The Colorado dad keeping back-to-school shopping costs under $600 with coupons, reward apps and hand-me-downs

Yahoo’s latest Bank of Mom and Dad back-to-school receipt rundown comes from a Colorado dad — a high school teacher, no less — who knows how to sniff out a good deal. “I do the grocery shopping each week and generally see when the school supply sales happen,” he tells guest editor Lindsey Stanberry of The Purse. He’s also using coupons and receipt reward apps (like Fetch, Receipt Hog, Receipt Pal and Ibotta) to bring costs down. Another win: A public school that offers student clubs for less than $10. Read on to see how he keeps his school costs under $600.

I'm a high school teacher. My wife, daughter and I have a happy life in our sunny college town. I love that I get a lovely 5-mile ride to work every school day. My wife enjoys being her own boss and working from home. My daughter is getting into her groove at school. We live comfortably on our earnings, mostly due to the luck of buying a house 12 years ago when things were more affordable in our city with lower interest rates. And we have always managed to be a one-car family. School supplies were manageable since some of our biggest expenses haven't changed much, and we’re not feeling the pain of general inflation that many families do.

Age: 45

Location: Fort Collins, Colo.

About my kid: We have a 10-year-old daughter who is in the fifth grade.

Type of school: She attends a public school that’s two blocks from our home.

Family income range: About $115,000 combined family income

Back-to-school receipts

Where do you do your back-to-school shopping? We shopped at a combination of places. I bought most school supplies at King Soopers. My wife and daughter bought a new backpack and lunch box at Kohl’s. They also got supplies at Staples, and we bought headphones from Amazon.

• Backpack: $37

• Lunch box: $20

• Headphones: $27

• Printer paper: $15

• Clothing: $200. This includes some new tops and other clothing items purchased over the last few months. We are very lucky here to have a friend who has given us hand-me-downs for the last eight years. Only recently has our daughter asked to shop more for her own style.

• Colored pencils: $2

• Folders: $1

• Notebooks: $2

• Dry-erase marker kit: $10

• Kleenex: $3

• Pencils: $4

• Markers: $2

• Watercolors: $2

• Glue: $1

• Ziploc bags: $2

Total: $328

• Art club: $8 for a semester (our school offers many cheap clubs)

• Fifth-grade Eco Week: $165

• Piano learning app: $90/year

Total: $263

Total back-to-school spend: $591

Tell us more

How do you approach back-to-school shopping? Do you set a budget?

Spending more on clothes for our daughter is new to us since she always wore hand-me-downs in the past. We talked about what we thought things would cost and tried to be strategic with some bigger items, like looking for jackets and shoes at places like Sierra Trading Post or Nordstrom Rack before going to more expensive stores.

I buy the requested school supplies based on the teacher list when I see what looks like a good sale. Most items are $1 or $2, which seems reasonable. We also try to buy extra items the teachers ask for and subtract that from what is normally our monthly donation budget.

How does your kid feel about back-to-school shopping? What is she asking for this year?

My kid got most of her newer clothes last spring. She was excited to have more choice this year with her outfits. She also wanted a new lunch box; her old one was still from first grade. She also needed a new backpack. She had one from last year that was already falling apart after a few months. We tried to get a slightly better quality one this time, hoping it will last a bit longer. She was happy to pick this out too.

How do you manage your kid's back-to-school shopping expectations?

We try to be realistic with what our child actually needs and buy things when it comes up. We have never really done a back-to-school clothes shopping spree like I remember growing up with in the ’90s. My child is reasonable with her shopping and seems to recognize when something seems expensive. We give her a small work payment each week that she can spend when she wants, so she has had a few years of small purchase practice to help her understand this spending process.

What is the biggest stressor of back-to-school shopping?

I personally don't like the extra time it takes to get the school supplies. If there were a way for teachers to collect the money at the end of the previous school year and purchase supplies in bulk, I feel like everything would be cheaper, more efficient and uniform for the kids’ class experience. Win-win. Plus, I think everyone could chip in a little extra that way and cover kids who can’t easily afford supplies.

Have you ever regretted a back-to-school purchase?

I regret the cheap Target backpack from last year that fell apart. I regret the wireless mouse we bought last year that came home without the computer USB plug part. This year we bought our child a wired mouse.

How does your back-to-school shopping experience compare to what you grew up with?

I feel like the school supply process is similar, but there’s more choice now. Our current school has a very specific list that we stick to. I also don't bring my child to get school supplies. However, when I was a kid, I loved picking out commercial folders and notebooks covered with athletes or cartoon characters. I don't really see those types of items where I shop today.

As a family, we also don’t really support excessive consumption. Sometimes my wife will ask friends for things like boots or jackets before going shopping. We anticipate more expensive clothing costs in the future for my child, which I recall starting in middle school too. So that will probably be similar.

We want to know: Are you a parent who is feeling the pinch too? Tell us about your own back-to-school expenses (and how you feel about it) using this form, and your responses may be used in a future article. Submissions close on Thursday, Aug. 28.