As I was typing up the school supply deals for this week, I started wondering: how much does it really cost to go “back to school”?
I was homeschooled and don’t think we ever bought school supplies as an “event”. I’m sure we bought a few notebooks and pencils, but pencil boxes? Staplers? Post-It notes? Sharpies? No need for a backpack, for sure – though I do remember buying one when I attended my first courses at a community college when I was in high school!
So, I’m just curious: how much do you spend on “back to school”? Do you buy absolutely everything on the school supply list? Is this a time of year that you buy your kids new clothes?
What have you found to be necessary, and what can be skipped?
I shudder to think what my parents spent when my siblings and I were all in school. There were 5 kids that all had a list of school supplies (notebooks, paper, pencils, calculators, etc), school books (workbooks that were required), and school fees (lab fees, computer fees, club fees, etc). Then on top of that we all would need at least some new clothes and shoes, etc. I know that it was well over $1,000 each back-to-school time, and probably closer to $2,000.
Wow, totally forgot about lab fees and whatnot! My parents had to buy curriculum, of course, but we bought a lot of it used or just used the same curriculum from my older siblings, so it probably wasn’t a huge expense every year. I have a feeling I’m in for a surprise when I start officially homeschooling our kiddos!
We have friends in the chicago area. In their fees alone, before all the back to school stuff, at enrollment time from preschool age on up, they pay $300+ dollars per child each year! It adds up with multiple kids! I’m counting my blessings that we don’t have that here.
We have homeschooled with virtual schools in the past. They are still considered a public school so we didn’t have to buy a curriculum. Awesome! I did find some personal down sides to this way of teaching as my kids got older though, but it really was nice initially.
The school has kits with all the supplies put together. At the $40 or so dollars I knew I could beat it. I didn’t add up this years’ but last year it was $12 shopping the super sales right before school! Add to that classroom fees of around $15 dollars each kid. I reuse some of the supplies year to year too. No sense wasting perfectly good supplies taht came back at the end of last year. I bought some clothes ahead for this year at the end of last winter. It was a great time to grab winter shirts and pants at $2 or less. We buy just a few new clothes, knowing they’ll need a few things during the year. We opted for nicer backpacks that get reused and hold up so we don’t have to replace them all the time.
Growing up I remember my parents putting an amount they would pay for each kid on new school clothes, shoes, etc. Anything beyond that amount had to come from our pockets for the school year. This was at highschool age. It was a good lesson in what we needed and using our money carefully on our wants.
Call me cheap, but I refuse to buy into the idea of “sharing” school supplies. I also can’t understand why I buy supplies, but my kid comes home with nothing to be recycled at the end of the year (like scissors or filler paper). Teachers need to streamline the necessities — maybe watch what the Office Supply Store specials are, before demanding fancy accesories and art supplies. I do not buy a new “school wardrobe” because I purchase year round at garage sales and thrift stores, as needed (not as directed by an advertizing agency!).
When our kids will little, I only sent 1/3 of the supplies on Day 1, then replentished their supplies as needed — that way we had supplies at home for homework, and never seemed to use up everything during the year.
Two years ago, I went to a garage sale in our neighborhood. The person was selling several packages of lined notebook paper and many boxes of gallon size “ziploc” bags. She informed me she was a school teacher and these were left over supplies from her classroom. I became a little indignant and stated to her, ” the parents purchased those items and they should have remained in the classroom or at least at the school”.
I usually budget about $25 per kiddo at the start of the year just for their classroom supplies…that doesn’t include the the activity fees we pay, which are about $20 per child, so you figure about $100 just at the start of school year! Not to mention a few things to wear, lunchboxes, etc. It adds up!
I’m right there with you, Carrie. My husband and I were both homeschooled all the way, and I don’t EVER remember “back to school shopping.” Homeschool conventions in the summer though! :) And I think as a rule we never got new clothes during “back to school” time either. They don’t seem to be the actual best deals… I’m curious to the other mom’s comments too!
As a teacher and a mom, I spend a ton of money at back to school time. Often times specific brands are requested because they have been found to work best, so if my child’s teacher requests it then I try my hardest to buy it. Cheaper does not always mean better. There is one office supply store in particular that always has their glue sticks on sale at a crazy low price this time of year and the glue is awful. By the end of the day the projects are completely falling apart, causing many tears. Not a good deal in the long run!
Our school sends home the list at the end of the school year, giving me the entire summer to watch for deals. I also watch throughout the school year for the basic supplies that I know I will need next year. I not only buy for my own children, but the 25 I will be expecting in my classroom so I have to search out deals to keep within my budget.
