What NOT to buy for back-to-school

Back-to-school season is all about lists, from what to bring to registration to what to buy for the dorm room. Never fear, though: This is a list that just might help make your to-do’s and to-buy’s shorter.

The average American family with children plans to spend $669 on clothes, shoes, supplies and electronics this back-to-school season, according to a National Retail Federation survey, up 5 percent from $635 last year. Total spending during the season is expected to reach $74.9 billion.

Families with college students plan to spend the most: $916 on dorm furniture and other supplies, up 10 percent from last year. Parents with high schoolers anticipate spending $683, while those with elementary school-aged children will spend $581. And although retailers love for families to treat the back-to-school season as a holiday, and spend accordingly, not everything parents will end up buying is necessary.

Dealnews.com says for college students, leave behind the mini fridges, tablet PC’s and HDTV’s. MintLife says for elementary and high school students to hold off on buying trendy items, from electronics to clothes.

Here’s our curated list of what the experts say you don’t have to spend your money on before returning to the classroom this fall.

Grade and High Schoolers

Trendy Items

Kids often don’t know what their friends are going to be wearing and what the hot “must-have” items will be until they’re already back at school. MintLife writer Morgan Quinn suggests waiting a week or two until after school starts to buy things like lunch boxes and pencil cases. That way you won’t have a child begging for an upgrade after seeing what the other kids are sporting.

Office Supplies You Already Have

It’s easy to get caught up in the spending spree that usually surrounds back-to-school. This is the second-largest shopping season of the year, after all, after Christmas. So if your child needs a graphing calculator for math class and you already have one lying around that you never use, let her have it. She can even personalize it to make it feel new. Take inventory of what you already have, and then purchase only what you need to fill in the gaps.

Clothes

Especially in San Diego, where the weather won’t be cooling off significantly for several months still, there’s no need to shop for an entirely new wardrobe just because the school has opened its doors again. If your kids summer clothes still fit, let them continue wearing them. You can always get a couple of new items that they really want, but save the heavy spending for when they have worn out or outgrown their clothes. A lot of parents have started holding clothing swaps to avoid the expense of buying new.

College-Bound Students

Textbooks

So many textbooks can be borrowed, rented or downloaded online for a fraction of the price you would pay for new physical copies.

A Printer

It’s tempting to give your college student a fully equipped office for their dorm room, but it’s just not practical given space constraints. So ditch the printer. The affordable ones are often slow, and refilling the ink or toner can be more hassle and expense than it’s worth. Most universities have computer labs all over campus where students can print off reams of papers at no expense (other than the student fees they paid at the beginning of the year).

Clothes

Just like elementary and high schoolers, your college student isn’t going to know until he or she arrives on campus what’s trendy. They may even be moving to a never-before-experienced climate where they have no clue how to dress for the weather. Each campus has its own unique fashion trends, too, and your student is going to want to fit in. So wait until the semester has begun, and then give them some cash to spend on the few items they feel they just can’t live without.

An External Hard Drive

Again, space is at a premium in college dorm rooms, so leave the external hard drive behind and invest in cloud storage instead. Keeping assignments on the cloud will make it easier for your student to print them off in those computer labs, too.