For most, school is back in session. Supplies, shoes, backpacks and clothes have been purchased.
First day jitters are subsiding…and the full impact of the cost of sending your wee ones back to school has set in. So, the BIG QUESTION is how much did YOU spend on school supplies this year?
I found a pretty cool article that took lists from across the country from 1st, 3rd, and 5th grades and did an online price shopping comparison. The results were really interesting…and expensive! According to the article, peeps are spending an average of $60 per student just on school supplies {shoes, backpacks, etc. not included}. Holy buckets, if you have more than one kid, that could send you straight to the poor house!
The article mentioned that after interviewing teachers, they found a lot of consideration goes into the supply lists. Teachers {who are typically parents too} know how expensive it can get, and try to keep that in mind when they are building their supply lists. In addition, they usually spend money out of their own pockets to stock their classrooms. It’s kind of a conundrum {I really need to use that word more often} because you want your kids and teachers to have what they need throughout the school year, but you also want to still be able to put food on the table for the entire month of September :).
At the Butterfield household, we totally reuse items. In fact, we pretty much use them all up before we buy new. No new scissors, backpacks, pens, etc. until absolutely necessary. A friend of mine with elementary-aged was recently telling me how much she would like reuse items like colored pencils, pencils, etc., but her kids’ classroom lists specified that everything would be communal. She really wavered on whether or not it was okay to send in used items, rubber-banded together as her contribution. In the end, she bought all new off-brand stuff to contribute, and decided to try to put the leftovers from last year to good use at home. To send her two kids back to school, it cost $128 just for supplies. Am I cheap, or is that a lot of money?
Soooo, how much did you spend on school supplies this year? Do you reuse items from previous years?
~Mavis
Sakura says
We reuse also. I’m down to one last kid in school, so it hasn’t been bad at all. The only items I’ve purchased this year was a compass, a pack of pencils and a backpack. We don’t throw out old backpack, they get used for other things like camping or traveling. I always like to donate items the class needs, I’ll get that list on Thursday.
Dianna says
We reused a lot this year! In past years, I’ve let my kids get new markers, crayons, etc., because they are so cheap, but we have so many extras at home this year that I asked if they minded re-using, and they didn’t mind at all. I sent used markers for my daughter’s communal supplies and didn’t feel one bit guilty. The markers work fine! And communal supplies usually get hammered within a few weeks anyway.
Tina B says
I am “cheap” when it comes to school supplies and shop the sales. I outfitted 5 kids over the years for school, and even though they attend/ed public school, there was a rather long list of things we, as the parents, had to provide for them. Just for grins I kept track each year of how much I spent. As I shopped the sales (.05 2 pocket folders, .25 filler paper, .10 composition notebooks, .10 spiral notebooks…) I bought more than I needed that year so I would be ahead of the game. The best year was the year I spent about $25 to get supplies for my kids. This year, with #4 headed off to college and #5 being a junior in high school (starts next week), I have had to buy no school supplies aside from a graphing calculator for #4 for his math class at college. I got that on huge sale at Target, saving over $40, too! I did have to buy him the college things like towels, bedding, fan for his dorm room, and his class books. His were the most expensive so far of my kids who have gone to college! They studied engineering, and video technology & design, while #4 is studying biochemistry. I think the medical books are the pricey ones…
Mavis Butterfield says
Those graphing calculators are crazy expensive so good job saving $40! 🙂
Heidi says
Our high school rents graphing calculators for $10.00 per semester. Might be worth checking out before you buy.
Debby says
I live in Michigan and all ‘required’ items must be provided by the school. So they don’t require ‘anything’. They do send out a suggested list of supplies that will be used during the year in case the student wants their own. Basic list is usually less than $20 worth of items. On occasion a teacher will require some specific item and I will challenge. I am surprised that some teachers or parents do not even realize that they can’t do this. I know they have budgets and it is a real challenge for them but one teacher threatened to fail my daughter if she didn’t bring in the $17 for a workbook. Principal fixed it… The big expense is if a student is in sports. The fees are near $200 just to register.
