Back to class for a life lesson

Back-to-school time can be expensive if you let your children dictate what they should have because "everyone else is having it".
When my children were younger I can still remember the pressures I felt when they would say, "but Mum, the teacher says" or "but Mum, my friend has a really cool bag ..."
I remember my son insisting he had to have his exercise books covered in what was the most expensive option for covering books at the time. It cost more than the exercise book itself.
We sat down together and worked out the cost between different alternatives such as brown paper, cutting out a picture from a magazine and putting it on the front, and the roll of adhesive he wanted. During this time he would call me names such as a cheapskate ... said in the hope I would change my mind.
In the end a compromise was made by thinking outside the square. I suggested we just put the trendy adhesive on the front of the book, which halved the cost. He was happy he had a cool cover and I was happy because I achieved staying within the amount I had allocated for new school stationery.
Going back to school can be a good time to teach some skills about sticking to the budget. It can also be a great time to teach some real maths of how to work out what something costs - sometimes a cheaper price on a roll of book covering paper doesn't always work out cheaper in the end.
If a 1m roll costs $2 and a 4m roll costs $3 (which becomes 75c a metre) which is the better buy? On the surface the $3 roll is a better buy.
However, something else to watch out for is that if a 1m roll at $2 will cover all the books you need to cover, then why spend more than you actually need?
You can go broke by continuously buying things to save money such as buy-two-and-get-one-free deals. If you only needed one in the first place then you are not saving money as you are spending more than you intended to.
On the other hand, the $3 roll would be a much better buy if you knew that more books needed to be covered in the very near future. Use this back-to-school time as an opportunity to involve your children in finding out the most economical way to set them up for school.
Sylvia Bowden is the author of the book Parents: How to Stop Your Kids From Going Broke!, written to help parents teach their children money and life skills. Her book is available from her website www.silbo.co.nz and some Paper Plus stores.