We are close to the start of the school year and the stores are already full of excited parents and students, and packed shopping carts. Here are 10 tips for planning a smart and cost-effective equipment purchase:
Here are 10 tips for planning a smart and cost-effective equipment purchase:
- Build a smart list for school supplies – take the list provided by the school and use your best judgment. Decide which of the list you really think should be purchased. A notebook with three topics, for example, is expensive and unnecessary. Buy planning calculator >>
- Check with your kids about what’s important to them – have a conversation with your kids before going to the store. Listen to their wishes and dreams. Discuss budget constraints, separate needs and wants, and assign them a framework for things they want, such as 2 ornate notebooks.
- Check existing inventory – check what remains in the house from previous years and what can be transferred from one sibling to another. Remove what you already have from the list.
- School bags every three years are also an option – who said you have to buy a new backpack every year? Many school bags look like new after washing. Talk to your children and set home rules for how often you buy a new backpack.
How to deal with the bag of buying a bag >> - Split the purchase – identify the discounted products everywhere and buy only them. Check where to buy a backpack and pencil case – perhaps separately from the rest of the purchase, these two expenses are relatively high and if you save on them you will save a significant amount in the entire purchase.
- Better without the kids? It may be difficult to complete a purchase and resist temptation when the kids are with you at the store. If the child wants to choose the backpack for himself, take him to a specific task, set a budget for him and stick to it. This is a great opportunity for financial education.
- Look in hidden places in the store – the unbranded and cheaper products are usually at the back of the store, either hanging very low or very high. A few steps and a little effort can save you a lot of money.
- Leave inventory in the store – despite the promotions, there is no need to buy equipment in bulk for the whole year. It is certainly possible to suffice with the quantity that will serve us for the beginning of the year and later to supplement equipment as needed.
- Water bottles and lunch boxes – do your children belong to the group of children who guard the equipment or does the bottle disappear every day and the lunch box does not return? If they belong to the second type, give up buying bottles and boxes, this is literally throwing expensive money into the trash.
- Organize a place at home for the equipment you purchased – arrange the inventory in the place you allocated for it at home. When the equipment is in order, you’ll know exactly what you have and what needs to be completed later in the year.
May it be a productive and economical school year for all of us.
