Back to school

Over the last month, children in many countries all over the globe have been returning to school after their summer holidays.

Small children, who are starting nursery school or kindergarten, are excited and a little scared about their formal separation from their parents and care givers. Children a little older are also excited and a little scared about starting first grade. It is hard to tell who is more excited, the children or their parents? As the children grow older, they are less excited and maybe even not so happy to be returning to school after the long holiday. However, the parents are very excited and happy to have their children go back to school and to return to the familiar routine.

The summer holiday is very long, very exhausting and very expensive! Baby sitters, camp, daily activities to occupy the kids' time (anything to reduce the hours spent in front of the television and computer) and in many cases a family vacation. The summer holiday is a big burden on the family budget and it seems as though the never ending expenses get bigger from year to year. The end of the summer and the return to school is also associated with rather large expenses; new school bags, books, supplies, new clothes and shoes. And the list goes on and on and on!!

Surely, whoever does not plan for all these expenses can find themselves in a financial nightmare! So how can you plan?

We recommend that you identify and tally all the "special" expenses that you had during the summer holiday and for getting the kids ready for the new school year. In as much as every year we are surprised by these expenses, they are generally the same expenses from year to year with minor adjustment that can be calculated ahead of time. Once you have the total value of all these "special" expenses, divide the total by 10 to give you amount of money you need to put away every month for the next 10 months to be able to finance next summers expenses. This becomes a new category in your monthly budget! Next year, and the years after, divide the total by 12 and start putting the money away already in July.

We wish you a successful and enjoyable school year!

Share with us your tips for saving during the summer vacation and back to school season.

Neomi