Sarah G says
I don’t mind buying supplies that my kids will use, but what really bothers me is when I have to buy things the school should be supplying, like kleenex, white board markers, ziploc bags, red ballpoint pens etc. Especially since my kids go to private school that I pay a small fortune for in tuition.
Katie says
I have 4 kids in a public charter in SC. our school only receives 60% of state tax dollars for education (per child). school fundraising must make up the difference. We are in our 2nd year as a school, and the cost is definitely felt in our one income house. thankfully, my parents buy the kids new uniforms and school shoes each year. I watch sales over the summer, so I manage less than $30 per child for supplies. our school also charges a “fee” for admin, building purchase, field trips, and technology at $80/child. not complaining, we love the school, the curriculum, teachers, and families! http://www.wearellcs.org
Wendy says
I’ve got 2 in elementary, 2 in high school. We homeschooled for years before they went to school, so reusing came naturally. I stock up while the sales are on, spending about $20, then dish out as required through the year. I do have to buy one new back pack yet, as it barely made it through the end of last year. Everything I’ve seen so far has been at least twice the price and half the quality of previous years though. 🙁
Laura says
I work in a middle school classroom. Depending on the period we have 6th, 7th and 8th graders. The supplies you buy at the beginning of the year are pretty much lost, used up or destroyed by Thanksgiving break. Those two glue sticks your child brought in September are dried out with lost caps by Halloween. I have students who on a daily basis “borrow” a pencil from my desk. Lets do some math. We have 24 students, truly on any given day I give out about 5 pencils. That may total 25 pencils a week. That is in September. By March most students are borrowing a pencil daily. I buy those pencils for them. Guess how many? I buy LOTS of pencils in the summer when the office supply stores-God Bless them- have sales. I also buy tissues and when we have an epidemic of colds I am buying a couple boxes a week. Eraser caps, somehow erasers on pencils never last the life of a pencil so I am also buying caps which somehow is a status thing among the kids because they got an eraser cap from me. So, please be aware of your child’s supplies, check their backpack. Be kind and send in a box of tissues when cold season hits. We love your children and will never begrudge a student needed supplies but the burden of the expense is taxing.
Cheryl says
I “helped” my daughter this year with her kids school supplies. (she has 4; 2 in elementary and 2 in high school)Lord!! Need a second mortgage on my house now!! Of course the older ones, like Grandma, are willing to use last years backpack, but the younger ones HAD to have the more expensive backpacks (not that they were outrageously expensive, but they are 3rd and 4th grades!!!) Then there was the “LISTS”!! The older ones had lists for everything you could take in high school classes and Mom just had to have it all, before the first day of class!!! I think you can see my frustration!!! Needless to say, Grandma took the older boys shopping without mom and the younger ones got what we got them…end of that story!!! BTW, I still spent over $250 for them all, just in supplies!! End rant!!!! 😉
Carlie says
My nephew’s school listed specific brands of pencils and art supplies. I ignored that part and shopped at target taking advantage of their up&up brands. I’m still unsure why a 4th grader needs 48 pencils, much less 2 dry-erase markers, 2 fine point sharpies and 2 ULTRA fine point sharpies.
lorig says
I reuse. I do not like communal supplies because there seems to be less responsibility on the part of the students to take care of things that aren’t theirs. I buy as many pencils and erasers as on the list but really unless the kids are eating erasers they do not need 4 in one year. I send 2 erasers and a few pencils and keep the rest at home. My girls (now grade 8 and 10) have been taught over the years that when they have 1 left ask for more. Because they have been taught over the years to take care of their supplies and be responsible to resupply from the cupboard at home, this year I needed to buy a calculator (one died last year), graph paper, a 3 ring binder (one wore out), fun duct tape (one girl likes to fix her binders and personalize them but is still using the binder she got 8 years ago) and paper. i got the paper at 10 cents per 150 pages and stocked up. I added a few pencils and pens while they are on sale. With the savings I am able to put together school supply kits with new supplies for donation to a local charity that helps low income families. Lots of room for teaching out side the classroom.
michelle says
School supplies are just what they are. School supplies! We use them to teach your kid! We are not running to the flea market to sell the stuff you give us! Some of us do not have a budget and I have spent over $500 out of pocket for 20 years in a row for supplies I really need that are already gone from what you have given us. Please send in the things we ask you for, but by all means do NOT go broke doing so. Buy when things are cheap and buy enough to last you several years. You know what we need, so buy enough now for next year. Stash it in a closet and threaten to hurt someone if anyone touches it without permission. You will be happy next August when all you have to pick up is an extra Sharpie or two for us to write your kid’s name on all the stuff you sent in! Peace!
