Back-to-School Fall 2011

How the American Family Is Dealing With the Costs

The summer season is coming to a close and thoughts of going back to school or entering college is on the minds of many. The economic state that we are in is having a definite impact on the back-to-school purchasing ritual, this school year. The season for back-to-school shopping is currently in full swing: starting the last week of July. However, a majority of the shopping can be expected to spike within the next 2 weeks, as children start heading into classrooms.

How much is expected to be spent, and in comparison to last year?

According to the National Retail Federation, a survey conducted by BIGresearch® reveals that parents of school age children from K-12 are expected to pay approximately $3 dollars less, per child, than last year ($606.40/2010 vs. $603.63/2011). Experts consider this to be a tremendous blow to this category of revenue that had previously been going up steadily. These experts have determined that parents want children to be less wasteful and seek to reuse items that are still in good condition. This way they (parents) will be able to afford other necessities for children during the school year.

Returning college students will be spending approximately $27 dollars less than last year ($835.73/2010 vs. $808.71/2011). College students and their parents have noted that the economy is a definite reason why they will be changing their spending habits this year. “Economy driven” purchases are the only way to go, according to 90% of the college students that participated in the BIGresearch survey.

Overall, more students will be shopping for “generic brands,” and shopping at local discount stores as well as at drug stores for school supplies. Clothing will be reused and anything that is bought will be after a thorough comparison pricing. This includes online purchases, which are expected to go up in correspondence to this trend as well. More people will be looking for bottom of the barrel discount pricing or just doing without it this year.

How to cut costs

Big retailers have caught on to this recent trend and are attempting to meet it with offerings of big savings on their merchandise.

For instance, college students can rent textbooks from certain major book retailers as opposed to purchasing them at full price. The student pays a significantly lower price and agrees to send back the book at a designated time. This can be for a period of up to 2 months at a time. This is being offered for printed copies and electronic copies (where available).

Students may also find online-based selling venues offering college textbooks at a considerable discount along with having a book buy back program, where students may sell back their books.

Both types of sellers may also offer used books – which are at a much lower price – as well.

Other retailers such as office supply stores are having deep discount deals and are offering coupons for customers through circulars and email.

There is also the public library. This is such a valuable resource for all students. You may borrow or have unlimited access to textbooks, testing guidebooks, tutoring help, dictionaries, encyclopedias, specialized reference books and much more. All it will cost is the time it takes to get to your local library. Students may also be able to borrow electronic versions of their textbooks, readers, and even videos. This will save a tremendous amount of time and makes bringing books back so easy, as the books will electronically dissolve from the existence of your e-reader at the time the book is due. No late fees.

More tips to remember

Get only what you really need – wait for the list from the teacher or syllabus from the professor before you begin to purchase items. This way you can focus your costs only on what you will really use. This will minimize the chance of having a supply surplus.

Read reviews on the products that you are considering. This is especially important because you will hear from the consumer how the product actually works and how practical it is to purchase. This is especially true of electronic purchases. Use a reputable reviewing resource to learn what is really out there and if it will be a good fit for you.

Diversifying your Portfolio

As the saying goes, you never want to place all of your eggs into one basic. With the economy being what it is these days, that includes your investments. In fact, if you haven’t diversified your portfolio, you are setting yourself up to lose money. Diversification means you have your funds in a variety of different investments instead of large chunks of it in just one or two investments.

When you diversify your portfolio, you are really increasing your chances of making money. There is a good chance that some of those investments will be profitable. At the same time, diversifying reduces your risk of losing money. Over the course of time, your profits should be more than your losses.

If the market is really tough, diversifying will help you to minimize the loss that you experience. Remember, investing can be risky so you want to really think about the level of risks you have out there too. If you aren’t going to retire for 20 or more years, then it is fine to have riskier investments.

However, if your retirement is less than 10 years away, you will want to become more conservative with your efforts. It makes sense to protect the funds have so that you don’t lose them. Perhaps you can allocate a small percentage of your investment funds into higher risk investments. Then if they make money, you have added a large sum to your retirement. If they don’t, you didn’t lose so much money that you are now worried about retirement.

If you will be retiring in five years or less, you want to invest in entities that are very low risk. That way you can continue to earn some interest on your nest egg. It may not be a lot of earnings at once, but it can definitely add up. You don’t want to be thinking you will have plenty of money for retirement and then discover you really don’t.

If you aren’t sure how to go about diversifying your portfolio, you will find plenty of help online. You can also talk to a financial planner as they can help you to get it all set up. Don’t wait until you are in a stressful situation with your finances. The market is simply too unpredictable at this point in time.