Back to school shopping can get expensive for some families, but they find ways around it.
A Rocky Mountain House mom of two, Heather Taylor, was shopping in Red Deer for her two boys, aged 11 and 14, who will be attending Grade 6 and 10.
The central Alberta mom says she finds shopping in the city a cheaper option than buying products closer to home.
On Sunday, her plan was to buy back to school supplies such as binders, pens and other stationary, as well as shoes and clothes. She had budgeted about $300.
“It’s probably $2 to $3 cheaper per item,” she said about shopping in Red Deer. “So it’s worth it.”
The mom says for some families, the expense can put a dent in their budgets.
“It is expensive, and I wish it was all inclusive, so that would make it a bit easier,” said Taylor.
“It’s hard this time of the year. You have to do everything this time of year, and there can be massive expenses, which you have to save for during the summer.”
Reann Kulchisky, a Red Deer mom, said she finds the back to school shopping “is not so bad this year.”
“There are good options, like good starter packs (from school).”
And there are cheaper options, she said, while shopping for her two school-going children, ages 10 and eight, entering Grade 5 and 3.
The mom budgets about $300 for supplies, such as shoes, backpacks and lunch kits for both children.
For Lacombe mom Doris Rego, who was shopping with her youngest daughter Gracious, who will be going into Grade 11, back to school shopping isn’t a huge expense.
The family buys supplies as they need it throughout the school year, instead of purchasing everything at the beginning of the school year.
Gracious said she will be reusing some of her supplies from last year.
“There’s no use in throwing all of that out”.
Rego explained that up until Grade 8, Gracious was home schooled, so the family never did back to school shopping like many others.
“You don’t need near as much as a home schooler for supplies. Your budget is spent more on road trips, day trips, actual hands-on, real-life experience, rather than consumables,” the mother explained.
Rego also has two older daughters, and they were also home schooled.
“We used to actually find it comical: parents losing their minds over buying their supplies and kids screaming and what have you. And we used to walk by it, because we just never did any of it.
“You needed something, you went to the store and you picked it up. There wasn’t this list of stuff.”
mamta.lulla@reddeeradvocate.com
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