The reason that many schools have longer lists is simply a reflection of the economy. I don’t get any supplies from the school other than copy paper and basic office supplies (staples, paper clips, etc.). What comes in from the kids is not just for my classroom but is divided out with the art teacher, music teacher, spanish teacher, etc.
Sharing supplies within a classroom is often done out of necessity. My classroom is small and I don’t have the storage space to keep 25 pencils boxes with supplies at the student tables (no desks) or anywhere else in the room. If I had the under or over the chair storage units for each student’s chair, then I might. But considering those run about $60 for 5 of them, I can’t afford that (if any of you can make those at a cheaper price you would make a ton of money selling to teachers here in town!!). I do have space for a few storage buckets in the middle of each table for storage, hence the sharing. I don’t send home crayons that have been shared at the end of the year with students because of the germ factor. Anything else labeled with a name and that I can disinfect, is sent home. The nice thing about it is, most teachers make do with what we have. :)
In many districts, the teacher does NOT make the supply list – some higher up does. I would ask the teacher what is actually needed and what you can get around. As a teacher, I never ask for more than needed and usually it is just paper, pencil, and a place to store your stuff like a binder, and then I might mention a few nice to haves like rulers.
We budget $100/kid for school clothes although will buy some more if needed later in the year, and no more than $30/kid for supplies, except for occasional things like the graphing calculator for trigonometry, etc.
Oh yeah, that lady selling school supplies at a garage sale was stealing. That stuff is either kid property or school property but not hers to sell.
Ah, that’s interesting – hadn’t thought about the fact that perhaps the teacher isn’t necessarily the one making the supply list!
I had a lot of my daughter’s needed supplies on hand already (some from last year’s sales) and the rest I got for dirt cheap at last week’s sales, some free after rebate, though, so that’ll take awhile to get the $ back.
I can’t wait to meet my daughter’s teacher and ask, “why in the world do they need 60 sharpened pencils?” Seems a little over-the-top. Twenty, maybe, but not 60!
We had 100 sharpened pencils and many other things that seem over the top for me. I know last year we bought a lot of things and several were not used. And not sent home. Which to me as a parent was very annoying. Why request expensive graph paper if they aren’t going to use it? And then not to send both packages home at the end of the year was annoying. And I see it’s on the list again this year. What I sent in last year I should have and be able to send in but we don’t. Also our teachers request 2 – 2″ binders and sheet protectors. I see 1″ on sale but not 2″. I guess we’ll see.
You would be surprised how many pencils students use in the course of a year, trust me 60 is just the beginning! Teachers really appreciate the donations of school supplies at the beginning of the school year. Our budgets are so small that purchasing just the basics is about all we can do. The rest often comes out of our own pockets, and you would be shocked at just how much that can add up to by the end of the year! So just know that your contributions go a long way toward making the classroom a functional, enriching place for your students to learn and teachers truly appreciate the supplies!
It has never made much sense to me to buy clothes at the beginning of the school year. Unless the students wear uniforms (which we’ve done in the past) why buy new jeans in August when it’s so hot out and they won’t wear them until October? My kids may have out grown them by then. When my kids didn’t wear a uniform I allowed them one new shirt for the first day of school. Then, they wore uniforms so we were always purchasing what we needed before school started.
Now, we home school, free from all that back to school stress of long lists and uniforms!! I will admit this choice does cost us more money. Curriculum is not cheap! But the benefits far out weigh the costs. I can’t put a price on enjoying my kids all day!!
I don’t know how many times I purchased the items on the required school list, then my kids came home saying that’s not what the teacher wanted and here is a new list of supplies. When my oldest entered middle school, she wanted all new supplies, instead of reusing last years backpack and supplies. My husband and I told her we would give her the money for what we thought she needed for school supplies and she could purchase them and whatever was left over she could keep. Well, then all the old supplies and backpack became useful and she made very wise shopping decisions.
I would love to know from the teachers which items to avoid generic. I know i stick to crayola crayons and colored pencils but i have no idea about differences in glues, dry erase markers, and other items. With four kids in school with long lists this year, any tips are great.
Stay away from Rose Art for most of their things. THe colored pencils break and have to be sharpened and break and have to be sharpened, you get the idea. They just are made cheaply. Also their school glue is so runny it takes forever to dry and frustrates the younger kids when they do projects, especially since they sometimes tend to use a bit too much in the first place, making a larger mess.
