The beginning of the school year brings, as every year, emotions … and considerable invoices. Books, uniforms, sports equipment and supplies-all gather quickly, turning the family budget into a real challenge. With careful planning and smart strategies, parents can significantly reduce the expenses for back to school.
4 Simple strategies help you save on back to school shop Photo Alina Mitran
In Spain, a student cost last year, on average, 2,588 euros, an amount that included taxes, lunch, extracurricular activities, transport and supplies. In Romania, the burden is nothing less – the parents warn again that they will have “Expenses that unbalance the budget” And they are afraid that the amount will be even higher in the school year 2025-2026.
The figures confirm the tendency: According to an analysis “Truth”the average value of the Back to School basket this year reached 2,500 lei per child, very close to the global average of $ 570. The increase of 5–10% compared to last year did not come from impulsive acquisitions, but from more careful selections and, in some cases, investments in quality or technology products.
At first glance, the difference between Romania and Spain seems huge, but the explanation is simple: the global average and the expenses in Romania only concern the beginning of the school year, with the strictly necessary – notebooks, uniforms -, while in Spain all the costs of the school year are included, from taxes and lunch, to transport and activities.
Good news? There are simple and intelligent solutions to save considerable amounts without making quality compromises. Manuel Zabala, co -founder of the CholMotro discount platform, acknowledges: “You can save more than half of the school budget If you apply well -planned shopping strategies ”.
You are going to discover the tricks in Spain that can help you start the smart school year, without emptying your pocket.
1. Plan your Back to School shopping for guaranteed savings
The first step: Make a list exactly what the school requires and sets a maximum budget. Start “Hunt” armed with a clear list and budget. Avoid impulsive acquisitions – economies begin with planning. Without a plan, the money flies quickly.
Parents in Romania confirm this aspect: “The list helps us from the teacher, otherwise we would buy either what you do not need, or as much as we do not know how to buy certain things.”. Others have divided shopping throughout the summer, a little every month, just to avoid a financial shock.
The trend is visible and globally: only 18% of consumers make impulse shopping, while over half they document their decisions before paying. In Romania, the economies obtained by planning can mean even more than 10% of the budget, for some, for others more or less.
2. Invest in sustainable supplies and backpacks: You save in the long term
Ergonomic backpacks, resistant footwear, durable supplies – all cost a little longer, but keep all year. Premature replacements? Avoided. Plastic cover notebooks, anti-pope t-shirts, quality pens-all turn into money saved.
And the Romanians agree with the saving tactics used by the Spaniards: “What may seem like an expense is, in fact, a wise decision ”. The analysis of expenses for the beginning of the school year in Romania shows that parents with average and high incomes prefer to invest selectively, which leads to a decrease in their total budgets (-7%, respectively -9%). In contrast, low -income families end up spending more (+10%) just to keep up with the higher prices.
3. Take advantage of promotions and packages for discounts at the beginning of school
The Spaniards also recommend: “Buy the second article at discount”, “Minimum purchase” or take advantage of the packages of supplies – true secret weapons of saving.
Packages of notebooks, pens or markers are often cheaper than individual purchase. With a little strategy, these tactics can bring more than 50% discounts to important products and can be successfully applied by parents in Romania, who have found that supermarkets are more advantageous than stationery, and online offers them the freedom to compare prices and find offers. More and more and pays in rates or solutions of buy Now Pay Later, which allow them to divide the costs over several months.
4. Centralizes Back to School shopping and saves time and money
Orders from a single store can bring free delivery and/or additional discounts-time earned and money saved, as mentioned by the Cholomometro Discount Platform.
This strategy is also applied by some of the parents in Romania. Others admit: “The penna change him annually to the little one, more for his joy, but the backpacks are the same for two years and are impeccable”, says a parent. However, there are parents who organize their shopping directly on the classroom or Facebook groups of the class, where they are discussed about prices, shops and even purchases “In common” for greater discounts.
Here are some concrete examples of savings made by parents in Spain who apply these strategies, discounts that are most likely more consistent than those available in Romania:
- School supplies: up to 56% discount.
- Ghenozdane: up to 52% discount.
- Clothing and footwear: up to 45% discount.
Back to School in Romania: Conclusions on saving strategies for the beginning of the school year
Back to School in Romania comes with financial challenges similar to those in Spain: parents juggle salaries that do not keep up with prices and an average budget of 2,500 lei per child. The key to real savings remains the same: information and discipline.
“Saving is not lucky, but habit. It is not about buying less, but to buy better and to know that the money invested in the education of your children is valued to the maximum”explains Manuel Zabala, from Cholometro.
In Romania, until we get there, each family must build their own financial survival manual at the beginning of the school year. Or, as a Romanian parent synthesizes with bitterness: “Free education means transmitting to school only measures for uniform and equipment.”
