School year 2023: what to consider before buying supplies?

The 2023 school year will start in just over a month, which means new Communal expenses.

With five out of 10 Peruvians struggling to make ends meet due to the high cost of living, according to a recent Datum Internacional survey, what should families consider when shopping for school supplies?

teacher and expert finance Jorge Carrillo of Pacífico Business School explains that there are five main tips to keep in mind:

1. Make a list

Before you start spending, make a list of the payments you need to make as part of this school campaign, in order of importance and urgency.

“For example, pensions, school books and uniforms should be at the top of the list, so that at the end we can leave some things that we could reuse from previous years, such as a backpack, a lunch box or some supplies,” says Carrillo.

This will allow you to have an idea of ​​what you will be canceling first and not risk wasting money least relevant.

2. Respect the Purpose of Money

If you applied for a loan to cover school expenses, do not use it for other purposes, as you may not have enough money and some expenses may remain unpaid.

If you saved to cover these school expensesdo not use this money for other, less priority expenses.

3. Search in advance

Some expenses, such as tuition and pensions, cannot be reduced because they are already set by the school, so you should evaluate other expenses that you can save on.

Look for the best alternatives for the price of a uniform and school supplies.

“As long as you have enough money, the savings on these purchases will always be the best so that the money reaches us and, if possible, we have more than enough,” says the specialist.

4. Buy in bulk

Opportunity to save money on checkout school shopping is to arrange together with other parents to buy in bulk.

By making school purchases together, it was possible to get discounts when buying several units of the same product, that is, in bulk.

“For example, a group of parents may be responsible for purchasing a uniform, another group books and another group of school supplies, he says.

5. Don’t buy more

Don’t buy more than you need because sometimes school shopping ends up buying unnecessary items or extras, such as an extra polo shirt, another “just in case” notebook, another book, etc.