Back-to-School Shopping Costs Continue to Rise, Leaving Families Looking for Ways to Save

WITH PRICES OF SCHOOL ITEMS GOING UP, STUDENTS AND THEIR FAMILIES ARE GETTING CREATIVE.

*Enaiya Louis was a student in the College Now Introduction to Journalism class at the City College of New York.

Back-to-school shopping is perhaps one of the most anticipated activities by students during the summer break. This is because buying new clothes, notebooks, backpacks, and school supplies gives them a feeling of preparedness for their first day back. Still, for many families, back-to-school shopping is not merely an exciting activity but instead one filled with worry.

“There have definitely been times I wanted something because everyone at school had it, but I knew it wasn’t in my family’s budget,” Najya Dawson, a 15-year-old student from Brooklyn, said. “It was disappointing at first, but I reminded myself that it wasn’t a necessity. I either waited until it went on sale, saved up for it, or just focused on what I already had.”

According to research from the National Retail Federation, the amount of money families spend on back-to-school shopping for each child exceeds hundreds of dollars, where clothing, electronic devices, shoes, and school supplies make up the main costs involved. Even though there are many discounts in stores, parents can find it difficult to control their budget due to the increasing costs compared to a few years ago.

With rising costs for back-to-school supplies, families are having to adjust their purchasing habits. Rather than buying everything anew, students are recycling items, watching for deals, and purchasing only necessities. Dawson said that budgeting has become important when preparing for the school year ahead.

“One way that my friends and I have been budgeting for the new school year is recycling our backpacks, folders, and other materials we had from the previous year and not buying everything new. Instead, I buy only the necessities,” she said. These decisions to re-use or buy second hand over purchasing new stuff each year may become increasingly popular. 

Students can face pressures to follow the latest trends, like the ones they see on social media or at school. And usually, there is something expensive in the inspiration: sneakers, costly clothes, and fancy “back-to-school hauls.” These expectations can create problems for many families. Dawson feels that social media plays a part in making students expect too much from the back-to-school season. For her, the rise in social media videos of back-to-school hauls has added to the feeling of being unable to live up to the hype. 

“Social media has made the back-to-school season appear way more expensive than what it actually is because all people show off their big hauls or new brands,” Dawson said. 

Besides obtaining necessary goods and gadgets, many teens treat going to the stores as a good opportunity to show off their personality with clothes and accessories. However, Dawson noted that even though she likes shopping for school, her parents usually help when buying essentials.“While I like shopping on my own as it gives me an opportunity to choose the items matching my style,” she noted, “my parents buy essentials.”

At the same time, teenagers also realize that their families have budgets that sometimes don’t  allow buying all the things that they want.

“I like having more control over what I get since I’m more aware of my own taste and needs,” Dawson said, adding, “but I appreciate the things that I will get, knowing that there are certain limitations and budgets to consider.”