<p>I just bought a used TI calculator on ebay last night, so that should bring the cost down a bit. Senior pictures, college applications, test scores, etc will be the things that really add up for us.</p>
<p>Our school supply costs have never run into 3 digits that I can recall. Just yesterday, I bought 300 pens @ $.042 apiece for my non-profit at Walgreen’s. I also bought 72 retractable ballpoint pens @ $.30 apiece at CVS. My D refused to let me get her any school supplies–says she has a lot left over at college & can acquire anything more she needs on her own. She doesn’t want to have to transport anything from here to LA, tho is thrilled we bought her a top of the line camera for her cinema major–will have to shoot 5 films this term (tho it’s supposed to be “dad’s” LOL).</p>
<p>For school pictures, I always bought the cheapest possible package which was usually 1-3 pictures. Then I scanned and edited them at home. Then I printed the pics at stores for much cheaper. The copies were so cheap to print that grandparents could have as many as they wanted.</p>
<p>For Sr. pictures consider taking a nice photo yourself. Many kids can do basic photoshop skills. I hate to point this out, but scanning another professional photo without their permission is illegal in most cases, and unethical at the very least. If you take your own, use a prosumer lab for good finishing at great prices (ie mpix).</p>
<p>The photo people are finally giving in to the inevitable–the last time around, we bought the cheapest package but also got a disk with all the photos that we can print off as we please.</p>
<p>You can cut a lot of costs in this area with planning and scrounging. Ask around if anyone has those extra long fitted sheets left from their kids’ college years. My kid isn’t getting new sheets since I have old ones from his siblings. My kids don’t use top sheets, and we just throw a regular or full size cheap comforter over the bed that can easily be machine washed, and I have a stash of those. So I’ll buy two new pillows and that does it for the bedding. I also have many towels, and he’ll take the old ones. </p>
<p>i’ve visited Salvation Army during half price Wednesday, and many friends have dumped their hand me downs on us, so his clothing expense will be minimal. By not buying shiny new stuff and recycling what we have, we are not spending much on his college goods. He has a $100 gift card to BB&B that he doesn’t even need along with a 20% off coupon for there. We’ll see if anything on the list is left. </p>
<p>Yes, you can spend a fortune. I remember my friend being in a daze when she dropped her DD off at the dorm and visited Target. She said she spent $500 and can’t remember what the heck she got since they had shopped at home and already loaded the car with what was needed.</p>
<p>But this is an area where you can be parsimonious and save a nice chunk of change.</p>
<p>One strategy is to make a list of what you need and wait for the sale. All the stores like Staples, Office Depot, OfficeMax, CVS, Walgreen, etc… have rolling sales from now until the school starts. Watch their weekly circular and match stuff with your list, then go in and buy just those items. Don’t buy stuff that are not on sale until you really need to. It takes a little work but you will save 50-60% or more, just do it as you go out for weekly groceries or other shopping trips. Staples have been having free backpack after rebate sale for the last couple of years, I usually watch for that when I know my kids need a new backpack.</p>
<p>^ Def watch the Staples ads. I picked up printer paper yesterday ($6 w/ a $5.50 rebate), pens ($4 w/ a $4 rebate), index cards for a penny, and the kids favorite pencils at $1/pack (regular $2.79). If they weren’t half a mile from my house it wouldn’t be as easy.</p>
<p>As far as K-12 costs, I have been blown away the last few years. We don’t buy new backpacks each year (middle son is entering senior year, using the same backpack his grandma bought him for kindergarten!). Just buying what’s required (or if not required, necessary for what my kids do - thinking AP tests, a sport, advanced math, etc) costs a lot where we are (Indiana).</p>
<p>*book fees - for middle school & high school, I think I usually pay $120-$200 each kid
*Math class required a TI-84 ($95-115, used around $50)
*Many teachers require a 3-ring binder of a certain size (usually 1 1/2" or 2", and if you buy the cheapest one it will not last the year) - 3-5 @ $3 each - $12
*Some require section separators with pockets - 5 or 8 tabs - maybe 2 sets, $10 total
*Paper, pencils, pens, folders, paper, graph paper - maybe $10-20 if frugal
- misc like dry erase markers, tissues, compasses, scissors, glue sticks, colored pencils, pens - they have to turn all of these over for general classroom supplies. It’s really expensive for elementary and middle, not so much for high, but still some - $5-35
*AP tests - they are about $85 each, and state pays for math & science test if enrolled in course. My kids take 2-3 non math/science AP’s per year junior & senior year - $170 - 255 per year each.
