According to statistics, on average, an ordinary Russian family spends ten thousand on a first grader. Wday.ru knows how to cut costs. Find tips and a list of things to do below.
Only the first child is more expensive than the first time in the first grade. When a baby is born, a neophyte mom is ready to buy everything that is in children’s stores. When a grown-up baby is sent to school, the situation is similar, but by this time the parents have learned to separate the wheat from the chaff, in the sense that they walk with a carefully drawn up list and do not grab everything. All the same, the amount is colossal. But Wday.ru found a way to save money.
My friend Lena sends Galyusha to the first grade. The only daughter, very beloved, my husband and I would have done everything for her sake, but the family is in financial crisis. Lena was left without a job, she cannot find a new one yet, and the mortgage eats up most of her husband’s salary.
– I don’t even know which is better, to delay the payment to the bank and send the child to school with dignity, or to pick up the documents and wait another year. Galyusha will grow up, he will learn the program better, and no one will poke a finger, that she looks worse than others, – Lena reflects.
We decided to look for a way out together. All this will still come in handy for me – but later, when my daughter grows up. First, we made a detailed list of things that a first grader simply cannot do without.
1. School uniform:
Skirt, vest, blouse (for girls). A skirt with a vest can be replaced with a sundress. And also “consumables”: two pairs of tights and socks, bow. For cooler days, you will need a knitted cardigan.
Pants, vest, shirt, socks, bow tie or tie and also a warm cardigan (for boys).
2. Form for physical education lessons:
Ideally, take kits for the street and for the hall separately. But in terms of economy, enough sweatpants and a plain T-shirt.
3. Shoes:
No matter how you twist, you will need two pairs of classic shoes or boots (for boys), if your foot sweats, it is not recommended to wear wet shoes the next day – this is bad for both the child and, in fact, for the shoes, they deform and wear out faster. We also add gym sneakers to the list. It is better to choose a model with Velcro so that the children do not fiddle with the laces.
4. Backpack and change bag:
Of course, replacement shoes can be sent in a beautiful package and not spend extra money, but the child is unlikely to forget the bag with his favorite hero somewhere in the corridor, and it will be much easier to find it. Doctors recommend a backpack only with an orthopedic back, and these cost a cosmic amount.
5. Stationery:
Probably the least expensive item on the list. Unless, of course, you are not going to send your child to school with a parker pen and notebooks in leather covers.
You will need ten squared notebooks each and a narrow ruler with an oblique line, notebook covers, covers for textbooks and cursives (buy them when you receive a set of study guides so as not to be mistaken with the size), a diary, a cover for it, bookmarks (you can do it yourself and absolutely free), pencil case, pens with a blue core 0,5-0,7 mm thick – 5 pieces, five simple pencils with TM marking, a ruler, colored pencils, a sharpener, felt-tip pens, counting sticks, paints – watercolor or gouache, brushes for painting, sippy jar for water, sketchbook, colored paper and cardboard for labor, plasticine, oilcloth on the school desk, scissors, PVA glue.
Tip: it is better to buy a pencil case and a diary later. At the first parent-teacher meeting, you will be told what you need to study. It is not uncommon for schools to provide pupils with their own diaries. And each teacher has his own requirements for the pencil case – someone likes it with a zipper, someone with a magnet, so that they are completely silent.
Lena and I calculated that for the very last item we would need less than half a thousand rubles if we buy all the stationery in large hypermarkets where school bazaars now operate. Ordinary notebooks are sold there at 60 kopecks apiece. A set of pens cost us 15 rubles. Notebook covers – 10 rubles for 5 pieces. Pencils and markers went for 50 rubles for the action. Lena was more tormented by the question of uniforms and shoes with a backpack. It is very difficult to buy all this in a store for a family with a mortgage and one unemployed person, except to take out a loan. But websites selling things from hands come to the rescue. And do not think that there is only what people are too lazy to convey to the trash.
On the popular Avito in our city, we found a school uniform for 50 rubles per subject, although we bought it almost immediately. This proves once again that mom’s good offers are literally on guard, and there is nothing shameful in buying things that someone neatly vilified. Moreover, in the ads you may come across an option with clothes that you bought for future use, but never put on. And also 50 rubles apiece.
So, Galyusha got a school uniform for 200 rubles. To this we add tights and a bow from a fixed-price store. Total – a little less than 300 rubles per outfit.
By the way, you can search for clothes not only on free classifieds sites. Mom’s or sale groups on social networks in your city are also suitable, almost every one of them contains albums with clothes for children. Do not be lazy, take a stroll around the second-hand shops. Even in them there are sales or days of fixed prices, when any thing can be bought, for example, for 50 or 75 rubles. Again – things there are often completely new, with labels.
Now we will look for a worthy backpack for Galyusha. If you are ready to close your eyes to some defects, for example, traces from a ballpoint pen, small abrasions, then you can easily get by with the sum of 100 rubles. There are more expensive options: for 400 rubles, you can find an almost perfect backpack for school.
So, until we crossed the threshold of a thousand rubles, and already bought so many things. We continue our search. Now we will choose the form for physical education lessons. Here you can keep within 150 rubles. For this money, the seller offers a white T-shirt and black sweatpants. In them, the girl just went to lessons in the first grade. The condition is close to perfect.
Spent 1050 rubles. We go for shoes. Of course, ideally still choose new shoes, but the option of a little used is also suitable. And again twenty-five, more precisely 50 rubles. Quite a tolerable version of a well-known brand that has been producing shoes since the last century.
Remember that we need two pairs.
We will not save on sneakers. Let’s take almost new ones for 300. The seller assures that the stylish version with Velcro was worn only once. Judging by the photo, he can be trusted.
Our total is 1450 rubles. Let’s buy a shoe bag for 50 rubles in a fixed-price store, and the school fees for fifteen hundred can be considered complete.
– I will find a job, there will be money, I will buy a new one for Galyusha. In the meantime, we got out, – Lena breathed out.
How do you save? Share your options in the comments.