Carol says
I can totally empathize with your statement. I am a retired teacher, but when I was working, I spent a lot of my own money on supplies for kids every year. One year I spent $1,500 out of my own pocket. Yes, teachers do use things communally in the classroom, as so many students show up without supplies. Someday, maybe schools will be able to supply what students need. Our group of retired teachers passes the hat every fall and buys backpacks and school supplies for kids in need, so I guess it’s still coming out of our pockets!
Sarah G says
I’m fine with buying most of the supplies on the list. However, where I have a problem is buying things like kleenex, ziploc bags, white board markers etc. Shouldn’t those things be supplied by the school? One year my oldest even had to bring his own damn bandaids.
I also don’t understand communal supplies. Wouldn’t it be better for each kid to bring their own and learn the valuable lesson of responsibility for one’s belongings?
Brenda says
Sarah G,
I totally understand what you’re saying, but the fact is most schools don’t supply those items. That leaves 3 options: either the parents provide them, the teachers provide them, or they just do without. In my experience all 3 of these things happen each year.
Also, while learning personal responsibility with their own items is valuable, communal supplies can be much easier to manage in a classroom. It helps the kids that cannot provide all of their own supplies not feel embarrassed or left out. Also, there is less classroom drama with “someone took MY pencil” etc. when they are all shared with each other (which is another valuable lesson to learn),
I just noticed your comment above sharing that your kids go to a private school. I don’t have any experience working with those, but I would imagine they face similar classroom situations that publicly funded schools do.
Wynne says
I spent a lot of money on supplies when I taught 10th in MD, but they were My supplies: transparencies, markers, decorations, file folders, etc. I don’t remember buying pencils and paper for students. All kids brought their own, and the English department chair had a continuous stash (provided by the school) of supplies like tissues, pencils, and essay books. Here in VA, in one of the richest counties in the country, with +$11k per student, a local elementary put out a list requiring over $100 of supplies for 6th graders. Clorox wipes, two kinds of glue, over a dozen binders/folders, dry erase markers, earbuds, a Spanish textbook. Why does the school require such huge purchases, including from Title I families? It seems out of control to me.
Julia says
My son is in a private school. Fortunately the dress code is relaxed so he wears the same clothes/shoes to school that he wears when not in school. Each year he has a short list of supplies to bring. The standard pencils, pens, case, eraser, sharpener, folders and book covers. Many items are reused from previous years (backpack, lunchbox, pencils…) and replaced when worn out. I also “shop” in my house before spending money at the store. We usually have enough pencils, pens and such lying around to fill the bill. We did replace both a backpack and a lunch box this year due to wear and tear. The last ones lasted 2-3 years. He had outgrown his sneakers and also needed new ones of those. So with backpack, lunchbox, folders, binder, and 2 pair of sneakers we spent about $60 and this was an expensive year for us. His backpack was second hand for $5, his 2 pair of sneakers were $30 total (BOGO 1/2off) lunch box was $10, a bag of socks for $8 so about $7 or so for the rest.
Kelli M. says
One year, I had to spend $200 in school supplies for my oldest daughter. O.o This included a calculator, so I guess I got off lucky.
This year, my oldest needs very few items as they have communal supplies provided by the school, but there are a few things that the school still requested as donations (although they also have a supply donation online sign-up sheet, which avoids things like getting 80 donated boxes of tissues but no hand soap). Even the school supply list for my youngest daughter has been very light this year! I probably spent $25 on school supplies for both children combined (not including a backpack that we needed to replace), which is a really nice change.