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Back to School on a Shoestring Budget
Back to school: three words
that fill every child with dread and every parent with
joy. Whether your little one is just starting school,
or you’ve got a fashion-hungry teen on your hands,
here are six easy ways to maximize your back to school
budget – while still being the “cool”
parent:
1. Every child, no matter what age,
looks forward to having something new to start the first
day off right. Even if you can’t afford much, a
new spiral notebook featuring the hottest cartoon character,
or some zany-looking pencils will be just the ticket
to getting your child excited about school again.
2. If your child has a creative streak,
get some brightly-colored paper, scissors and stickers
and let them have a blast giving their book covers and
notebooks a “makeover”. Several budget-minded
art and craft ideas to help make the old stuff new again
are available online at:
http://familyfun.go.com/arts-and-crafts/season/specialfeature/backtoschool_craft_sf/
3. Every child wants to look trendy
at school – but the latest fashions may be too
risqué or expensive. Work with your son or daughter
to strike a compromise while letting them appear to
remain in control of their fashion decisions. Setting
a budget beforehand and letting your child be in control
of what gets spent when, and how, not only teaches them
valuable budgeting skills, but it also opens the door
for comparison shopping and deciding between needs and
wants.
4. At the end of the first day (for
youngsters just starting back) or the end of the first
week (for teens and tweens), plan a special surprise
to reward your child for making it through. It could
be something as simple as a Friday night pizza and movie
marathon or taking them out for ice cream sundaes.
5. Take shorter back-to-school shopping
trips (yes, I said trips – as in more than one!)
The longer you spend at the office supply store or the
mall, the more everything begins to look like a bargain.
This makes it temptingly easy to go over budget and
spend unnecessarily.
6. Buy your child one or two “must-have”
outfits for the first couple of days and save the rest
for the following week or so. By that time, they’ll
have seen what their peers are wearing (which only adds
to their “gotta-have-it” list), and thankfully
most retailers will have marked down their prices considerably
once the back-to-school stampede is over, making your
hard-earned money go farther than before.
In the end, trends are going to be trends
no matter how odd or silly they look, and chances are,
your child is at that age where walking into the classroom
with last year’s style seems like a fate worse
than death. By keeping these tips in mind as you browse
the aisles, you’ll not only keep the kids looking
cool, but you’ll teach them valuable shopping,
comparison and organizational skills as well. Good luck!
1howto.com
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