How much do you spend on school supplies?

Kris10Leigh · #1 (**permalink**) 08-04-2006, 09:11 PM

Our local news (Cincinnati, OH) did a news story this evening about the average cost of school supplies and I was shocked! I can't remember or find the exact figures but was something like:

Primary students: $360
Jr. High: $450
High School: $650!!

These prices do NOT include clothes but DO include things like a year book and rent on a musical instrument.

I have a first grader and I have spent a total of about $50 for him. His backpack and lunchbox are just fine leftover from last year as is his coat. This is purely the recommended list the teacher sends home.

tgavin71 · #2 (**permalink**) 08-04-2006, 09:18 PM

I wonder where these figures come from. Recently we had a similar story about it costing some ridiculous amount of money to raise a child. Can't remember exactly but it was about double of what we earn.

BooBerry · #3 (**permalink**) 08-05-2006, 12:27 AM

Haven't bought a whole lot yet; but I stock up on those 25 cent crayons, 20 cent glue, and such at walmart every year!

Lori63 · #4 (**permalink**) 08-05-2006, 05:07 AM

I also saw an article about how much is spent to decorate a dorm room-it was some ridiculous amt.
I have a college freshman, high school freshman and 5th grader. I bought some stuff yesterday and we're going back today-haven't got a total yet.
I do think I may get off a bit cheaper because (besides being obsessed with coupons/sales) I have three boys. I imagine girls are a little costlier.

Kris10Leigh · #5 (**permalink**) 08-05-2006, 05:58 AM

Boy, I hadn't even thought about a college dorm room. I remember that adventure for myself quite well! We went about it cheaply and it was still expensive. As memory serves (and you're taking me down happy Memory Lane here) we had to get all new bedding because at home I had a full. We got a bean-bag chair, a pop-up storage closet, hot-plate, carpet piece, an iron and posters for the walls. I did not take a TV my first year and I was really glad I didn't. One full year without television I remember as being the most peaceful year of my life. We rented the dorm fridge. There was a microwave down the hall so we didn't bother with that. We shared a lot. What one person didn't have, someone else did. The girl across the hall had a water heating thing and we used that often.

One of my mom's best gift ideas that year for me was care packages at every holiday. She included things like deodorant, toothpaste, trailmix, chapstick, toothbrushes, stamps, rolls of quarters, laundry soap, snacks of all sorts (especially important at finals time

) and other items like that. I was always most appreciative and it was fun to see what was in there.

And all that was just before computers were necessary. While I was there I think my parents upgraded their computer at home and gave me the old one. Internet as we know it didn't exit yet, but email in its crude form and discussion groups did. All students went to the computer lab for things like that. It was vertually unheard of to have anything more than a word processor in the dormroom.

PrincessPerky · #6 (**permalink**) 08-06-2006, 03:00 PM

zero... I spend zero...

now I am discovering that educating for free (or low cost) is unusual....one of the reasons I am trying to incorporate frugal daily learning into the newsletter I am working on.

colleges have their own issues, but for a parent of kids at home, why do you need new crayons every year? I am still using the box I had when I was teaching! (and I gave in to my snobishness and took out all the non crayola ones awhile back)

I bought a huge pack of construction paper and we are slowly going thru it, lined paper is still leftover from when my husband was in school (and he is old) though often notbooks are 'found' people get a new job, get a notebook for notes, quit job and leave notebook, DH rescues the book....

lesse, pencils are often gifts, which is why I donate 20 or so each year....same with pens.

Markers I dislike on general principle, if I am going to stain my fingers I want to have a lot more fun that coloring (fingerpainting at least!) so I still have the box I got when I was a teacher.

now playdough I need more of, wonderful christmas gift..though I keep debating on making it...

and scratch paper, that again comes from DHs work, old manuels or 'printed by' ends..we have a huge stash and he can find morew instantly. when I taught the schoiol used office discards we would get paper by the case from buisnesses, like church bullitans it would be the fronts they didn't have enough to print a weeks inside in, or dr papers when they change the form the old ones have to go somewhere, I dunno if you can still get em, but it wouldn't hurt to ask.

Kris10Leigh · #7 (**permalink**) 08-06-2006, 04:11 PM

Yes, Princess, I see your point on the crayons, but it's not my choice. The list comes home from school and I need to purchase what is on it. At orientation we take in all the supplies we purchase and sort them into the piles the teacher has made and all the supplies become joint property. So though I wouldn't mind sending MY child to school with used crayons, I can not send those used crayons to be used by the other kids. I mean, I COULD, I suppose, but it's kind of tacky. The same goes with folders and pencil boxes and the list goes on.

