Back-to-School Shopping on a Budget

Back to school again they go very soon! What does that mean? Of course it means a little quiet time without the kids around while they are at school. The main thing it means right now, however, is that it is time for that dreaded back-to-school shopping parents have to go through every year. The hard part is finding the best places to shop for kids clothes and supplies while maintaining your budget. There are a few rules that parents need to follow while getting ready for back-to-school shopping.

First, you need to decide how much is in your budget for this particular purpose. Of course, once you find out what the best deals are it may give you a better idea of how much you may have to be willing to spend. Next, decide what the most important things are. For instance, does your child need four pairs of designer jeans or should you spend less money on jeans and more money on sneakers and backpacks? You should also get your child involved in this process. Finances are an important part of life to learn about and this is a good opportunity to teach them the meaning of budgeting and what is necessary or frivilous. Make a budget out for each of your school-aged children and have them help you shop. Insist on sticking to the budget. This will teach them about the value of a dollar for sure.

Be sure to make a list stating what your child will need when school starts. Make the list of things that are absoloutely necessary and make another list of things the child wants to buy if budget allows after the necessary items are bought. Clothes are important but make sure you put down the number of tops and pants you plan on buying and try to stick to that. Put socks and underwear on your list as well as shoes. Don’t go shopping without going over your list a couple of times to be certain that everything you plan to buy is on that list! It is extremely important to be prepared.

The best way to shop is to shop for the best price, mainly when it comes to school supplies. Compare prices of discount stores, such as Wal-mart, Kmart, and Target. Price checks are easy to do online or through sales papers. You can go to Wal-mart.com and Target.com to find out any price you want. That is one of the great things about the internet. You can know just where you need to go for everything before leaving the house! Your child can learn a lot about price and quality by helping you to search for the best prices.

This can be a joint effort by you and your children to find the best prices, do the shopping , and find the products you want all while staying on your budget. Keep your eyes open for good sales and do your research on prices, be firm with yourself and your kids about staying on the budget and you’ll do great! Just remember that once school begins, things are going to keep coming up that they need for school!