When August rolled around, April Hicke realized the $100 she typically gives her 13-year-old son to update his wardrobe in time for school to start was no longer enough.
含羞草研究社淓ven on the sale racks, a pair of sweatpants at SportChek, they含羞草研究社檙e still $25 a pair. You used to be able to go and buy a pair of sweatpants for $10,含羞草研究社� said the Calgary-based mother of two. 含羞草研究社淚 am shocked at the (price) increase of kids含羞草研究社� clothes.含羞草研究社�
Hicke increased her son含羞草研究社檚 budget to $200, taught him about looking for deals and used an annual Patagonia sale and resale sites like Poshmark to find savings on such big-ticket items as winter coats.
While it wasn含羞草研究社檛 the first time she has taken these steps to reduce her back-to-school shopping bill, the strategies she and other parents are using come with a renewed importance this year because even as inflation has eased, Canadians aren含羞草研究社檛 seeing any meaningful relief in their expenses.
The cost of staples like food have soared, leaving less spare cash for binders, books and new school looks.
Despite many having less or no wiggle room in their budgets, 85.7 per cent of the 8,977 Canadians surveyed on behalf of the Retail Council of Canada in July predicted they would spend as much 含羞草研究社� or more 含羞草研究社� on back to school than they did last year.
About 73 per cent of those respondents planned to spend more than $50 and about 43 per cent said they would exceed $100.
An increasing number planned to shop early, too.
含羞草研究社淭hey含羞草研究社檙e not just going out to stores and making those impulse buys. They含羞草研究社檙e really putting a lot more thought and mindfulness into what they are purchasing and what they need,含羞草研究社� said Michelle Wasylyshen, a spokesperson for the council.
含羞草研究社淲hat can they maybe get by without this year? What did they buy last year that can make it through another year?含羞草研究社�
The survey found the top categories shoppers plan to spend on are school supplies, clothing, books and then electronics.
For items kids can含羞草研究社檛 do without, parents said they were scouring flyers for deals, browsing clearance racks and turning to second-hand stores or social media groups.
A survey of 1,014 Canadians conducted on behalf of NerdWallet in July found 53 per cent of back-to-school shoppers would seek sales, 26 per cent would use coupons and 20 per cent planned to thrift.
About 32 per cent said they would buy all new school supplies, but that doesn含羞草研究社檛 mean saving wasn含羞草研究社檛 still a priority for them.
含羞草研究社淰alue is top of mind for our parent customers when they shop with us and more so in this year than ever before,含羞草研究社� said Rania Husseini, Indigo Books & Music Inc.含羞草研究社檚 senior vice-president of print, in an email.
So far this back-to-school season, she has noticed a higher proportion of sales coming from books that are at 含羞草研究社渁n accessible price point.含羞草研究社�
Walmart Canada has seen a lot of demand this year for wireless headphones, laptops and printers.
Sally Chan, the retail giant含羞草研究社檚 director of strategic commercial planning, attributed some of the spike to the rise in online schooling that the COVID-19 pandemic brought, introducing many parents to a whole new level of education costs.
含羞草研究社淚t含羞草研究社檚 the demand for technology that含羞草研究社檚 really kind of stretching the parent含羞草研究社檚 budget a little bit more than in the past,含羞草研究社� she said.
To reduce the hit to her wallet as much as possible, Alison Balfour planned to take a wait-and-see approach to back to school shopping.
Once classes begin for her two boys and they get a better sense of their needs and tastes, the Calgary mother said she would begin shopping. By then, she hopes prices will have come down from the 含羞草研究社渆xponentially expensive含羞草研究社� levels she has seen recently.
含羞草研究社淚 am not seeing a lot of savings, to be honest,含羞草研究社� she said.
含羞草研究社淚f we are seeing inflation go down and the economy is supposed to be recovering, why are we still seeing these costs especially in grocery stores and things for school? Nothing seems to be going down.含羞草研究社�
Hicke had a similar observation. The packs of three T-shirts she used to buy her sons at Zara now cost $40 instead of $25 and shoes, pants and other apparel essentials have risen, too.
A silver lining, she said, was that her younger boy is still 含羞草研究社渘ot picky含羞草研究社� about brands so she can find savings in the dollar store aisles.
含羞草研究社淚 can tell him go get all the pencils and pens that you want, and he含羞草研究社檒l just go and grab everything he needs and he含羞草研究社檚 always sub-$10.含羞草研究社�
