With the new school year starting in a few weeks, Canadian parents are feeling “stressed out” about shopping for their kids and looking for ways to cut back their spending, recent surveys show.
More than a third (34 per cent) of Canadians plan to shop for back-to-school supplies this year, according to a survey done by the Retail Council of Canada (RCC) last month.
While more than half (56 per cent) expect that they will spend about the same on school shopping, fewer parents compared with last year are willing to spend more, the results published on Aug. 6 showed. The survey included 8,737 Canadian adults out of which 3,482 were planning to shop for school products.
The results “highlight a cautious yet consistent approach to back-to-school shopping amidst evolving economic conditions,” the RCC said in its report.
In a Leger survey commissioned by Capital One, also from July and including 1,005 Canadian parents, nearly half (47 per cent) of respondents said they “feel stressed out” thinking about spending on back-to-school shopping.
Another poll by NerdWallet of 296 Canadian parents of children in kindergarten up to college showed that nearly one in five (18 per cent) feel they will likely go into debt from back-to-school shopping.
Even though overall inflation has slowed in recent months, prices of school textbooks and supplies were up by 3.7 per cent year over year in June, according to Statistics Canada’s latest inflation report.
Stationery prices also increased by 4.7 per cent, but the cost of children’s clothes and shoes went down, decreasing seven per cent and two per cent, respectively, compared with last year.
With prices continuing to rise on most shelves, “parents are really feeling the pinch” and that is “definitely going to impact back-to-school budgets,” Shannon Terrell, a spokesperson for NerdWallet Canada, said in an interview with Global News
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Terrell said things like stationery, office supplies, books and electronics “may hit your wallet a little bit harder this fall.”
That is why prioritizing what is essential at the start of the school year and shopping for the best prices could go a long way, experts say.
“I think the biggest takeaway here is to focus on priorities, so make sure you’re only buying those things that you need,” Barry Choi, a personal finance expert at Money We Have, told Global News.
Back-to-school shopping habits
Three-quarters (76 per cent) of parents said in the Capital One survey that they consistently shop around for the best prices, while 71 per cent actively look for sales or coupons.
More than half of parents (54 per cent) also said they buy second-hand items or receive hand-me-downs.
Meanwhile, 23 per cent of parents are also buying less because of inflation, the NerdWallet poll showed. Despite that, the planned average spending on school supplies has gone up by about $200 to $743 this year.
Stationery is the top spending category for back-to-school shopping, followed by clothing and books, the RCC data showed. And most (71 per cent) prefer to shop in store.
How to avoid breaking the bank
There are several ways that parents can avoid breaking the bank and can spread their budget while shopping for the new school year.
Terrell suggested delaying the purchases for items that aren’t absolutely essential at the outset of the school year, such as the winter wardrobe and books on the annual list, so that those items “don’t hit the wallet all at once.”
When it comes to electronics, going for more generic brands and forgoing trendier non-essentials could help trim the budget, she said.
Sales are also a great way that parents can save up on school shopping, both Terrell and Choi said.
They advised comparing prices by using digital flyer or couponing apps, such as Flip, Honey or Rakuten, that can help you track which products are on sale and get alerts.
Sometimes waiting for the best deals can also pay off.
“If your kids can wait a few extra months, maybe that’s the time to buy that new cellphone or laptop, because that’s where you’ll see better deals than back-to-school,” Choi said.
For those worried about taking on debt, Terrell said it might be helpful to explore balance transfer credit card options. She said these credit cards have a promotional low interest rate sometimes as low as zero per cent for a set period, typically about 12 months.
“What parents can do potentially is transfer existing credit card debt onto a balance transfer credit card. And then they’re going to have a promotional window in which they can really pay down that debt.”
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