Sarah McCooey approaches back-to-school time with an excel spreadsheet, a system she says results in considerable savings, and allows her to avoid selling fundraiser chocolates later in the year.
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Her three kids will need new uniforms, stationery and shoes, a decent outlay for any family just after Christmas and summer holidays.
“I’ve got the school booklist and made an excel spreadsheet out of it and put in the price that [the recommended supply company] had on the list and just went and bought everything myself … and I’d normally save around $50 per child,” she said.
“There was one year I actually went up to school and said … your book packs were X dollars and I’ve spent Y and I’ve saved $90 – I’ll give you a $50 donation and I’m not doing any fundraising for the school!”
She doesn’t object to schemes giving donations to the school, but they don’t sway her purchasing decisions.
‘‘I suppose it’s better than having to do fundraising and things for the school; I draw the line at having to sell chocolate frogs!’
While Mrs McCooey will at a minimum buy her children an official school jumper with logo to make sure they feel affiliated with their school, she will shop around for the best deal on the prescribed colour shorts and polo shirts.
“We’ve been close to the poverty line before and you just get into the habit of ‘I can do better than that’ - you don’t just look at their thing and think ok, that’s how much it costs.”
What are your tips for saving money on school costs? Leave a comment below.