Oh also the Prang watercolors really do hold up better and the paint colors are much nicer. Crayola isn’t too bad but don’t go for any of the cheapies.
Avoid most generic glues – they don’t work and Expo dry erase markers are the best. I am a teacher and I do make my supply list and reading these comments can make me a little sensitive. Please understand that teachers don’t go out and make long lists just to make you spend money. I put a lot of time and thought into my lists, trying to make them as cheap as I can. Classroom budgets are very small and what isn’t covered comes out of my pocket. If you can’t afford it or don’t think it is needed talk to the teacher about it.
As to all the parents that wonder why not all supplies are returned- maybe some of the supplies were used and you just didn’t know it. Or things may not be returned if some were used and some weren’t. We share markers and out of 20 boxes 14 were used. How can I send markers home with only 6 kids and not the rest?
I know times are tight but most teachers have kids also to buy supply lists for. Instead of thinking the worst and complaining about the lists try to think about it from all points of view and give the benefit of the doubt to the teachers.
I do understand that not all supplies can come home. I don’t expect to see crayons or markers coming back home. But somethings we know for a fact weren’t used (we even asked the teacher about them) but they never came back home. But again these items are on this years list. I know several of the teachers at our small school and they do reuse supplies when they have odd numbers left over at the end of the year. I know it’s not easy for teachers and we try to buy lots of pencils and paper when on sale to send in all year to help the teachers out. It’s just sometimes the lists are long and they do add up.
Has anyone seen 48 count crayons on sale? I can’t find them on sale and we need 2 boxes of these. :-(
Can you just buy 4 of the 24 count? I once bought the 24 pack and pulled out the basic 8 that were required because it was cheaper. :) A friend did that for the red pencils too. She bought the colored pencils and sent in the red. Sometimes there are ways around it to make it cheaper, because it does add up.
A friend told me that the school supply list for her kids actually had a few items with barcode numbers to make sure you got that exact product. I draw the line at going that far!
If I don’t find 48 count on sale I’ll wait. I have 24 count here. But I think they want the 48 count for all the colors. But we’ll see.
I believe that most teachers are very thoughtful about the supplies they ask for. I don’t think there are very many like the teacher in the above comment who was selling the extra supplies.
For my kids, it seems that they have used the majority of the supplies that they brought. And what was not used was sent back home. Many of those are being reused this year. My daughter’s teacher even went so far last year as to send a huge baggie of the used crayons home with each child.
Therefore, when purchasing school supplies, I buy what the teachers ask for – I spend these weeks before school looking for the best deals but I buy what they ask for.
Finally, if there are things that don’t come back I don’t worry about it – in my opinion it is a good donation for the school. And many teachers I know spend far more then they ask you to spend out of their own pocket. They don’t even come close to being reimbursed for much of what they buy for their classrooms.
I just posted on this very thing. I went into heart failure when I saw the fee I am going to pay for my kids to go to school. Three boys = $353. Not to mention that to park at the high school is an extra $125, so $478. Plus, school supplies and clothes. Sports will be an additional $150, at least that’s what it was last year.
I bought the school supply kit for my second grader as it is just easier at that age. For my high schoolers I will buy what they need. 100 pencils – SHARPENED?
I get that schools are among those being hurt by the state budgets but school supplies, why so big of a list?
I do tend to buy clothes this time of year too and it isn’t because it’s all for “Back to School” but the sales just seem to be greater too. Timing, I guess.
Jill, I feel your pain. I was shocked when I learned we had to pay for a parking pass at the high school. Then the cost of yearbooks and extra lab fees for ceramics and photography class. I only have 2 in high school and signing up for school makes a huge dent in the budget.
Well, we have 5 kids and it costs us lots of $$ to go back to school. I do shop for supplies at yard sales during the summer along with some of their clothes, but I know how exciting it is to get “New” school clothes (especially for my 3 teens). I did not have nice clothes as a kid/teen and it DID effect my self esteem. Shoes for 5 kids also adds up real quick (hard to find second hand ones for older kids that aren’t gross).
We buy really nice back packs ($40 pc), but they last for like 5 years, and next year they will just trade so that they have something different from the year before.
They also all play sports, which cost an arm and a leg!
So, total back to school expenses including; supplies, clothes, shoes, fall sports equipment and fees, PTO and Booster club fees, lab fees etc is about $7,000 for 5 kids. Yikes!!
Yikes Sarah! I would say that is unbelievable if I didn’t know for a fact that it is true.
Summer baseball (36 games) – $650
Summer baseball uniform, hat, socks – $100 (assuming we only lose socks and belt once) :)
Summer baseball cleats – $80
Catchers gear that should last – $450
Summer baseball workout fees -$80
Summer baseball fuel – ???
Summer baseball time and energy for mom – priceless
Repeat for Spring, except the fee is *only* $125 and no new catchers gear but we will need a bat. Sigh.
At this age the boys, ahem “6′ tall men”, grow so fast that they have to have new stuff each season. And they are so hard on their gear that there is no option of hand-me-downing. :(
Land’s End does this wear out guarantee for their backpacks. If you wear it out they will replace it. I know they are kinda pricey, but I knew a girl in school who had hers for 6 years and it still looked brand new.
WOW- I am so glad we homeschool…and I have heard about the lands end wear out guarantee…its on just about anything you buy from them..
I think I’ve spent around $50 total to get kids supplies (2 kids, both in elementary school), and have roughly $10 left to go. I have stuck with the brand names that the teachers ask for, but I won’t with the “ziploc” bags–the other brands are a good amount cheaper and work just as well. We included a few splurges–I had my 5th grader buy 3 of the “plain” 15-cent notebooks, but let him buy 2 “cool” more expensive notebooks. He reused some folders from last year that were cool, and got a few of the 8-for-$1 folders to round out the total he needed. When he wanted the very cool pencil case, he had to work off the cost of it since we had pencil cases that he could have reused. (It still cost me money, but he did some of the housework.) My younger child needed a new backpack, but I’m hoping it will last a couple of years. I’ve learned that the ones with the plastic-y designs don’t last a year, but the cloth ones last longer. Reading the totals above–I’m dreading high school! (Do the costs vary by school district? I think that in D-11, the teachers/schools plan to be pretty cost-conscious.)
I too ran into a teacher having a garage sale and realized later much of what ashe was selling were leftover school supplies, and much of it had kids names on it! I wish I’d realized earlier and asked her about it. Thats’ just wrong. If it wasn’t getting sent back home, could it not have been donated towards kids that could have used the help with their school supplies?
I too have wondered on some of the supplies if they really get used up. I know some people only send in a portion of the supply list and tell the teachers to let them know when something is low and they’ll buy it. I hate seeing how some of the things are used, too. So much gets thrown away that’s perfectly fine and could be used- paper, pencils, etc. I’ve seen it when I volunteer. And why do we waste a gallon size ziplock to send home a few papers in? Just go ahead and staple or paperclip it. It bugs me that the lists never seem to get updated either. We buy all the supplies but it never fails taht part way through the year they’re asking for more glue, glue sticks and tissues. I know each year isn’t the same with how fast they use products, but it always feels like the same things. Why not ask for more at the beginning? I also buy a few extra to keep on hand just in case. At least I can pick it up when it’s cheaper.
I watched this thread since the start, contemplating my thoughts on the subject. I was in sticker shock last year a bit, because of all the items needed.
My list in school was: box of 12 pencils, pencil box, big red eraser, some markers and 2 reams of while ruled paper for my 3 ring binder. Everything was to be clearly labeled mine.
What shocked me even more so though – was the fact that I was commanded not to put my child’s name on anything! I don’t mind buying something for my child, or replacing it in the year. We had pencil boxes to keep in our bags when I was in school. Everything came with Sharpie names, even the erasers!
A few of my peeves are the fact that I’m buying paper for the class, when I saw none come home at all. They were ripped out of what was to be my son’s journal. I never saw usage of any of these Ziplock baggies, except once. After sending in a whole box. I haven’t the faintest clue what they did with 10 boxes worth – never saw them used for other classes either.
If people were allowed to label their child’s items that they would keep, then you can send home the leftovers instead of “donating” it to the school, but rather donating it back to us to reuse. For example, and one that stands out to me, what do they do with 20 pairs of scissors? I know those scissors last more than 8 months, Why can’t we have them back? Rulers, protractors, compasses, etc. There are some items that should be gotten only for their child and sent home for reuse.
I, too, have seen teacher garage sales, seemingly getting rid of leftovers from the last class, though I doubt this is the majority, it IS happening.
Being on a limited income and having to put another child in daycare tomorrow, I am scrambling to find the cash to come up with it all. I’d probably not have so much in the way of troubles, if I felt like I was investing some of these things for more than a year, never to see again.
I do know about junk items like Rose Art, some types of pencils and glue (Elmer’s only here). But in the same respect, other items can be generic. I just don’t see why for the things my son keeps with him, he cannot label them and take them home later. I have no problems contributing hand sanitizer (though I believe we should be teaching kids the proper habits of washing hands too), Kleenex, snacks, etc.
