Tips for sending Island students back to school on a budget

It is getting down to crunch time for those who may have to pick up supplies for P.E.I. students heading back to school on Thursday.

A new school wardrobe, backpack, pens, calculators — it all adds up.

Though some people may find this time of year stressful, others find it invigorating, including Mainstreet P.E.I. frugal columnist Liz MacKay.

"I love a new school year," she said.

Buying back-to-school stuff can be expensive, but MacKay has some tips to keep parents from breaking the bank.

Take inventory

MacKay said students have to have clothes to go back to school.

"They would frown on you if you didn't," she said.

Clothes are the most costly back to school expense and the best thing to do is to take an inventory, MacKay said.

If your child has a job for the summer, please don't do an inventory with them and don't go buy them clothes.— Liz MacKay, Mainstreet P.E.I. frugal columnist

She got her daughter to make a list of what she has and what fits her before they went back-to-school shopping.

"Let's just see what you have," she said.

Her daughter broke her clothes into categories such as dresses, pants, shirts and sweaters.

"We knew she only needed to have a few pairs of pants, so that was easy," MacKay said.

The three kids she had to buy for took an inventory and her youngest only needed a pair of pants and sneakers, MacKay said.

"Our clothing budget was $100. We came in well under that with shoes, and we took them thrift shopping first."

MacKay also cautioned parents to not chip in too much.

"If your child has a job for the summer, please don't do an inventory with them and don't go buy them clothes. They have lots of money that they don't need to pay bills with. They should be in charge of buying their own clothes," she said.

Go for quality, hand it down

MacKay has a backpack that is 13 years old and was used by all five of her children.

"There are still no holes or rips, and it has been kicked down the driveway," MacKay said.

MacKay said the backpack cost $15 when she bought it.

Being frugal doesn't mean being cheap, it means investing in things that will last.— Liz MacKay, Mainstreet P.E.I. frugal columnist

"You want to buy quality," she said, adding some bags have fun designs but will "probably break by Christmas."

She said one of her kids wanted a "fashion backpack" last year and she agreed to help, but told them when it broke they would have to get a new one — that bag broke quickly.

"Then they got a quality backpack and that thing has been dragged the rest of the year and there is nothing wrong with it," MacKay said.

Use everything you have

When MacKay's kids came home from school at the end of last year they had a lot of school supplies like pens, pencils and coloured pencils and categorized them, she said.

MacKay said she has lots of coloured pencils and when the complaints come for new ones she points out the box.

Shop your school flyers, compare, look at your big box stores, office stores, online stores.— Liz MacKay, Mainstreet P.E.I. frugal columnist

"I'm sorry we have one world, we're going to reuse everything we can possibly reuse first," MacKay said.

"Take a look at your binders and see what can be used. Being frugal doesn't mean being cheap, it means investing in things that will last."

MacKay said one of her kids is "extremely rough with everything" and they plan to buy good-quality binders for that child specifically.

"Look around, shop your school flyers, compare, look at your big box stores, office stores, online stores," MacKay said.

MacKay said for those who don't want to stress about buying back to school supplies, some schools have created a program where parents can send them money and the school will get the supplies.

"Even though you might be able to buy it cheaper yourself it is a great way that they are doing this so everyone is on a level playing ground. Everybody has the exact same thing to be able to use and they get it at a discount, which means they can buy supplies for their classroom too," MacKay said.

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