Back-to-School shopping offers
lessons about money
Parents will spend an
average of $573 on back-to-school shopping, according to a Mastercard
International study. As children join their parents on school shopping
excursions this month, it’s a good time for parents to talk about how they
make spending decisions and budget money.
"School shopping is a
perfect opportunity for parents to teach children about their financial
values,” said Jody Anderson, director of housing and financial counseling
for Lutheran Social Service. “My advice would be to involve children in
the entire process.”
Here are some basic tips
from Anderson as families venture to stores for their back-to-school
needs:
Set a budget: Let
your children know how much money you plan to spend, and stick to it.
Involve children:
Give your children the chance to make a few purchases. Help them
understand the variations in prices and that the cartoon character version
might cost a lot more, but they could get more for their money if they got
something that didn't have that character. Give your child a calculator
and have them add up expenses as you shop.
Take inventory: Ask
your child to go through their dresser drawers or closet and take
inventory of clothes they have and need. Consider buying clothes after
school starts when clothing stores have sales. If you have older children,
let them know how much you will allocate for their school clothes and let
them make purchasing decisions. This will teach them the concepts of a
budget, and rational reasoning in purchases between expensive and
reasonable.
Recycle supplies: You
may already have many items that your child needs for school that are left
over from last year. Buy only the supplies your child really needs. You
might consider waiting to buy some of your supplies after school starts
when supplies go on sale.
There are many other
school-related costs throughout the year for parents to keep in mind.
Anderson advises, for example, that parents talk with their children about
extra-curricular activities that they would like to participate in and
build in costs into the family budget for expenses, such as sports
uniforms, band instruments or field trips. School lunches and day care
costs are also major expenses to plan for early in the year.
Lutheran Social Service
offers free budget counseling, financial education and confidential debt
management planning via in-office appointments, phone counseling or the
Internet. Lutheran Social Service, a United Way agency, is a member of the
National Foundation for Credit Counseling (NFCC) and Better Business
Bureau. For more information, call the LSS Financial Counseling Service at
1-888-577-2227 or visit
www.lssmn.org/debt
