Stop Buying Crap #13 - Back to School Crap
Posted by Cap in Stop Buying Crap! on August 10, 2006 |Stop Buying Crap #2 | #3 | #4 | #5 | #6 | #7 | #8 | #9 | #10 | #11 | #12 | #13 | #14
If You Don’t Buy All These Stuff, You’re Going to FAIL
Reader’s email:
Has shopping for “Back to School supplies” become the new corporate holiday?
I’m sure it hasn’t. Your kids definitely need a Lightning McQueen Portable CD Boombox for the upcoming school year. Or a new iPod, wireless router, and digital camera.
If you stroll around fine retail stores such as Target, you will no doubt realize that, if you dare use last year’s backpack, notebook, and binders—you will fail miserably academically. Because as you all know, backpacks magically disintegrate within a year.
Wardrobes are another story. Reader’s email suggest that kids do in fact grow astronomically through summer, so new clothes may be essential, but not $1,000 essential.
The same goes with you silly college students. Text books are expensive enough as it is, don’t fool yourself into thinking that you need a new desk, laptop, or the latest styling—no body cares what you look like anyway. You don’t need to extreme makeover your dorm room, nor do you need new bedsheets—try washing them for a change.
Cap’s back to school supply: $200 textbook, paper from Costco (supply since elementary), free pen and notepads from local realtor.
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August 10th, 2006 at 7:30 am
I’m pretty sure I even stopped buying textbooks when I got into my sophomore or junior year of college. You can get by just fine without them most of the time.
August 10th, 2006 at 7:55 am
that’s true, you can get by quite a few class just by going over lecture notes etc. since quite a many professors don’t even use the text.
problem is, those class that do need the books are usually the ridiculously expensive ones.
hmm. pretty lame post today.
August 10th, 2006 at 9:06 am
I heard a great tip from Clark Howard that you should wait until just after school starts to buy back to school clothes and backpacks.
Retailers want backpacks after school starts like they want Christmas wrap after Christmas. Also, if you wait until a few days after to buy school clothes, you get big discounts, plus teen girls get a chance to see what everyone is wearing, and can then buy accordingly. Nothing worse than having a teen girl by the wrong thing and then not wear it at all.
August 10th, 2006 at 5:27 pm
I was intrigued when I read about the backpack index and saw that parents will spend about $307 in supplies for elementary school-aged kids, $438 for middle school children and $669 for high school students!!
August 11th, 2006 at 6:36 am
Hmm, I have to agree with you on this one. Even with a school aged child, I think all the ‘back to school’ hoopla is ridiculous!
I mean, who really waits until a specific time of the year to buy their children clothes, shoes, and necessities anyway? If my daughter needs socks, I’m not gonna say “oh no, keep wearing the holey ones until you go back to school again.” WTF! And since when is a book bag meant to last only 9.5 months? Is there a recycling center for them or something?
As for the supplies, they don’t change much from year to year (pencils, pens, paper - nothing special). Stock up when they’re on sale and keep it moving.
In my college days, I either bought used books online, split the cost and shared with a friend, or didn’t buy the book at all. The only ting I splurged on (then AND now) was high quality sheets. I love the feel of 400+ thread count and I needed multiple sets because I like to change them often.
Back to school is just another brainwashed holiday to pump the profits of retail giants.
August 12th, 2006 at 8:13 am
I wish my parents had done a better job of resisting my demands for all-new stuff. I’m thirty-one years old and still have unused notebook paper from as far back as second grade. I’m pretty sure I’m covered for notebook paper for the rest of my life.
August 15th, 2006 at 3:10 pm
Single Ma made a great point right there, waiting for a specific day like “back to school” season to buy those type of necessities are just out-right silly.
majeest, you can always save those paper for your kids—that’s if they will even use paper later. hmm.
August 22nd, 2006 at 11:38 am
On the subject of magically disentegrating backpacks:
Some kids are more, shall we say, destructive than others. They do disentigrate.
I’ve noticed some of the backups sold at discount retailers are cheap because they are cheaply made. They don’t last. You get what you pay for.
Planned obsolesence is built into “character” backpacks. No way the Disney Princesses or the Barbie backpacks from K/1/2 are going to fly in the fifth grade. More of a problem for girls, perhaps, Spiderman will always be cool!
I think the best backpack my daughter has had so far is a denim backpack customized with bug and flower patches. Durable enough, girly enough, repairable, and won’t go out of style.
On clothes, kids of course needs clothes when they grow out of them or they wear out. But if sales are to be had during this time, it is a good time to buy clothes. On the other hand, I don’t like the aspect of having to have the latest fads/fashions. It’s like there’s consumer conditioning going on to train kids that they must buy the newest stuff to stay cool.
August 23rd, 2006 at 1:24 pm
Im now a senior in college and I got a backpack from LL Bean my freshmen year of HS. It cost like $70 at the time but i still use it to this date. Even has my initials on it… Woot.
August 23rd, 2006 at 10:28 pm
I used the same backpack from 8th grade till 11th, when Really i didnt need to replace it, picked up another Jansport backpack and have been using it for close to 3 years and its like brand new, so I dont understand that either.
August 23rd, 2006 at 11:05 pm
I have so much school crap lying around that I don’t use, even though I have atleast a couple more yrs of college left. This year I resisted the urge to buy new pencils and pens since they are all over my apt anyways. I laugh when I see the commercials saying kids “need” new lap tops and cell phones for back to school along with all that other junk. Then again, this America and we do love to spend and waste our money.