The one item on our list that bothered me was candy by the buckets full! The list requires us to buy FOUR LARGE bags of candy each! Just how much candy is she planning to feed my child in 9 months time?! I know it is used for rewards and all, but come on! Presumably that means that in 9 months time my child is going to be eating 4 large bags of candy in addition to the rediculous amount he brings home for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, the 100th day of school, every birthday, and every other "just because I wanted to" holiday that the kids get candy for. They even had an "after Christmas blues" day for which one parent sent home candy! We're not all that much into candy at our house, or at least I try to limit it. Last year I ended up taking one full 1-gallon bag of candy into the school where I teach and stuck it in the teacher's lounge. And that was the cast offs! It's just too much! (Phew.....I feel better. Needed to a rant a little there.

)

tgavin71 · #8 (**permalink**) 08-06-2006, 05:48 PM

Geez thats a lot of crap for kids to be eating. The kids would be bouncing off the walls all day. Not to mention the health factors such as obesity and teeth decay.Have you had a talk with the teacher. One bag should be enough. What happened to giving kids stamps, stickers or gold stars. No wonder you needed to rant.

In Australia school canteens can't sell lollies, chocolates, chips etc. There are some exceptions but the food has to go fulfil certain nutritional criteria. The kids are allowed to bring cakes in on their birthday to share with the class but the bringing of junkfood in lunch boxes is frowned upon.

Kirbycruiser · #9 (**permalink**) 08-06-2006, 05:56 PM

We spent about fifty bucks not including clothes.

abowers · #10 (**permalink**) 08-06-2006, 08:49 PM

Go to the dollar store for notebooks, pencils, etc. don't buy Crayola crayons (even though Crayola is best) if you are really concerned about the cost of school supplies.

Speaking of school supplies, how about college/grad school text books??
I'm starting my first full time semester of grad school this fall... for 3 of my 4 classes, if I were to buy used books for each required book (3/4 of my classes, mind you) it would cost $402, from the school's bookstore. USED.
I'm looking on Ebay/Half.com/Amazon etc. to find the lowest possible price for books in decent shape.

T_I_N_A20 · #11 (**permalink**) 08-06-2006, 09:02 PM

In high school... Um.. It can cost about 400$-450$ including books from school and all that junk. I used a lot of my old stuff from two years ago or so... That's why the cost is lower. I do admit, sometimes the paper ask things that I don't EVEN need. What a waste of my parent money

When I enter college next year, I'll ask a few friends of mine to sell me their books for cheaper, if I'm lucky enought I'll get them for free, well if they're generous enought. So I'll save a few hundred dollars in College, and I'll put the money for my future trip.

Kris10Leigh · #12 (**permalink**) 08-07-2006, 04:49 AM

One thing that always frustrated me in college, undergrad and grad, was that the professor would require an expensive book but would not require us to read it. Or perhaps we had to read a chapter. I often found that the teacher used the text as a reinforcement for the lecture. I got along just fine with a tape recorder to record the lecture and good notes. Also, the texts are often in the university library. I usually waited until class started and I got a feel for whether or not I truly needed the book.

Edited to add: I was in a specialized program where there were only 60 of us. The professor ordered 60 books at the bookstore and Joe Shmoe was not likely to pick one up. In other words, waiting did not mean the books would be gone by the time I got around to getting one.

abowers · #13 (**permalink**) 08-07-2006, 05:02 AM

One of my books for the fall... the teacher listed one of the required books as a textbook with CD. But I have the same textbook, without CD from undergrad - and there's no way I'm going to buy another copy of a $110 book. I checked with her and she said we won't be using the CD! (Can't figure out why she'd require us to buy the one with the CD then...)

I was also excited that for my summer grad class, the book the professor was requiring, I had from my undergrad course a few years earlier (but 2 editions older). Well, that saved me $117 (because it was not available used as it was published this year). Not to mention I had bought that book used to begin with for like $70. And, it was pretty amusing to me that my 7th edition was basically the same as the 9th edition -- pictures and all, except for the way some of the headings looked.

TINA-- Where do you go to high school that you need to buy $400 of books & supplies? We didn't have to buy books for high school.

Diolla · #14 (**permalink**) 08-07-2006, 06:34 AM

Books and fees (locker, lab etc) including a yearbook was $125. Backpack will be re-used from last year along with several notebooks/folders. Probably need to buy a trapper keeper (notebook thingy) cause it gets alot of wear and tear. Other than the special calculator we bought two years ago for $100 I don't think I have ever spent more the $30 on school supplies.

