Keep Back-to-School Shopping Costs Down

"You might not need as much as you think you do," says Vercelletto. "Just because a friend has that pricey backpack doesn't mean yours isn't still perfectly good from last year."

If you do decide to purchase a new pack, however, be mindful of the weight it can add to your child's back, which pediatricians say can be as much as 40 percent of his or her bodyweight. The American Academy of Pediatrics has guidelines you can use—such as wide, padded shoulder straps and a padded back—to ensure a safe fit.

Experts agree that because environmentally friendly living is becoming a popular trend, it might be easier than it used to be to teach trend-savvy kids that reusing an item is cooler than purchasing a new one. Your recycling efforts might still be met with some resistance from your child, says Jackson, but in cases where you really don't need something, you should stick to your guns and reuse it. Also consider garage sales and thrift stores as a source of secondhand items of good quality.

If you have more than one child going back to school, Sullivan recommends consolidating duplicate items on their supply lists. For example, every teacher's list might have a calculator on it, "but if I have four kids, do we really need four calculators? Probably not," he says.

In a new national poll commissioned by GreatSchools and survey firm Harris Interactive, 57 percent of families said they plan to reuse old supplies this school year.

Organize a clothing swap. Instead of tossing those too-small tees or jeans and hitting the mall, have your kids gather their friends—if they're of varying ages, even better—to bring unwanted or unused clothing to a meeting place. Everyone can then "shop" for a new (and free) wardrobe, and it's a good way to declutter a closet and enjoy guilt-free shopping. Says GreatSchools' Jackson, "The fun of hosting a gathering where kids can participate and exchange items is great."

But if your child is still dying for that one expensive name-brand cardigan or pair of sneakers, maybe it's OK to splurge just once, says Jackson. You can say to them, "What's the one thing, son or daughter, that you'd really like to make special?" And then you can agree to work together to keep the price down on everything else. Parenting magazine 's Vercelletto stresses, however, that it's very easy to get sucked into buying things that aren't on your list. If you really want to save money and teach them that less is more, she says, you must emphasize, "It's not on the list, we're sticking to the list, and this is how we do it in our family!"

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