Updated: May 30, 2020
Students will soon be going back to school here in the Philippines. And if you’re a parent, then I’m sure one of the things in your mind right now is your budget.
When I was a kid, I would always notice how stressed my parents were during the opening of the school year. They’d go through their finances over and over to check if they’d have enough to cover for the tuition, books and school supplies of me and my brothers.
And now, it’s just a few days before the start of another school year. And for the parents out there, here are some back to school money saving tips that could help.
School Uniforms
- Take inventory of what you have in the closet. Determine which ones can still be used.
- Consider having some of those that don’t fit anymore tailored or altered to fit.
- Trade uniforms with other parents. Maybe their kid’s old uniforms would fit yours and vice versa.
- Buy good quality clothing so they’d last the whole year and maybe even more, same goes for those leather shoes.
- For college students who don’t have school uniforms, then maybe you’d like to read this article on how to save money on clothing.
Textbooks
- Ask the upper grade students if they are willing to sell or maybe even give you their old textbooks.
- Likewise, you might be interested to sell your kid’s old textbooks to those who might need it.
- It might help to ask the school which of the textbooks are required and which ones are supplementary or optional.
- Go to second hand bookstores for old textbooks. Search in online auction sites or maybe post inquiries in parenting forums for used textbooks.
School Supplies
- Make a list of the required school supplies. Remember to prioritize and buy the necessities first.
- Consider recycling or using old supplies.
- Take an inventory of what you already have at home choose which ones are still okay.
- “Jazz up” old school supplies which are still in good condition to give it a fresh look. This works best for backpacks.
- Go through your office cubicle and give those extra pens, pencils, memo pads and other supplies that you don’t use to your child. I know these things tend to accumulate on your desk and inside drawers, specially those given by colleagues and clients.
- Buy the plain and simple designs becaue they’re usually cheaper, but also consider durability. Give it individuality by customizing with your own design. I used to do this for notebooks.
Other Back To School Savings Tips
- Be honest with your children when it comes to your budget. Make them understand the situation.
- Be on the look out for back to school specials and sales in your area.
- Hunt for scholarships. Not all of them are based on your financial capacity or your child’s intellect. For example, some organizations give scholarships to children that show good leadership skills.
- It may be good to consider enrolling your child in a school near your home to lessen transportation expenses.
- Prepare packed lunches for your child to save on food expenses.
That’s all the back to school money saving tips I can think of. Maybe you have some more things to add? Please share them below as a comment.
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very nice and timely tips. i agree with you on buying somewhat expensive but durable shoes because you will save more in the long run. and its true that you have to be honest with your kids so that you can compromise e.g, buy him a new bag but use the same shoes etc.
thanks for sharing!
hi there! been dropping by your informative site for a couple of times already, and there would be times that i would like to put up my own blog on achieving financial freedom, but as of the moment, i’m still quite confused or the right word maybe is LOST.. hehehe.. anyways, i would like to ask sana if you could post a more detailed information on loan sharks 🙂 thanks..
/jireh
I remember my nanay telling me that she doesn’t bring me along when she shops for school supplies so that she could shop according to her budget. Her reason: kids don’t look at prices/practicality when they shop. They most often than not look into the physical aspect. They will choose what will appeal to them regardless of cost. So I grew up being satisfied with what my nanay gave me to use for school. As long as it serves its purpose, that’s good enough. 🙂
[…] Back To School Special: Money Saving Tips For Parents […]
this is such a wonderful site. I do not usually give comments on articles because i believe its a waste of time. haha. I like your topics. Very helpful. Good advocacy Fitz.
Hi. I’ve visited your site so many times and found your articles quite interesting and informative. I’d like to congratulate you for doing a wonderful job and for keeping all of us coming back.
I’m new to blogging and new to adsense. I know very little about computers and I do not understand most of the terms. So I thought I’d just ask you, if I put a feed (whatever that is) on by blog, will I have to pay adsense? What is page eCPM? There’s an amount underneath it in my adsense report and it’s in dollars. I’m a little scared that I might be incurring debts without knowing it. God forbid.
Thanks a lot. I do appreciate your sharing with us newbies the secrets to your blogging success.
Claire
Thanks everyone for the comments. I really appreciate it.
@jireh
Sure, I’ll do an article on that as soon as I can.
@Claire
A feed is free, you don’t have to pay anything to adsense. And eCPM is effective cost per 1000 impression, it’s the average earning which you get for every 1000 impression on your site.
Do you mind if I post an extract from your article on my website, I will put a link back to your website?
[…] lost are just a few of the expenses that add up over the course of a school year. Here are some money saving tips for parents on school clothing, text books and […]
Hi Fitz,
Thank you the great ideas for me to save money. I do try to buy use books but some are harder to find than others.
Fitz have you done a story on kids blogging? I let my have a blog and last year it paid for here shoes LOL. I do supervise it. It all helps.
yeah you’re absolutely right..classes will be starting this june and i am..worried..that’s the reason why i am having some oL job..and i hope this would help me raise an amount for my tuition..i thank you because you have a really nice post specially for student like me..
hey Fitz,
School year has ended but summer class has started as well. Good to bump in your site. The point you made in textbooks “Ask the upper grade students if they are willing to sell or maybe even give you their old textbooks.’ .. this usually happens in public schools (like a government school) where books are not free and it usually took years before the school decides to use a newer version of the book.. In the long run, younger students can still “rent” or buy the old textbooks that the older students had.
Heather of Buy Synaptol
Really useful tips for parents… The most important thing to do is all related to education. Having scholarship will help cover and save a lot of money for your student’s study.
Hi Fitz,
Thanks for your valuable blog. I always look forward to reading your article regularly.
I just want to inquire about scholarship. The link you provided in this article is for University of Austin, if Im not mistaken, it’s for US residents only correct.
Do you know any scholarship in the Philippines which specifically looks into parent’s financial capacity? I already inquired in my son’s school and they don’t offer any.
Look forward to your response.
More power!
Shey
I remember when I was in elementary, I would shop for school supplies with my kuripot aunt. She would let us hunt for our own notebooks – mix and match – as long as they fit her budget (price of notebook per piece – the most expensive I had was 12 pesos each in grade 6, year 1999). The lower the price, the better. For pad paper, buy packaged ones, yung meron nang kasamang 1/2 lengthwise at 1/4 crosswise. We would buy the whitest and cheapest pad paper available. Tell your kids NEVER to bring the entire pad paper to school – napakaraming estudyante ang mahilig manghingi ng papel kasi nakalimutang magdala, nakalimutang bumili, o tinatamad lang kumuha sa bag. Just bring half or 1/4 of the pad and then dagdagan nalang paunti unti so his/her pad paper can go a long way at hindi maging supplier ng papel sa classroom! Ballpens – they are cheaper when bought in bigger stores than in your neighborhood sari-sari store. It helps if you can buy several pieces – many grade 3-6 pupils (and even high school students) lose their pens or tinatapon nila kasi “nagtatae” o ayaw nang gumana.
While we plan for the worst so as to not be disappointed, we always hope & pray for the best outcome. Going into the 2020 school year and so far no real end to the covid-19 virus pandemic, I am thinking there is change on the wind. Will school at home become the new norm to control the spread of the virus? Will opening exercises for the day be when you log into your on-line classroom. Will I be taking the troops to the playground/park in our subdivision for gym periods and spend much of my time supervising social distancing? Time will tell but for now it looks like the new normal will no longer be as simple as new a book-bag, shoes, pens & paper.