Hidden Costs of Heading Back to School
Published on May 6, 2025
•3 min read
Beyond the school supplies, back-to-school time can bring additional financial challenges. New clothes, activity fees, sports equipment, transportation costs, and more, multiplied by how many kids you have, can add up quickly.
With a little planning, there’s a way to organize and get ahead of these expenses for this year, and future school years to come.
Preparing for the unexpected
Establishing a designated ‘school savings’ or ‘back-to-school fund’ can help your family get ahead of those unexpected school expenses that may pop up.
What do those expenses look like?
- Lunch money
- Field trips
- Materials for class projects
- Specialty supplies like graphing calculators
- After school club fees
- Athletic fees
- Worn out, broken, or lost sports equipment
- AP test fees
- New clothes because the kids can’t stop growing…
The list could go on and on, and a list is a great way to start! Map out what you know or can anticipate happening throughout the year. A rough estimate of what they will cost and when those costs will occur can help you establish a savings plan so that no fee or charge is ever a surprise.
The best way to prepare this savings plan is with a Membership Savings account. Whether it is under your name or your child’s, putting that $5 or $10 dollars away every week into that Membership Savings account can prepare you for that unexpected cost, whether you planned for it or not.
Inside the Metro iBanking app, you can also use the budgeting tool to help you draw up the school year budget plan and keep track of your progress.
Let the kids earn for extra
Whether it is school related or a fun activity with friends, giving your kids a chance to earn the extras could be motivation for them to work hard and have a great year at school.
Keeping a chore chart, or reward system for good grades, lets your kids save for those wants. A dollar for each good grade, $3 for a completed chore, or $10 for making honor roll is something that they can use for a night out with their buddies, a shopping spree, catching a movie, or a new outfit to a school dance—with the satisfaction of knowing they earned it.
Membership Savings for the younger ones, and a Metro Checking for the teenagers are great accounts to keep these earnings in. Using Metro iBanking, the kids can watch their accounts grow and see their progress every time they check off another chore or accomplish a big goal.
Get ready for next year
If you’re starting a back-to-school fund or savings plan for this year, you should also try to get ahead of next year as well. The more time, attention, and contribution you can put into the system now, the easier it will be to maintain as the years go on.
What can getting ahead look like? It might mean doing some research on what experiences or school activities your children might participate in next year and drafting a similar list of estimated expenses. Or, you could just add a few more dollars to the savings goal for this year so that you start next year with a surplus.
Whatever route you take, setting yourself up now for the next year will make budgeting for all the school extras easier.
Don’t forget to include the traditional expenses in that back-to school budget for next year, too! Work off the amount spent on school supplies this time around and add that in so you don’t have to worry about it later.
Ready to get moving on your back-to-school plan? Check our Savings plans or talk to an agent in minutes inside our Digital Branch to learn more about what account will help you reach your goals.
