This year, Stéphanie Schreiber’s son repeats the third. Therefore, to limit the effects of the price increase, he decided to bet on the recovery. “We only buy the bare minimum, meaning ink cartridges, erasers and some notebooks,” he explains. “For the rest, we will reuse things that are not very worn, especially for everything related to folders, kits and bags.”
Because one week before the start of the school year and in a context of high inflation, the faces of parents are not necessarily happy on the shelves of stationery stores and supermarkets: like many other products, a “strong” increase of 4.25% was observed in the cost of school supplies by the national federation Families of France in its 38th annual survey on the cost of returning to sixth grade.
“The context is particular,” explains Émilie, who spent around 150 euros this year on her daughter who will return to sixth grade in Arvillard (Savoy). Before, she was more used to paying about thirty euros. “Food, gasoline, electricity, everything went up. I already feel like we consume differently by force of circumstance, but at some point, you can’t do more than what you already do.”
“Small fixes” to avoid excessive consumption
If the Ministry of National Education has asked schools to “focus on producing reasonable supply lists to limit the financial cost for families”, Stéphanie Schreiber believes that “teachers always ask too much”. “For example, every year they ask us for water, but they never used it…”
“I prefer to wait for my son to ask me in the middle of the year if he is missing something,” continues the mother based in Niort (Deux-Sèvres). She “she avoids unnecessary excessive consumption, and then teaches teenagers to respect their equipment, to take care of it so that it lasts longer.”
Laëtitia Charfi, Atsem in a nursery school in Plessis-Robinson (Hauts-de-Seine), no longer respects the lists to the letter. “When they ask me for a notebook with a black cover and I have some left with a navy blue cover, I am not demanding. I make sure I bring something close to what is asked for, but I adapt, I make small preparations.”
Enjoy many products at bargain prices
To mitigate the note, Laëtitia Charfi has another unstoppable technique: this mother of three children aged 17, 8 and 5 staggers the purchases of basic products throughout the year to spread the expenses. “It’s expensive to have to pay at the last minute, especially when you have several children,” she explains. “When you’re alone with three kids, you have to look for good deals, especially right now.”
A few weeks before the start of the school year, the 43-year-old mom, for example, refreshed her stock of stickers and colored pencil cases by ordering batches on Showroomprivé or Veepee, e-commerce sites that offer discounts on Mark’s products. .
Solidarity sales for good offers
To limit the bill, some parents prefer to use signs of clearance or sale at reduced prices like Action, Lidl, Stockomani, Noz or even Costco. “I think you have to break with the dictatorship of brands if you don’t want to be robbed,” says Maïté Balart, mother of a teenager. Others, like Audrey Dimier, favor second-hand purchases.
The nanny from Bourget-du-Lac (Savoie), for example, found her son’s school bag (who will enter CP) on the second-hand platform Vinted. “She was looking for a very particular model, one that is ergonomic. In the end I found a new one for 30 euros, compared to 80 in stores.
For the rest, this mother of two children attended a solidarity sale of school supplies organized by Emmaüs at the beginning of August. Every summer, throughout France, local branches attract thousands of French with their sales of bargain-priced school supplies, donations and unsold items.
“We are not going to lie to ourselves, it takes a little longer than going to the supermarket because you have to search a bit, but it is worth it. You can find everything, you can make your list at a lower cost and for all levels”, rejoices the 37-year-old mother, who spent 1h30 in the place.
In addition to the back-to-school subsidy (376.98 euros per child from 6 to 10 years old, up to 411.56 euros from 15 to 18 years old), paid in August in resource conditions, some 10.8 million low-income households You will receive from September 15 an exceptional aid of 100 euros, plus 50 euros per dependent child.
Source: BFM TV
