{"id":614207,"date":"2026-07-31T22:50:37","date_gmt":"2026-07-31T22:50:37","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/614207\/"},"modified":"2026-07-31T22:50:37","modified_gmt":"2026-07-31T22:50:37","slug":"7-thrifty-ways-to-save-on-back-to-school-costs-the-irish-news","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/614207\/","title":{"rendered":"7 thrifty ways to save on back-to-school costs \u2013 The Irish News"},"content":{"rendered":"

As one school year ends, for many another looms on the horizon, bringing with it costs that can soon mount up.<\/p>\n

From school uniform to stationery and tech, parents face huge demand to make sure children have everything they need for a new term. But at what cost?<\/p>\n

According to the latest research<\/a> from the Child Poverty Action Group and Loughborough University\u2019s Centre for Research in Social Policy (CRSP), the minimum cost of education, which includes food, uniform, learning materials, meals and transport, is over \u00a31,000 a year for a UK primary-school child and a minimum of \u00a32,300 a year for a secondary-school pupil.<\/p>\n

While the new Children\u2019s Wellbeing and Schools Act 2026 does strive to help with costs relating to school meals and a cap on compulsory branded uniform requirements from schools, the limit is three items or four if a tie is needed. Parents are still having to find on average more than \u00a3300 on a back-to-school shop, according to research<\/a> from Nationwide.<\/p>\n

\"Team<\/a>\"\"(Alamy Stock Photo) <\/p>\n

Ahead of the upcoming school term, we spoke to Clare Seal<\/a>, financial coach and author, who has shared seven simple tips on help you to save some much-needed cash on this year\u2019s school supplies\u2026<\/p>\n

1. Shop secondhand<\/b><\/p>\n

Whether it\u2019s through social media groups, secondhand sales or marketplaces, buying secondhand can offer some of the biggest savings.<\/p>\n

\u201cMake sure you are part of your local Facebook groups, school groups or WhatsApp communities as people are often giving away uniforms or are selling them really cheaply on these platforms. A lot of schools do secondhand uniform sales as well,\u201d says Seal, noting that they can be especially good for more costly branded uniforms.<\/p>\n

She adds that clothing marketplaces like Vinted can be good for finding secondhand items that are new or have been barely worn, especially shoes.<\/p>\n

\"\"(Alamy Stock Photo) <\/p>\n

\u201cSchool shoes in particular are so expensive and children\u2019s feet grow really quickly, so you\u2019ll often find some that have barely been worn and are much cheaper than buying them new,\u201d says the financial coach.<\/p>\n

However, if you do want to buy them new, Seal suggests buying shoes from a shop that has built its reputation on selling shoes rather buying cheap.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt sounds really silly, but get your child\u2019s feet measured. Don\u2019t try and guess,\u201d advises Seal. \u201cIf you buy them secondhand and they don\u2019t fit, you can\u2019t return them.\u201d<\/p>\n

2. Wait for supermarket deals<\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"(Alamy Stock Photo) <\/p>\n

Most of the big UK supermarket chains sell non-branded uniforms in relevant colours, along with shoes, socks and accessories.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first half of the summer holidays is a really good time to be looking at getting your uniform because it\u2019s when most of the shops and supermarkets have deals on,\u201d says Seal.<\/p>\n

Deals range from percentages to multi-buy offers and are often listed on money saving blogs and sites, such as Money Saving Central or Money Saving Expert, she adds.<\/p>\n

3. Use cashback<\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"(Alamy Stock Photo) <\/p>\n

\u201cA big opportunity that a lot of people miss out on across the board for all school supplies is using cashback. TopCashback tends to have the most retailers and the best rates,\u201d says Seal.<\/p>\n

\u201cDownload the app, sign up, and instead of going straight to the website to make your online purchase, type the retailer into the app and shop via the link as normal.\u201d<\/p>\n

It will track the cashback in your account and then once the returns period has passed that becomes payable, she explains.<\/p>\n

\u201cFor example, if you\u2019re ordering \u00a3100 worth of stuff and the shop has got a 5% cashback offer, you\u2019ll get the cash back,\u201d says Seal.<\/p>\n

Furthermore, she explains that you can also use the cashback offers in stores by purchasing a gift card from the cashback provider and spending it in store, with the cashback returning to your account.<\/p>\n

Seal adds that another handy tip is to keep an eye out for promotions that offer higher cashback rates for a set time.<\/p>\n

4. Buy for longevity<\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"(Alamy Stock Photo) <\/p>\n

\u201cFor things like backpacks and lunch boxes, sites like Vinted are your best friend,\u201d says Seal. \u201cPeople often sell duplicates or products from brands like Smiggle which tend to be quite expensive to buy brand new.\u201d<\/p>\n

The financial coach says that\u00a0it\u2019s much better to buy something from a trusted brand secondhand than it is to buy something new that\u2019s cheap and will fall apart.<\/p>\n

\u201cYour child might end up having the same school bag for years. It\u2019s not something that they\u2019re going to grow out of, or that you\u2019ll have to replace every year. So, with items like that, choose things for longevity,\u201d advises Seal.<\/p>\n

5. Add name tags<\/b><\/p>\n

\u201cWhen things go missing, you obviously then have to pay to replace them, so make sure that uniform, as well as lunchboxes, water bottles, pencil cases and\u00a0 have a name label on them,\u201d\u00a0recommends Seal.<\/p>\n

You don\u2019t need to spend money on fancy labels either.<\/p>\n

\u201cMost uniforms these days have a space on the label that you can just write on using a biro or a permanent marker,\u201d she adds.<\/p>\n

6. Simplify stationery<\/b><\/p>\n

\"\"(Alamy Stock Photo) <\/p>\n

\u201cCheck how much your child cares about a new pencil case or bag before you start buying them. As long as it is smart and is fit for purpose, if the child doesn\u2019t care, then you shouldn\u2019t care,\u201d says Seal.<\/p>\n

She adds that every school should have a handbook with a list of supplies that the children need each term, including stationery, scientific calculators and rulers.<\/p>\n

\u201cMake sure that you read that list and just buy the stuff that\u2019s on it,\u201d recommends Seal.<\/p>\n

This will prevent you from buy the wrong calculator, for example, and then having to replace it, she explains.<\/p>\n

7. Invest in refurbished tech<\/b><\/p>\n

Depending on your personal circumstances and if you want your children to have a mobile phone, Seal recommends looking at what you already have first.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe first port of call is to check if you have any old tech that would suit, like an old iPhone that\u2019s still in really good condition. You can then just get a SIM-only contract,\u201d advises Seal.<\/p>\n

In terms of computers, it varies from school to school what is required.<\/p>\n

\u201cSome schools will recommend that children should have their own laptop. They will have access to computers at school, but having a laptop can makes it easier for homework,\u201d says Seal<\/p>\n

\u201cFor items like laptops or tablets, using a vetted refurbished site like Back Market is better for the environment and much cheaper. This way you will also know it\u2019s been through loads of checks.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"As one school year ends, for many another looms on the horizon, bringing with it costs that can…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":614208,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[174],"tags":[12003,79,179,18,1652,1729,259150,19,17,825,234,13267,259151,1294],"class_list":["post-614207","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-economy","tag-back-to-school","tag-business","tag-economy","tag-eire","tag-family","tag-finance","tag-finance-lifestyle","tag-ie","tag-ireland","tag-money","tag-personal-finance","tag-school","tag-school-shopping","tag-uk"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@ie\/117017040666738333","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614207","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=614207"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/614207\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/614208"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=614207"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=614207"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/ie\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=614207"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}