But his scissors – did they disappear? If not, why are they not kept for the next class, and that be left off the list? A ruler this year – I won’t see that again either. It would be… trying to think of the right word here… buying in vain since the supplies gotten for our children and the class, end up somewhere and it isn’t back home. All my kids schoolwork that I saw last year, was out of preprinted activity books. I did see the end result of one journal. I wondered what happened to all the wonderful things I was expecting him to come home with, with as much as I put in. Alas, nothing back.
I don’t expect bits of crayons here and there, but what happened to the reusable items?
I teach 2nd/3rd grade at a University model school, where students attend classes two-three day per week, and are schooled at home by their parents from lesson plans we post on-line the other days. We ask that supplies be sent, labeled, in the students’ own supply boxes, which will be kept on their desks. The box goes home when it needs to be re-supplied. We are careful to request only what we need, but of course, as we want our students to have the best and our supply budget is pretty much non-existent, teachers spend quite a bit out-of-pocket. (If you think it’s expensive for you to buy school supplies for 3 or 4 or 5 kids, imagine what it costs to buy them for 15 or 20!) I can’t tell you how frustrating it is to ask students to take out their rulers, and only have two kids that own one!
As a volunteer at 5 schools in two districts in Colorado Springs, I have seen a lot!
It is not just teachers who make up some of those list. One year the principal decided to save office money and requested all students (over 600) bring in a ream of copy paper, also a pack of construction paper. Most of the copy paper was tp thin/light for the office copier. So it was useless the principal said throw it out! One of the teachers heard of this and gave me some for my girl scout troops. I sugested giving it to the teachers for scratch paper for math and to draw on ect. One teacher used some to make airplanes (for science) The kids had a blast seeing and guessing who’s plane would go the farthest! The construction paper took forever to get rid of. The teachers did not have time to open and get out 30 sheets of blue paper ect. So I opened and sorted (over 600 packages). The problem was the reds, blues and other colors were all diferent colors. It took 3 years to get rid of that paper and we had to put in storage the original colored paper (much thicker) that the school district buys. So the teachers would use it. My girl scout troops meet two nights a week at school. Every night I pick up the pencils the custodiuns would sweep into to the hall from the class rooms. The least I piced up was 6 and the most was 32. I put these in the library. So all the students can go and get a pencil when needed. A lot of principals give out the class room supply money. Some teachers get more than others and when it is gone it is gone. Some solutions: children need to be more responible for their belongings, teachers should be resonsible for their class room money & write there own class supply list, parents should be responsilbe to get to know what is goinging on in their kids school. Now that I have 3 children (adults) in college. I look back fondly on just buying: glue, paper, tissues ect! lol
We are in the 49 school district for the first time. One in 4th and one in 7th. Holy cow is all I can say. Just for the student fees it is $20 each. Then comes the other things like a atlas that has to be bought from the school? In our old school district we paid the school $25 and the teacher bought all the supplies. Oh how I wish they did that up here. We spent about $60 for both kids but still have to send another $20 the first day of school. We did save money by getting some things with our swagbucks on amazon.
I have three kiddos in school. I spent $140 just buying the “stuff” on their lists. I shopped the deals too! It would have been more if we weren’t able to re-use scissors, flash drives, calculators, and combination locks.
That $140 is BEFORE school fees, which add up to a minimum of $105 for my kids. Depending on which electives my middle-schoolers end up with I’ll owe $25-$60 more. That’s almost $300 ($100/kid) and doesn’t include clothes/shoes. It’s definitely something we have to plan for and budget. Crazy, isn’t it?
As a cottage schooler w/TCA, we haven’t had to pay all that much. We purchased gently used uniforms at the end of May. The school gave us reasonable school lists – which I think came to $25 for each kid (if I hadn’t bought on sale). I already had this years homeschool curriculum ready (buying ahead when it’s a good price). And, for our homeschooling curriculum, the PPLD library had a homeschool book exchange last month and I was able to swap several free sets of curriculum for the next couple of years – helping with the costs later. If you homeschool, I’d recommend signing up for the PPLD homeschool link. It’s proven invaluable to me. So all told, we will probably spend $100 for each kid to start school.
Buying back to school supplies can be expensive. I always stick to what is on the school supply list and then I buy a couple of school supplies for teachers. As a teacher myself, I know they can use the extra items and I feel that August is the best time to buy these items.