Your child’s education is the foundation of their future and the most important thing you can invest your money in. But schooling doesn’t come cheap, as we all know. During this difficult financial time, it helps to carefully plan your school budget so that your child will have everything they need to be successful throughout the school year.
Some budgets are straight forward and they include the basics like stationary and uniforms and the school fees for the year, while others are a little bit more complex and require the inclusion of hostel fees and the fees related to after-school activities. With the extraordinary costs of education these days, not having a budget can cause headaches, and to help you give your child the best experience, and to protect them from financial worries, we have a couple of handy budgeting tips that you can use, no matter how much your child’s schooling will cost.
Every budget is going to look different because every child is going to have different needs and every school is going to have its own expenses. So our list of tips is just a general one that you can use to guide the budget planning process.
- School Fees
These are the most important and without a doubt the biggest expense of them all. School fees consist of the fees relating to attending school, and there can be extras like some stationary and even meals, but this will change from one school to the next.
School fees should always be factored into a budget first.
- School Uniform
Uniforms don’t come cheap because each school has their own unique outfit. Uniforms can consist of the basic attire like shoes, dress, shirt and trousers, and they can also include add-ons like blazers, jerseys, and sports kits.
Along with the school fees, you should plan to buy the uniforms first, if your child needs an upgrade or if they are attending a new school. To save on these costs, look for a second hand uniform.
- Stationary
The price of stationary is only increasing and there are very few schools that will include stationary as a part of the school fee package. Even the standard stationary pack that is provided to public schools, doesn’t include much of what a child will actually need.
Stationary should be the second thing you include on your list and to save on costs, buy throughout the year so that at the start of the new school term, your child will have what they need.
- Transport
If you are unable to drive your child to and from school every day, you will need to enroll them in a hostel, which is going to cost almost as much as school fees, depending on where your child is attending school.
Transport or alternatively accommodation, should be up there with the school fees budgeting.
- After School Activities
Extracurricular activities might be free but the things the child might need to do the activities will cost money. One way to save would be to look for second hand items.
You can leave this one for last on your budget list.