MANHATTAN — The beginning of school is still weeks away, the time is almost past for families to plan for back-to-shopping budgeting. K-State Extension family budget expert Carol Young said with the current economic climate and the overall high cost of living, paying for school supplies will strain many budgets this year. Young says you can get ready for back to school by looking in the back of your kids’ closets. You can reduce spending on new items by taking an inventory of what your children have before you go shopping. Find out what items are usable or can be worn for school this year or can be donated to someone one and then make a list of what you really need, Young said. Buying the basics first, school supplies, jeans, T-shirts and tennis shoes. She said you can also make back-to-school shopping highly educational. Rather than buying stuff without previous discussion and you jointly working a list with your children and the cost. If children insist on certain name-brand clothes, shoes or backpacks, they should be prepared to make some tradeoffs in other areas, she said. If they want more expensive items and they have allowances or if they work, parents can offer to split the costs of the higher-priced items, she said. Shopping can also be stretched over several weeks to reduce the strain on budgets, she said.
Tuesday, July 13, 7:30 a.m.
