Expert advice on back-to-school shopping

(InvestigateTV) — According to a new NerdWallet survey, 42% of parents with school-aged children said they would go into debt to pay for back-to-school items that would help their children fit in.

From book bags and water bottles to clothes, jerseys and gear, there’s a lot of pressure to buy the best.

Sara Rathner, a personal finance expert with NerdWallet, said now is a great time to set a budget, shop the sales and spread-out purchases.

“Even if you don’t have a school supply list from your child’s school yet, one of my friends gave me the great advice of using last year’s school supply list because there might not be too many changes,” Rathner shared. “You can find that on your child’s school website and take that to the store with you.”

Lots of items are classics from year to year. And before setting foot in a store or shopping online, Rathner suggested taking an inventory around the house of what is already on-hand, then consider getting other items second-hand.

“I know it might not be cool to have hand me downs, but you might have items from your older children that your younger children can use,” Rathner noted. “I’m a younger child, I used my older brother’s graphing calculator, and it did math just fine and it saved my parents about $80.”

In the survey, about 20% of parents reported they are going to use buy now, pay later plans as part of their back-to-school shopping strategy.

Rathner cautioned to keep in mind that, buy now, pay later is a form of debt, so make a plan to pay all that back and not get overextended during shopping.

And make sure to make those payments on time to avoid any penalties.

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