‘Over 10% in some cases’: How you can save money during back-to-school season

KETV NewsWatch Seven gets the facts on how you can save money while shopping for school supplies.

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How you can save money during back-to-school season

OMAHA, Neb. —

Back-to-school shopping has some local families pinching pennies as prices are 3.5% higher than last year, according to the Consumer Price Index. KETV Newswatch Seven got the facts on what a full list will cost you — and how to save — because your money matters.

Creighton economist Ernie Goss said during this back-to-school season you can expect to see higher prices across the board.

“Books have increased significantly, and we’re talking about clothing; we’re talking about over 10% in some cases,” Goss said.

KETV Newswatch Seven’s Izzy Fonfara Drewel did some shopping of her own using an elementary school list for Papillion-La Vista Community Schools. Fourth graders at Patriot Elementary have a 24-supply list this school year.

The school’s website has links for major retailers where you can find all the supplies in a cart ready to go. On the list are four pocket folders; if you shop at Amazon, it’ll cost you about $5 for one. Walmart has a sale on these right now for about $1, while Target’s price is ¢0.50.

A box of pencils: $3 each on Amazon, $2.50 at Walmart or $3 at Target. Also on this list are earbuds, and Goss said companies are competing for parts, so tech like that isn’t going to come cheap.

“That’s going to push up those costs for parents that wish to provide their kids with iPads, laptops, other devices,” Goss said.

He recommended testing out different stores. When all items were added to the cart, Omaha’s News Leader found a Papillion family will spend about $50 at Walmart compared to roughly $67 at Target and over $100 on Amazon.

“You can shop around to some degree, you know, in other words, shopping for those bargains and some of the bargain retailers, for example, they’ll have sales on,” Goss said.

Goss also said don’t be afraid to search for deals far from home, even saying he plans on taking his own grandson to Council Bluffs to shop for the annual sales tax holiday. Iowa will lift sales tax on certain items next weekend, Aug. 7-9.

The exemption mainly applies to clothing, but a full list of items can be found on Iowa’s Department of Revenue website.

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