shorts and tanks. I was surprise that the stores had an early summer sale was told April/May they were getting ready for winter clothes.

I do need to take dd shopping for bras, socks, underwear and new shoes.

 

[MoniqueU]

Something happened where I took my 2 youngest to Mandalay Bay for vacation this year. For those of you who don't know vegas it is a SUPER nice hotel with the best pool for kids their ages 12 and 13. They imho complained about way too much. My husband didn't see it that way. We spent a ton of time sitting around waiting for them to shop. Anyway the past couple of years have been rough financially but things are easing up finally. But after that experience with them I am not even going to be what I call cheap just practical. My kids tennis shoes are in great conditon. Their backpacks are too. I buy high quality trendy ones, not lands in or LL Bean that stuff is way out for CA. The youngest is 12 the olest 17 and no one is growing. My oldest daughter gave my youngest some stuff that my youngest was thrilled with because she felt as cool as her sister. She also has 3 dressers full of clothes that fit her as well and are all top brands. My other DD 13 can use some bras and I could too so I am goling to spurgle next month at VS since I dont get some for me that often and they last a long time and she needs the convertible bra.

As far as school supplies go. We don't get our lists til school starts. Also after a few years of experience now, i know what works for my kids and what doesn't. I dont care anymore if the teachers want 1 1inch binder per class. One 3 inch binder with tabs for each subject is what works for my kids. The cheap papermate pens that always go on sale here before school are not reliable so I will go out and get another brand that is better. They also like different colors of pens and highlighters for some subjects so I have to wait to see how many they need. So I am holding off and not buying much since we have more then anyone else I know. (reforming compulsive shopper) We don't really need coats here in CA just a hoodie and it will be hot as blazes into November so stocking up on the winter clothes right now makes no sense.

I think some people take the back to school stuff way too seriously, which is fine, I used to do the same. But now with a few years experience I am learning what works best for us and not taking the schools list as the holy grail.

 

[buzz5985]

The supplies are no biggie (maybe $30?), our killer is the book bill. I usually pay about $300 for the books, plus $100 for each toward their lunch account.
DD may need a couple pairs of pants (but we'll probably wait until fall) and DS definitely needs new tennis shoes before school. Maybe $100 total for that.
I've pretty much quit buying "new clothes" just because it's August and school is starting, it's too much of a budget buster when I have to combine that with the book bills/lunch accounts.

Are your forced to buy the schools books?? If not - my DS has a learning disability - to make things easier for him I keep a set of books at home for him. He was in 7th grade last year and I was able to purchase all his books on half.com for under $75. Lucky me - his history book is used in 8th grade also - the most expensive at $50.

 

[rodney.watkins]

These days the spending on back to school has increased. The list goes on to include new clothes, books and activity kits. Add to that, we need to be prepared for surprise list thrown towards us by school authorities from time to time.

 

[czycropper]

Let's see two DDs - DD10 going into 5th & DD12 going into 7, school doesn't start until Sept and we still haven't gotten the teams supply list, but breakdown so far is as follows:

5th Grader:
Vera Bradley messenger bag - $40
Sneakers - $35
4 tops from Hollister - $40 (they were on sale )
Locker stuff - $14

7th Grader
Sneakers - $35
1 top from Hollister (so far) - $9.00 (on sale)
Locker stuff - $20 (includes lock for gym locker)

I usually don't buy them much as far as clothes till Oct. since they can wear the clothes they have till then and I try to get most of the stuff on sale But, actual school supplies can be really costly here because each class team requires different things and last year we spent about $60 for then 6th grader and that's just on the things that the teachers required

 

[luvmylittleboy2003]

Love reading all the replies.....

When we lived in KY we didn't have 'school fees' either and still did more things (field trips, bus routes, etc...) I think its crazy but whatever....I'm learning the CO does ALLOT of different things (that nickel and dime ya to death) that KY didn't .

But it is beautiful here in CO

 

[blanq]

I don't shop for school clothes for DS. I buy clothes throughout the year when he needs them, and there are good sales. Boys, I think, are easier when it comes to clothes because there aren't many choices: jeans, shorts, sweatshirts, t-shirts are pretty much what they all wear.

As far as supplies go, I purchase paper, notebooks, pens, binders, etc. when Target clearances their school supplies out in the fall. I bought the 2010-2011school supplies in the fall of 2009 for very little money. DS will be a senior this fall, so we don't need glue, rulers, and all the stuff that younger kids need. I learned pretty quickly, when DS was younger, the importance of ponying up the money for a darn good backpack, so he has had his for about 4 years now and it is still in great condition. It gets pretty simple once they get into high school. Once in awhile he needs special supplies for a project, but not too often. After I purchased the scientific calculator a few years ago, the expenses seemed to drop off from there.

 

[Tiana]

.

 

[Crystal0608]

DS will be in 3rd and dd in 5th grade. So far, my mom got each kid a LL Bean messenger bag with monogramming @ $45ea.

I haven't bought any school supplies but will stock up on the cheap pencils, looseleaf papers, erasers, post-its, noteccards, crayolas, tissue, etc as the only personal items my kids get to keep is their folders & backpack. Everything else is put with the other classmates. I'll spend about $30 with sales, I haven't got the lists yet but they are usually loooong. We don't pay any book fees or school fee.

I've been hitting some pretty good yard sales lately. I hit the motherload this weekend that had my kids sizes ALL Abecrombie, Hollister, Gap, Old Navy, for .50 ea some NWT and all in excellent condition, newer lines. I bought a lawn garbage bag full plus other stuff and the lady discounted it to $20, so they are pretty much set on summer stuff for BTS. I've been stocking up on jeans at GW for @ $3pr which they won't need until late October-November. I think ds's sneakers all still fit, so I won't need to buy him any. DD on the other hand, jumped to a size 8 in womens, so I'm waiting til next month to see if they quit growing to get her a couple pairs. I will have to stock up on socks, my dryer eats them. I'll probably spend $200 on BTS clothes and shoes if I add up what I buy here and there.

 

[abcboys]

I will have a kindergartener, 3rd, and 6th grader. They each have school/book fees between $50-$60. School supplies for all will be about $40. They don't need new backpacks and we also don't buy new school clothes. I will probably have to get the youngest new p.e. tennis shoes, though.

 

[Ephany]

So far about $25 on school supplies including a backpack, lunchbox, and misc. stuff for the classroom. I still need to buy the baby wipes, kleenex, hand sanitizer, and ziploc bags that the teacher requires, but I have 2 weeks until school starts. We did some major decluttering this past weekend and I found a bunch of items I bought last year, so that's bonus. As for clothes, DD is in summer stuff from March - October so I'm usually replacing items throughout the year as I find things on clearance. She despises jeans and lives in yoga type pants in the winter, so I've got some time to wait for those to go on clearance in a few months along with a winter jacket as I'm sure she'll be out of last years even though I purposely bought it large. I still need to find a pair of tennis shoes and probably buy some socks/underwear but otherwise that's about it. Maybe $100 total by the time it's all said and done, most of that being the winter jacket.

Thankfully she doesn't care at all what's fashionable; if it has kittens, sparkles or horses on it, she likes it. She's pretty darn good about picking out the clearance tag also, so I'm training her well.