Katharina Buczek
Regardless of whether your child attends private or public school, the start of classes can burn a hole in many parents’ wallets.
According to a recent survey commissioned by Stasher and conducted by OnePoll, the average parent will dish out a whopping $489 on school supplies this year.
The survey included 2,000 parents who have children between the ages of 5 and 18, revealing that 50% of parents planned to save as much cash as possible by purchasing school supplies sooner than usual.
On the other hand, 45% of parents intended to save money in other ways– turning to meal planning and prepping.
Still, maintaining a budget was at the forefront of most parents’ minds. About 53% anticipated that extracurricular activities would make up the majority of their spending; meanwhile, 47% worried about books, and 42% believed devices such as smartphones and tablets would be budget eaters.
So, 44% of parents planned to purchase some items second-hand, while 38% of parents intended to have their kids reuse some school supplies– such as backpacks (68%) and lunchboxes (63%).
Using these methods, parents expect to save an average of $237 on school supplies this year.
One of the most notable ideas is getting creative with meal prep since 44% of parents plan to reuse leftovers for lunches. The kids don’t seem to care, either, since 88% of parents reported that their children currently eat leftovers that are repurposed.
“Parents are finding that leftovers are not just a time and money-saver for dinner– they can also be all or a part of tomorrow’s lunch,” said Hilary McGuigan, Stasher’s vice president of marketing and product.
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