To budget for back-to-school shopping, decide on one number for the whole season, divide it by the months left until you shop, and set that amount aside each month. Then shop from a list, check what you spend against the number as you go, and keep a little back for the costs that show up after the first day of school.
August is the obvious time to think about this, but it's the worst time to start. Below is how much families actually plan to spend, how to build your own number, and how to spread it out so the supply run isn't a surprise.
How much do families spend on back-to-school shopping?
In the National Retail Federation's 2026 back-to-school survey, families with students in elementary through high school planned to spend an average of $863.86, up slightly from $858.07 in 2025. Families shopping for college planned to spend an average of $1,437.79.
Here's where the K-12 money was expected to go:
| Category | Average planned spend (K-12) |
|---|---|
| Electronics | $293.11 |
| Clothing and accessories | $250.29 |
| Shoes | $174.01 |
| School supplies | $146.45 |
| Total | $863.86 |
Two things stand out. Supplies were the smallest line. And electronics plus clothes made up more than half of the total. So the biggest lever on your budget usually isn't the pencils. It's whether this is a new-laptop year or a new-shoes year.
Treat these as a benchmark, not a target. They're averages, and your list will look different.
When should you start budgeting for back-to-school?
Earlier than you'd think, because a lot of the shopping starts before August. NRF found that 62% of shoppers had already started by early July, and 54% said they shopped the big June sales events.
If you start setting money aside in the fall, the cost lands in small pieces instead of one paycheck. It's the same idea as a sinking fund: a known future cost, saved for a bit at a time. Our guide to sinking funds goes deeper on setting one up.
Step 1: Build your number from last year
Start with what you actually spent, not with a guess:
- Look back at last year. Pull the receipts or card statements from July through September and add up everything that was for school.
- Mark this year's big-ticket items. A new device, a growth spurt that means all-new shoes, a sport with its own gear. These are what move the total.
- Get the school list. If your school or teacher shares a supply list, start from it and cross off anything you already have at home.
- Add the after-the-first-day costs. Field trips, picture day, a club fee, the replacement calculator. Put a modest amount on top for these.
That's your number for the season.
Step 2: Divide it by the months you have left
Here's a made-up example. Say your number is $900 for one child, and you start in November. That leaves nine months (November through July) before the August shopping trip.
$900 ÷ 9 months = $100 a month.
If you start in March instead, it's five months and $180 a month. The later you start, the bigger each piece gets, which is the whole case for starting now.
Treat that $100 like a bill that's due every month, and move it somewhere you won't spend it. If the full number won't fit, that's useful to know in November rather than August. Trim the list, plan to reuse last year's backpack, or decide which items can wait until a sale.
Step 3: Shop from the list, not the aisle
The NYC Department of Consumer and Worker Protection's back-to-school tips include the basics: make a list and a budget, compare prices, and ask for a receipt and keep it. A few things help them stick:
- Split needs from wants. NRF found 47% of shoppers planned to buy only the essentials needed for the start of the year. Everything else can wait for a sale or the second month of school.
- Wait for deals on what isn't urgent. Among NRF survey shoppers who hadn't yet bought at least half of their items, 46% said they were waiting for the best deals.
- Keep the receipts. You'll need them for anything that goes back, and a receipt is also how you know where the money went.
- Be careful with buy now, pay later. The DCWP notes that with these short-term installment loans, "it can be easy to spend more than you intend." Four small payments still count against the same budget.
Do sales tax holidays actually help?
They can, if your state has one and you plan around it. In Texas, for example, the Comptroller's sales tax holiday covers most clothing and footwear, student backpacks and a specific list of school supplies sold for less than $100, and the limit applies to each item, not the total. Texas's next one is set for Aug. 6–8, 2027.
Other states set their own rules, if they hold one at all, so check your state's revenue department before you plan a trip around it. And a tax holiday only saves money on things already on your list.
How to track back-to-school spending
The number only works if you can see it while you shop. Give back-to-school its own category so it doesn't blend into everyday groceries and clothes, then log each purchase as it happens.
If you have more than one child, a line per child (or per category like clothes and supplies) shows you which one is running over before the money is gone. For other once-a-year costs like this, see how to budget for irregular expenses.
How to do this in SimplifyPocket
SimplifyPocket doesn't connect to your bank. You add what you spend yourself, which suits a shopping trip where you want to see each purchase as it happens.
- Add a School category with a budget. Budgets reset each month (on the 1st or on a day you pick, like payday), so set it for what you plan to spend in the month you shop, and the app shows how much is left as you go.
- Schedule the big buys. If you know the laptop is coming in August, add it as a one-off scheduled expense on that date, so Left to spend already counts it in that cycle.
- Scan the receipt at the register. Take a photo of the receipt and it becomes a transaction you check before saving.
- Or just say it. Tap the mic and say something like "forty-two dollars school shoes," then check the details and save.
- Watch your pace. Once your income is in, a badge on the dashboard tells you if you're spending faster than an even pace through the cycle.
See everything the app does on the features page.
Try it free
SimplifyPocket is on iPhone and Android. Give back-to-school its own budget, scan or say each purchase, and you'll know what's left before you reach the checkout. No bank login needed. Try it free for 3 days, then $2.99/month or $14.99/year.