School districts across the Treasure Valley are preparing for the first day of school, with two short weeks of summer break left. A new school year means new school supplies and new school clothes, but with inflation still high what can parents do to make those back-to-school costs a little less jarring?
This year, the National Retail Federation estimated that customers will spend nearly $42 billion on school supplies, a staggering $5 billion increase from 2022. They also found that families with children in elementary through high school are expected to spend an average of $890.07 on back-to-school items.
The first step in keeping school expenses low is to see what you have on hand. Taking an inventory of supplies from previous school years can give you an idea of what you still need to buy, but keep in mind that costs have still increased considerably.
At big box stores in the Treasure Valley like Walmart and Target, school essentials like pencils, erasers, paper, folders, and hand sanitizer have increased in price by about 25%. One trick to avoid these price hikes can be to wait until the last minute when these supplies go on sale.
"Everything's been a little bit more expensive lately, so we just try and take advantage of what's on sale and kind of look for the deals, look for things online too versus in store in times," said Lindsey Bauer, mother of 5 in Idaho.
In terms of back-to-school clothes, hand-me-downs and discount stores are good options, and prices at other stores typically go down starting in September.
Inflation and other factors have made school costs daunting but an eye for savings can help keep you afloat during the back-to-school season.
