Back-To-School Shopping Requires Homework
The cost of back-to-school items is expected to be more than $600 annually for the typical American family with kids in kindergarten through 12th grade, according to the National Retail Federation.
“Back-to-school shopping can be an expensive proposition, especially if you don’t spend some time planning, budgeting and prioritizing, along with shopping in the right places at the right time,” said Joyce Cavanagh, Texas A&M AgriLife Extension Service specialist in family and consumer sciences, College Station.
Cavanagh said consumers should approach school shopping much like they do grocery shopping.
“Find out what you already have and then prepare a list of what you need and try not to deviate from it,” she said. “Determine how much money you have to spend and buy the essential items first. Avoid impulse buying. And if you have your younger children with you when you shop, don’t let them beg or whine you into buying something you don’t need.”
Read tips from Cavanagh on how to be a more cost-conscious back-to-school shopper on AgriLife Today.
This article by Paul Schattenberg originally appeared in AgriLife Today.
