When the children go back to school after the summer holidays, there are usually a lot of new things to buy. They have often grown out of the previous years uniform and shoes, so you need to get new sets. Jacob has usually been using his rucksack as a football goal post all summer and so that will need replacing too. Then there are the extras that they need as they move up through the school years – it seems the older they get the more ‘stuff’ they require.
Gemma is now in Year 5 and Jacob in Year 3. Year 5 has bought a whole lot of extra expenses – she now needs to provide her own pens and pencils, which means a pencil case too. There are 2 trips this year, which need deposits paying in the first half term to reserve a place. There is a new sports kit to buy, as last years is too small, and she also needs shin pads and football boots for the various PE games and after school clubs she attends. This means new sports bags too. She takes guitar lessons which have to be paid for, and this year we bought her her own guitar too, so she didn’t need to use the school ones. Jacob has started drumming lessons this year – music lessons are offered from Year 3 – and tonight he is staying at school for his first ever camp out – and that needed to be paid for too!
Add to that the everyday expenses – school dinners, snack money, replacing lost jumpers and book bags – and it’s amazing just how much back to school really costs!
A new survey by Great British Bingo revealed that just over half of parents (51.9%) spend just £0-10 on back to school essentials – which makes me wonder where I am going wrong? Although 13% of parents do spend over £100 – I am glad to say I don’t fall into that camp! I think I probably spend £30-40 per child on an average back to school spend – that’s for uniforms, shoes, bags and lunch boxes and all the other everyday items.
So what do you spend on back to school essentials? Am I in the minority, or is my spend about average?
* This is a collaborative post *
