No kidding. This is what the Lincoln Journal Star says:
A national retail survey found that parents plan to reduce their back-to-school spending significantly this year. The survey by TNS Retail Forward said parents on average will spend $506 on school-related items this year, compared to $668 last year.
We just finished the last of our school shopping, bringing this year’s expenditures up to about $150. Maybe we’ll be up there by the end of the year if we include library fines. But then, I had those when I was in school, too.
The article includes some ideas on how to make these last few days before school starts special, too. I just got tired of the kids running around like chickens with their heads cut off and said “That’s it. We’re starting back tomorrow.”
And we did. The kids were excited because it meant paint. Messes always get them excited.
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LOL!!!
Wow. I guess I’m technically not spending *anything* to homeschool, then, since that’s my yearly budget for books. Are they including clothes in that?
The ps kids went back to school last week, but we took a two week break since we had just finished the last few chapters of history. But my kids are kind of disappointed with their break, since none of their friends is available to play until at least after 4:00.
And i also bought paint. They bounced up and down and wanted to know if they could have art lessons every day during our break. I said no, that it was also a break for *me*!
I’m under budget! Wahoo!
We spent about $50, mostly because I splurged on craft supplies. LOL I could not do $500 on stuff for school!
Yes, it does appear they are including “back to school clothes” with that figure, which makes the numbers make more sense. Though we don’t spend that much on all our kids together, I don’t think. We are just now having to start to buy things for our eldest. I guess we were just in the right church at the right time. No one really asked if we needed the stuff. They just took my pregnancy as an excuse to clean out their attics.
Not that we didn’t appreciate it greatly, but it really has kept our children nicely dressed at almost no cost for years.
Honestly, I spent much more homeschooling. Not on back-to-school clothes or supplies, because our curriculum was provide my the District, but on field trips, experiences, personal books to add to our library, craft supplies after we had completely cleaned out the house, garage and anywhere else of all usable supplies, entrance fees, transportation costs to get about–California is not designed well for walking to events/places and has poor public transportation, if any (unless you are in the big cities: Los Angeles, San Francisco, San Diego, Sacramento.)
I did not mind at all because we got so much more out of it, but I have to be honest for those who use this point as a consideration in homeschooling.
And although my son did not get a new wardrobe for school, we did have to pick up stuff throughout the year as he was physically outgrowing what he did have–especially shoes!
On the opposite coin, my public schooled kids (3 of them at the time–high school) each got $300.00 last year for clothes and supplies; there were additional things bought during the year but no more than $100.00 per child if that. The biggest cost beyond clothes was their transportation cost to get to and from school! Two of them needed a public city bus pass at $1.00 per way and my other only rode in the morning and enjoyed walking home so he used less. That was $5.00 a day for transportation.)
However, their experience was much less interesting, the clothes wore out and had to be replaced (either as Christmas or birthday gifts or from their own pockets,) supplies had to be replenished. Again, this added to about $100.00 more per child.
All tallied up, it was cheaper to public school but we got what we paid for! Less. The homeschooling was more, but spread out over time and reaped so much more in terms of return.
What I did not include here was the cost to document our homeschooling experience. I bought a nice binder, dividers, etc and kept a nice record of many things: field trips, projects, copies of each book we read, a weekly print out of the “work” completed, etc. It didn’t cost much really, but could be added to the overall hsing experience.
I guess my lengthy reply is to say that I really do not buy into the idea that homeschooling is less expensive than public schooling–not when all things are considered. I just think the money is allocated differently and over the whole year v up front.
My neighbor’s daughter is getting school supplies and it is amazingly expensive how much it costs to send a kid to school. New clothes, paper, pencils, notebooks, bookbag, and then there are the ’school supplies’ - tissues, hand cleaner, glue sticks, etc. It’s crazy!