*Course fees - range from $0-60 (photography)
*Phys Ed uniform - $17 (all middle school years, one HS year only)
*Yearbook - $45
*Picture (ID only) - $10 (I usually get cheapest package that gives an 8X10 and 2 5X7’s - usually around $35)
*band fee - $60
*football fee - $100 (middle school, don’t know about high school)
*wrestling - $100 minimum, plus new mouth guards, shoes, $150 for “optional club wrestling”, which is a new development and really not “optional” if you want to wrestle on the team. $130-300
*PTO - $10
*PSAT - $15 (junior year only)</p>
<p>This is approaching $300 even if they don’t do band or a sport or AP tests (which they do…) or counting one time things like the calculator or photography course.</p>
<p>And then we usually start the year with $150 on each lunch account. I know it’s food we don’t buy at home, but it’s still another $150 check at the beginning of the school year.</p>
<p>For school supplies, it usually cost us $50 per kid. D is a freshman this year and her list of required supplies is: (We shop at Dollar General and Wal Mart for the cheapest prices)</p>
<p>1 1-inch binder
loose leaf paper
8 notebooks
composition notebook - black & white
blue & black pens
red pens
8 folders
Binder
Ruler
Scientific Calculator
2 pkgs index cards
white out
2 GB Flash Drive
markers
colored pencils</p>
<p>We do get a new backpack each year , not that they ‘need’ one, but because it’s part of the fun of going back to school. We also buy new school clothes the end of July - new jeans, shirts, & tennis shoes. Elementary kids have a pair of gym shoes, kleenex, wet wipes, etc added to their supply list.</p>
<p>We don’t really have sports fees. If you need underarmor for football, football cleats, basketball shoes, etc then you pay for those yourself. I paid almost $300 for cheerleading camp & misc this summer but was told last spring before tryouts it could be that way. If you golf, the obviously you have to get your own clubs.</p>
<p>Our school does not charge a textbook fee or registration or bussing fee. My nephews went to public school in Iowa and always paid a registration fee & for their books. They’d pay $100’s of dollars per kid just to go to school. Then supplies, lunches, and pictures. I saw on the news last year that some schools in KC raised their bussing fees, which seemed really high to me considering ours has always been free.</p>
<p>The first 2 weeks of school are always the most expensive for us. Supplies, Lunch money, Dues for class & Clubs, pictures (football, softball, cheer, & class all the first week of September).</p>
<p>S needed a specific scientific calculator for Geometry and college algebra. It was $100 at Wal Mart. D’ list doesn’t specify and I saw all kinds of ‘scientific’ ones at target last week for $10-20 and up. Since her list doesn’t specify, I assume a cheaper one will be ok.</p>
<p>You are stuck with a certain amount of fixed fees, but there are areas where you have the flexibility to put in some cost saving measures. I’ve been making lunches now for most of my life. The summers are particularly costly for me, because I make for everyone who is home and all of my kids are here this summer, even the ones with their own apartments because we have central air conditioning here and free food. So I make a dozen sandwiches each morning, that everyone takes. I was pleased to learn that my college kid bought a loaf of bread each week and kept the P&J, and cheese supplies current with occasional purchase of ham or turkey and certainly scrounged sandwich fillers from leftovers so that he did not have to buy lunch and dinner, just one or the other on days that they did not cook dinner at home. That and ramen kept the food costs down.</p>
<p>But we are into scrounging around the house and looking at yard sales and dollar shops and letting others know what we need for the school year. My brother just gave us an extra surge protector/extension cord he happened to come across since I said I needed one, and my one son is getting some ethernet cable, something on one college kid’s list. I’m putting stacks together for each kid to “make his flight” in the next month or so without a shopping trip if possible.</p>