Cynthia Hayes estimates she’ll spend about $500 per child getting them ready to go back to school next week.
She’s not alone, though she’s spending more than the average Canadian.
As students’ summer break winds down, moms and dads across Thunder Bay are rushing to the stores in search of supplies, expected to spend in record numbers, if a recent BMO Financial Group study is on the mark.
According to the survey, it’ll cost parents $164 per elementary school child to get them ready for a return to the classroom, $171 per high school student and $213 for those in college or university.
Households with children, on average, will spent about $362 this fall, a 13 per cent increase over 2011.
Hayes says it’s not cheap to send her children back to their studies.
“I’m focusing essentially on clothing – not necessarily pencils and supplies per se,” she said Thursday.
She’s also smart about what she buys, and doesn’t rush out to the nearest store without research in hand.
“I actually like to compare prices and I follow the sales pretty closely. I optimize on bargains. Obviously the better the price the more tempted I am to go ahead with the purchase,” she said.
“If there’s an incentive there, essentially I purchase.”
Michelle Orpel takes a different tack.
Orpel is a single mother of two children who said she’s spent about $170 on her children so far, filling their backpacks with coloured pencils, crayons, new shoes, markers and glue sticks. She expects to spend at least another few hundred dollars before the first bell rings on Wednesday morning.
To make it fit in her budget, she said she starts shopping early.
“I don’t wait until the last minute. I go shopping probably at the end of July, to start,” she said.
The nurse’s assistant said she also tries to make it a fun experience for her children.
There’s a good reason, she said.
“I try to make it as fun for them as possible and let them pick most of their things,” Orpel said.
It’s something she’s done since they started school, she added.
“I’ve always kept them involved since they’ve been little and let them pick their own backpacks and that, because I find it easier for them. I let them pick their own shoes, their own coats, just to try to keep them more involved so they get more excited about school, as opposed to it being a punishment or a chore and they don’t really get to be involved.”
“I like picking out my own backpack,” her 10-year-old son Alexander said, days before his Grade 5 experience begins.
While many parents find it hectic, retailers in town are really under the gun at this time of the year.
Pasquale Coccimiglio is the GM at the Thunder Bay Staples outlet and said by volume, he’s seeing as many, if not more, customers than during the Christmas season.
The big difference, he said, is customers aren’t necessarily buying the big-ticket items in August like they might come December.
“There are a lot of people looking for a lot of items this time of year,” he said.
To help parents know ahead of time what to buy, Staples has put together a list of suggested school supplies, specific to different grade levels.
The basics are covered, like pencils, paper, rulers and scissors, but grow as students get older. Starting in Grade 7 they recommend students carry a geometry set and USB drive, while the high-school students’ list includes a scientific calculator and laptop.
“We’ve consulted with some teachers and principals on some of the basic needs that kids have,” Coccimiglio said, adding he starting to see a shift at younger grades to electronic equipment, including laptops and tablets.
School is scheduled to start on Wednesday in Thunder Bay.
