School Shopping Strategy

The day starts off well. Everyone gets out of bed feeling happy and hopeful about the day. A few sibling squabbles break out over bathroom-hogging tactics, but that's normal. Breakfast goes pretty well. Then everyone piles into the car and you're off.

In most families, the trouble begins as soon as you get to the mall. Kids want one thing, parents want another, everything is more expensive than anybody planned for, and nobody wants a haircut. How can you avoid the brooding, stress, and tears? By starting off with a clear plan, you can make your shopping day a lot less stressful. Below is just one example of a strategy your family can try.

First of all, everyone should understand that there are needs and there are wants when it comes to school supplies. Needs are things like planners, pens & pencils, and notebook paper.

• Eat breakfast together and discuss your priorities. Have each student in your family make a list of items and divide it into things they need and things they want.

• Establish a budget and allot some for the needs and some for the wants. Parents only have so much money to spend overall. Together, the family should discuss and negotiate a budget.
• Students take charge of the budget. Now that you know how much money can be spent overall on the needed supplies, you are ready to take charge of your own budget and start shopping for those essentials.
• Spend leftover from the needs on the wants. If students stay within budget when purchasing the basics, they can use leftover money for the things they want: anything from a great pair of jeans or a trendy hairstyle to a designer book bag.

This shopping strategy can reduce stress because it targets the two stress factors that always cause fights on shopping day. Students worry that they won't get those special "wanted" items that will make them feel good, while parents worry about the budget.

By taking charge of the shopping budget, students empower themselves, release parents from a stressful situation, and learn about budgets and responsibility at the same time.

For more school shopping tips see School Supplies on a Budget.

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