Save money on school costs

With school coming up many parents will have extra costs to consider from clothes to supplies to lunches. Here’s how to save.

Get online tutoring help: Paying for a tutoring program for your child can be costly, but online programs abound and many are free. The only trouble is how to choose a good one. Luckily, The Good Housekeeping Research Institute recently reviewed 22 educational sites, accessing range and quality of the lessons and ease of navigation. Seven were deemed useful for kids.

Carpool: Save gas, save time, hook up with other families at your kid’s school and create a killer carpool plan.

Gather supplies for a song: Go through last year’s supplies first (you have lots I’m sure) gather what you need from back stock then hit the back-to-school lists posted at stores and fill in the gaps. Buy most supplies in bulk. Pencils cost far less by the dozen than if you buy five. Buy plain Jane items. Kids shouldn’t need fancy folders and pens to learn.

Spend less on college textbooks!

Shop Debt Free: Shop Debt Free is a site created by eBillme, a credit card alternative payment option for shopping online. Basically, this is the first online debt-free shopping mall but that’s nothing new, you can shop in stores debt free. This site also offers some good back-to-school resources such as back to school deal of the day, promotions, advice for spending with cash, smart shopping tips, and weekly “Debt Free Wednesday” giveaways. This is also a good way to introduce teens to shopping but sans credit cards, teens can shop online at the Debt Free Mall, receive their eBill via e-mail, and either pay it themselves using money from their online bank account or forward it to a parent, friend, or family member to help with the payment.

Pay less for school clothing: This is an entire post on its own, but just as a refresher… take inventory and try old clothes on before making a list of new items needed. Try swapping with other families, thrift stores, and consignment for basics, and limit specialty clothing to a few items per kid.

Pack a smarter lunch: Forget toss away lunches and pack a waste-free lunch for not only cash savings, but earth savings as well. If money is way tight see if your kids qualify for the national free lunch program.

Save money on musical instruments and sports equipment: Consider renting because you don’t know if your kid will stick with it. Also if you rent or purchase, go local because while you may get a better deal online, local venues will actually help you if something goes wrong with your gear. Try play-it-again type stores, used stores, and ask around because plenty of families have instruments and sports gear just sitting there unused.

Take advantage of discount programs at private schools: My son goes to a private alternative free school so we have a substantial monthly cost to deal with, however, they do offer a earned discount program where if you volunteer 15 hours a month they knock a large chunk off your bill. It’s a great deal. If your private school doesn’t offer this up front ask – it can’t hurt. You can also sometimes get scholarships and discounts for siblings and referrals.

How are you saving money on school this year?

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