Well said Shawna. And really, you can spend out the nose on homeschooling if you’ve got it to spend. I think perhaps this post touches a nerve because there is a stereotype that says homeschoolers are an elite group who can “afford” to stay home. I don’t count clothes as a hsing expense, since my kids have to wear clothes anyway. We would probably buy loads of books anyway, since my dh and I both love books. If they were in school, I would still have to buy notebooks, paper, pens, and the rest. We don’t do a whole lot of sports, lessons, etc. because our budget is limited, but I think what we do now, we would do anyway even if they were in school. I used to buy a zoo pass, a museum pass, and a pool pass every year even before my dc were school age because that was our entertainment. So it *can* be done on “anyway” money.
And wow, $5 a day for transportation — that could really suck you dry in a hurry!
I’m pretty sure the back-to-school figure includes things like shoes, a winter coat (where needed), and so on. Those items can really start to add up if purchased new. Homeschoolers obviously need to get these things too but we tend to spread out those purchases over the year rather than concentrating them all in August or September.
Shawna, homeschooling can be expensive, and I always think that people should consider all aspects before making a decision. But at the same time, there are a lot of expenses that even you mentioned that are easier to cut back on if you have to.
When my husband was traveling 120 miles one way to work and gas was hitting four dollars a gallon, for example, the field trips stopped. But I still would have had to buy them clothes for school rather than wait until we had saved a little.
Almost everything I buy, I would have bought even if our kids were in school. And we are saved by the fact that they are unaware of the current trends, couldn’t care less if their backpack has Hannah Montana on it, etc.
Office supply stores (and even the Walmarts) have back to school specials on actual school supplies which, if played smart, can yield great deals.
Judging from the ads on TV, it seems that a major part of going back to school means getting a new wardrobe. Even Sears has an ad campaign titled, “Don’t just go back - ARRIVE”.
http://www.arrivelounge.com/#/home
Maybe we’ll go check out the “half-off” sales at one of the local thrift stores…
Here’s a back to school article that made me laugh…and cry. It’s sad but true:
http://www.theonion.com/content/news/6_year_old_stares_down_bottomless
Didn’t know if you had seen it or not but knew you’d appreciate it.
Hope you are feeling well. I think of you often.
Anna-Marie
Thanks! I actually did read that and it was sad and funny at the same time. Unfortunately, it had a touch too much truth to it. Good thing children don’t really normally have that kind of perspective on their own schooling.
Heh - library fines and paint…
Welcome back to schoool!
My oldest daughter wanted a career change and has gone back to college for an engineering degree. The cost of books is outrageous considering the basic information hasn’t changed; but each year a brand new text book has to replace an outdated one. I thought physics, chemistry and calculus were pretty much set laws of science and math which really didn’t need to be overhauled every year; but what do I know…
The idea about taking advantage of school supplies on sale this time of year is a good one. My wife buys all our business supplies after having gone over the ad sheets; saves us a small fortune each year. As for being “fashionable” and spending money for a new wardrobe; there are some good deals on basic clothing. Every other year I’ll replace my stock of blue jeans or other basics like socks and shirts; but being “stylish”, as Harry Calahan would say, guess that just was never important to me. Spending money wisely is an art which many folks don’t bother to learn the finer points.
Don’t overlook the obvious though — in an extreme climate like ours, utility costs when family members are “home” round the clock are much higher. The thermostat when I was working, pre-children, got bumped up every morning by ten degrees and we often weren’t home until after dark to cool things down for the night.
At today’s rates I estimate more cooling alone is costing us that article’s ps-supply equivalent of $600 ($50 month.)
That only works if I’d be working, though.
But I think we may actually save on that having the kids home. My three year old keeps turning the thermostat off because she loves playing with it. I notice when I start sweating and check the thermostat to find that it is 87.
I’m sure it is generally more expensive to keep your kids home. But it isn’t as expensive (or at least doesn’t have to be) as some make it out.
I had to laugh when I read this. My somewhat digitally challenged neighbor came over to ask me what a “GB Flashdrive” was. It turns out that was on her list of required supplies for her third grade son.
For me, living here in the affluent Chicago suburbs (we definitely don’t fit the definition of affluent!), homeschooling is WAY less than sending my kids to the local public schools. The cost of supplies (and in some cases, even textbooks), clothing that won’t get your kids laughed at, “activity fees”, extra gym shoes to keep at school, etc., far exceeds what I spend annually for our homeschool.