Going back to school.

Quality

Right DD is going into 4th class this year.

Went up to get her books today

€137!!! & they hadnt 2 of her books in stock.

This did not include her copies or pens... School bag... etc

I will also have to fork out another €90 on logo'd tracksuits.

Buy her new shoes and runners, A new school coat.

Blue air text shirts. School shirts, a cardigan and a skirt. (Some of last years will still fit her.)

Then there is the insurance fees and milk money.

So after calculating it all It is working out at about €400-€500 to get her sorted...

And thats for only one...

Anyone else want to rant??? I would be interested to here from secondary school parents!!

Kildrought

Ha! Wait till you get to second level! :eek:

If its any consolation, on a cost per wear basis (183 days per year) the school uniform is generally not bad value; she would have needed a coat, shoes and runners anyway.

You don't have to take the accident insurance - I never bothered with it and had 12 years worth of primary school between the two of them.

For school books - try some of the online stores - www.schoolbooks.ie is the one I've mainly used, there's also www.schoolbooksonline.ie (suspect they may be one and the same company?). They offer a covering service also which is very handy esp. for secondary school. EDIT: no affilation with either company - just a satisfied customer!

Its also worth talking to your parents association and see if you can get a book rental scheme going.

The supermarkets are good value for the copies and stationery; a hint - buy extra packs now and put them at the back of the cupboard for January when everything invariably seems to be lost after the holidays!

Nevyn

I have one going into 3rd class and one goind into 5th and the school wanted the book money beofre the end of june, the books are bought at a bulk discount and between the books, admin fees, artsupply fees and insurance we had over about 370euros with less then 3 weeks notice.
The uniforms and track suits ect still have to be bought.

My twins are going into 5th class so 2 of every thing had to be bought. All books/copies/biros etc from www.schoolbooks.ie amounted to E250. The eldest fella is just starting secondary, got all his books and pieces from same site - E336. Thats outside of uniforms, etc etc.

Loopy

Well thanks to this thread I have just bought all my books for my little girl who is going into 2nd class on www.schoolbooks.ie at a cost of €140- And how lazy is this, I paid €1.10 per book for them to cover..

Add to that new uniform and tracksuit and her copies etc and it will come to well over €200-

Not looking forward to my other little one starting school - It will be a credit union loan every year I reckon:eek:

Although, having read other's expenses on this thread, I'm not doing too bad...

Nevyn

A lot of schools do a savings scheme during the year and if you avail of that it can help.

kelle

So much for "free education"....

Like Kildrought said, talk to the PTA about organising a book rental scheme, maybe offer to run it yourself (you'll need to haul in some troops of course because there is a lot of work in it). Our book rental scheme just costs us e50 per year, so there is substantial savings to be made - if you can be sure you're going to get the help and support that is.

littlebug

Insurance fees Enlighten me!

There's a great little shop in Galway where you can get all the books and can either new or second hand. Obviously the workbooks had to be new but I the books second hand and they were all really good qaulity. I can't remember exactly how much but think I spent about €60 in total rather than €80 if they'd all been new. This was for junior infants and included all the copies, pencils etc as well.

marti101

I have 2 in secondary in 2 different schools.One is all money,money,money and the other they have free breakfasts and ds got brought out for a week clara lara and glendalough.Ds2 only missed out the other school by 1 day but its good hes going to a different school.