Customers shop for back to school supplies at a Walmart location in Mississauga, Ont. Beyond supplies, one-off costs during the school year can add up overtime.J.P. MOCZULSKI/The Globe and Mail
Our eldest daughter starts kindergarten in September, which means we’re going through back-to-school season for the first time. While some parents are spending $500-plus on their kids, luckily our kindergarten shopping list is relatively short: a backpack, lunch box, and indoor and outdoor shoes.
In addition to these supplies, I’ve also looked at how our household budget will change – from factoring in higher food costs now that we’ll be making her lunch to the money we’ll save on daycare fees. Thankfully we don’t require before and after school care.
Revisiting my budget got me thinking: As a parent sending a child to school for the first time, what other costs might crop up during the school year?
After polling fellow parents, I discovered a variety of things you can expect to pay for when you have one or more school-aged children, and while individually they’re not expensive, they do add up.
I’m told to expect added school-related costs such as field trips, class photo prints, book fairs and special food days (pizza days, milk). While many of these are optional, I’m sure we’ll opt in to most, if not all, especially the food days since that saves us making lunch five days a week, and the book fairs since these are a core childhood memory for me.
I’ll also be budgeting for gifts, both for new school friends – since several parents highlighted that school often means more birthday party invites – and for teachers – since many people choose to get teachers gifts at Christmas and at the end of the school year. One tip that’s served me well is buying bulk gifts on sale during events such as Black Friday, then doling them out as needed.
Several parents also cited school fundraisers or teacher requests for donations, which I didn’t even realize was a thing: Often parent council groups will hold fundraisers in order to pay for supplies or events, and teachers may ask for donations like Kleenex and other items.
While there’s no obligation to support these, I hate the idea that the person who is educating my child is using their salary to buy supplies, so I’ll certainly be pitching in.
I’ll also be budgeting for replacement items and seasonal duplicates. For example, kids often leave items at school, or lose them, so having backup shoes and winter gear can be key. If your children attend a school with a dress code or uniforms, there’s likely also an ongoing budget associated with replacements.
Canadian company Mabel’s Labels is my go-to for cute labels for clothes and gear, so I ordered their kindergarten pack to ensure I can track down errant mittens instead of constantly buying replacements.
Speaking of clothes, I’m told there are also a bunch of themed dress-up days, from pyjama day to colour days, and while I’ll try to pull from our closets or borrow items, I’m sure a few trips to the local secondhand store will be in order. That’s if I remember to put them in my calendar – I don’t want my kindergartner to be the only one who shows up on Crazy Hat Day unadorned.
The final item I’ll be budgeting for doesn’t cost a dime but it’s hugely valuable: time. Several parents cited the time involved in before and after school pickups, organizing school logistics and covering school breaks.
“Budget your time. Keeping up with the emails, the ongoing calendar updates, the parent teacher calls, the sick days, the PA Days, the events you want to volunteer for or attend like the pizza lunches or the Halloween parade or the spring concert,” said Toronto-based mom Michelle Reidel in an Instagram message. “TIME is the biggest piece I underestimated.”
Now that I understand some of the future demands on my budget and my calendar, and I’ve increased the “kids” section of my budget to account for some of these miscellaneous school costs, the next order of business: Preparing myself for the tears I will inevitably shed on the first day as our daughter enters a new chapter.
Erin Bury is the co-founder and CEO of online estate planning platform Willful.co. She lives in rural Ontario with her husband and two young children.
