Expect to Spend More on Back to School This Year

TV commercials for back to school shopping started a few weeks ago, and now that we've rolled into August, we can start looking ahead to kids going back to school. Of course in New York State the kids go back about a full week before kids in Pennsylvania do. Regardless of what state your child go to school in, a new survey suggests you will spend as much as $65 more this year in back to school supplies compared to 2017.

According to the survey results found on RetailMeNot, clothes will still be the most expensive back-to-school item this year. On average. parents will spend $189 per kid on back to school clothes. That is up from last years average of $153. Electronics, new shoes, backpacks, pencils and pens, folders and notebooks, and art supplies all made the list of back to school necessities, and they have all gone up in price.

I remember when I was a kid seeing that first television commercial about back to school shopping. It would wig me out. I used to yell at the TV saying, "shut up, it's too early for this, shut up". It seems like those commercials start running earlier and earlier every year. Kids in New York who just got out of school at the end of June, start seeing back to school commercials about two weeks later. I get that these TV commercials run across the country and some schools do go back very early in August, but for kids in New York and Pennsylvania, I'm sure seeing back-to-school commercials that early during their summer break is cause for anxiety. Almost as much anxiety as the parents will have trying to figure out how they are going to pay for the back to school shopping.

[via RetailMeNot]