After a busy couple of months of holidays, it’s time for the kids to go back to school. While some parents may breathe a sigh of relief when that first day rolls around, others will be worried about mounting associated costs in an inflation-fuelled environment.
Here are a few ideas to prepare for school expenses, from textbooks and uniforms to extra-curriculars.
- Create a school fund and consider deferring certain expenses
Over the course of a year, parents may find themselves spending hundreds or thousands of dollars on children’s activities. Finding that money in the budget is challenging for many families.
Consider setting up a separate savings account through your customer-owned bank and making regular deposits for school-related costs. With higher interest rates, you may even earn bonus cash for making regular contributions.
Then, think about waiting until the balance builds before paying for things that can be deferred; for example, if new shoes can wait until later in the year, that’s one cost that could be pushed to another time.
- Crowdsource free gear
Nowadays, there are plenty of social media sites where other parents are happy to gift hand-me-downs from their children. Community groups are often a good way to find pre-loved uniforms, books from last year or even equipment. Starting local may mean you can find what you need fairly quickly, too.
- Buy second hand
If you have no luck with donations, consider using second-hand stores for everything from uniforms to sporting equipment. Some stores even have pre-loved musical instruments. Given how quickly children grow and change, you can often find materials in good condition.
- Take advantage of discount programs
Depending on where you live, your state or territory may have rebates or discount programs to help with the cost of schooling activities, such as sport, or more generalised costs for low-income families. Here are a few links:
- NSW Active Kids and Creative Kids
- Victoria Get Active Kids
- Queensland FairPlay
- Tasmania Ticket to Play
- South Australia School Card scheme
- Northern Territory Sport voucher scheme
- Western Australia KidSport
- ACT financial and resource assistance
- Consider carpooling
Petrol is one of the many expenses that has gone up in the past 12 months and if you’re driving your children to school each day, you may feel the impact in 2024. To share the cost, think about coming up with an arrangement to drive your kids’ school friends and then alternate every other week.
General advice only.