Like any dad, I want to see the best for my children. When it comes to buying for back to school supplies and clothes it can be a bit of a tug of war. This increases as they get older. Girls more so than boys. I am talking about staying within budget!

I am talking about the definition of basics. Last year I did not see what was wrong with the backpack my daughter had from the year before. The concept of a needing a messenger bag to carry over a perfectly functional backpack was beyond my understanding.

I was reading a post at Kiplinger.com that got my attention. It read, “But throw in backpacks, electronics, new clothes and more, and the cost of a back-to-school shopping trip quickly adds up. In fact, the average family is expected to spend $606 this year on these items, according to the National Retail Federation. That amount tops last year’s — $549 — even though many Americans say they’re struggling financially“. I personally thought these numbers were to high considering our current economy. Yes, we may spend $500 to $600 over the course of the school year, but not at the start of the school year. In fact it is much less.

This year I have set in place an interesting strategy. Binder, pencils, paper, and other essentials are covered for a budget of $40 (This number was determined from my daughter’s school supply list.) Clothes, shoes, including backpack or messenger bag (Whatever the current fashion demand.) has to stay within $100.00. Our daughter was told if she came under budget for the school supplies she could use it for clothing. After school clothes were purchased then the left over could be used to a carrier of school supplies.

In my fatherly mind, I am going to help teach my 10 year old daughter the value of money. We are going to look at ways she can live within her set budget. Her mom and I are helping her work through the process.

The first stop will to get the school supplies will be either Staples, Wal Mart, Target, or ShopKo are all about the same price to the total price. We could run from store to store to get the best price on each item, but we would spending $2 to save 50 cents. That is why it is just get all the school supplies in just one place.

Like any parent knows, clothes and shoes are a different story, all together. We are going to start a a couple thrift stores that sell nearly new, nice cloths. Then we will come home, look at what is lacking for 5 sets (one for each day of school). A shopping list is made as to what is needed in the way of cloths.

Now we visit Wal Mart, and a trip to the Mall. From taking my daughter to the mall, I have observed some real good prices a Sears and JC Penny. In fact they beat out Wal Mart by a long shot.

After all the school supplies, clothes, and shoes have been bought, then our daughter gets to choose what kind of bag she was to carry her books and binder to and from school.

Tags: Back to School, daughter, Kiplinger.com, Mall, Shopko, Target, Wal Mart