We go to the thrift shop for shirts and then buy pants/jeans new so even clothes run less than $100.

T_I_N_A20 · #15 (**permalink**) 08-07-2006, 08:40 AM

abowers : I go to a public school and we have to buy our books there, it costs around 350$ each year. The supplies, I buy them at stores, they don't sell them in school except the agenda and the lock for our lockers. It's pretty rare that I go over 100$ in supplies, I usually don't need that much, beside my sister who's in elementary, she always need new stuff.

PrincessPerky · #16 (**permalink**) 08-07-2006, 10:49 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kris10Leigh

Yes, Princess, I see your point on the crayons, but it's not my choice. The list comes home from school and I need to purchase what is on it. At orientation we take in all the supplies we purchase and sort them into the piles the teacher has made and all the supplies become joint property. So though I wouldn't mind sending MY child to school with used crayons, I can not send those used crayons to be used by the other kids. I mean, I COULD, I suppose, but it's kind of tacky. The same goes with folders and pencil boxes and the list goes on.

The one item on our list that bothered me was candy by the buckets full! The list requires us to buy FOUR LARGE bags of candy each! Just how much candy is she planning to feed my child in 9 months time?! I know it is used for rewards and all, but come on! Presumably that means that in 9 months time my child is going to be eating 4 large bags of candy in addition to the rediculous amount he brings home for Halloween, Thanksgiving, Christmas, Valentine's Day, St. Patrick's Day, the 100th day of school, every birthday, and every other "just because I wanted to" holiday that the kids get candy for. They even had an "after Christmas blues" day for which one parent sent home candy! We're not all that much into candy at our house, or at least I try to limit it. Last year I ended up taking one full 1-gallon bag of candy into the school where I teach and stuck it in the teacher's lounge. And that was the cast offs! It's just too much! (Phew.....I feel better. Needed to a rant a little there.

)

Rant away you just hit on one of the major reasons why I will not be sending my kids to a mass school (public or otherwise)

I stand by my earlier statement, it is cheaper to homeschool even if education were equal!

joeswife · #17 (**permalink**) 08-07-2006, 11:32 AM

the total of my 3 kids so far...freshman son, 5th grade dd, and 3rd grade dd has been aprox $20 total. thats for everything. i got it all on sale on clearnce.and stock up on enough paper, pens and things at walmart sales but i get enough to last the whole year.

megy · #18 (**permalink**) 08-08-2006, 08:08 AM

I'm a senior in high school, and school definitely gets more expensive every year. I reuse things such as colored pencils, crayons (lol, I still have some of the same crayons for elementary school), leftover paper, pens, etc. But my binders are usually shot by the end of each year so I have to buy new notebooks. Plus, year books are about $75. There's the parking permit (only a couple of dollars), senior pictures, book rental fees, supplies fee for certain classes (digital photo, etc), the stadium pass (it is cheaper to be a season pass than to pay for each game) and then I am also taking College Now courses, which cost about 189 dollars per course per semester. (Four of my high school classes are CN courses)

Add that up and . . . wow. The price of education is HIGH.

T_I_N_A20 · #19 (**permalink**) 08-08-2006, 10:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by megy

I'm a senior in high school, and school definitely gets more expensive every year. I reuse things such as colored pencils, crayons (lol, I still have some of the same crayons for elementary school), leftover paper, pens, etc. But my binders are usually shot by the end of each year so I have to buy new notebooks. Plus, year books are about $75. There's the parking permit (only a couple of dollars), senior pictures, book rental fees, supplies fee for certain classes (digital photo, etc), the stadium pass (it is cheaper to be a season pass than to pay for each game) and then I am also taking College Now courses, which cost about 189 dollars per course per semester. (Four of my high school classes are CN courses)

Add that up and . . . wow. The price of education is HIGH.

OH!

I forgot about senior pictures and all that senior stuff... Boy this year will be very expensive compare to the previous years.

Kris10Leigh · #20 (**permalink**) 08-08-2006, 01:37 PM

So Megy and Tina, you are telling me I need to start saving for high school NOW for my 4 and 6 year olds! Oh my! I am so not ready for that! How do parents do it? I feel like we are financially stable, but many, many parents in my school district are not. And there are prom dresses and tuxedo rentals. And some parents rent a limo! Wow! Those are expensive years.