School supplies spark disputes

Sunday, August 20, 2006 Having kids spend their own money on extras teaches budgeting. By EILEEN ALT POWELL ASSOCIATED PRESS BUSINESS WRITER NEW YORK — As the back-to-school shopping season returns, so does the annual tug of war between kids who want the trendiest clothes and parents who need to hold to a budget. But there are ways that parents can keep the stress to a minimum and teach some valuable money lessons to their children at the same time. Parents like Leah Ingram of New Hope, Pa., have found it helps to involve their kids in back-to-school shopping decisions. Armed with their school's list of recommended supplies, Ingram and her daughters, 9-year-old Annie and 11-year-old Jane, recently took advantage of a penny sale at a local office supply store. Ingram paid for the basics such as pencils, folders and notebooks. But if the girls wanted something fancier, "they could spend their own allowance money," she added. The girls did just that, with Annie choosing a special pencil box and Jane selecting animal-shaped erasers for her pencils, said Ingram, who works as an etiquette and protocol consultant. Back-to-school budgeting has become more important as prices have risen. A survey by the National Retail Federation found the average family expects to spend $527 on back-to-school items this year, up 18 percent from $444 last year. Of that, teenagers are spending an average of nearly $29 of their own money, and preteens are investing about $13, the study by the Washington, D.C.-based trade group said. June Walbert, a certified financial planner with USAA in San Antonio, said parents should work with their children to set priorities. "Turn back-to-school shopping into a family event, just like planning the family vacation," she said. "Families don't just pick up and go on a vacation, they plan." Deciding what to buy, where to buy it and who will pay for it teaches the importance of budgeting and helps avoid overspending, she said. "It also can cut down significantly on arguments at the mall if you've decided in advance what you're shopping for," Walbert said. Larry Kutner, a psychologist who worked with USAA on a recent survey of teenagers' attitudes toward money, said the results showed that financial education doesn't always come from conversations. "Teens watch their parents' behavior closely," Kutner said. "If the parents say 'You should save,' then go to the mall and spend, spend, spend, that's the message that gets across."