What can or will happen if I cannot afford to buy my children their school supplies?

Question

ok, this has never happened to us before, but because of the economy, we cannot even afford to buy my two girls their school supplies this year. One is in elementary and the other is in junior high. Will they or I can penalized because they are going to show up to school with no school supplies? I have never been in this kind of situation before, but am feeling scared about the whole thing. Has anyone ever had this experience before?

Answer 1

I think you should talk to the teachers or principal.  They won't be penalized for it, and they could probably help you get the supplies your children need, or tell you where to go.  The economy is bad, and if you ask me I think that the schools want the kids to have a LOT of supplies.  I've read the lists here and it amazes me how much things you have to buy.  Good luck hun!

Answer 2

Join Freecycle in your area online and post a wanted ad.

Answer 3

What a tough situation to be in, I feel for you. Some ideas that come to mind -

-Search weekly ads online of stores that carry school supplies. Office Depot, Staples, Walmart, Target, etc have sales that are extremely good, like .10 rulers, .20 glue, .25 scissors or plastic binders, .50 for 12 pens or 24 pencils, .99 for 6 notebooks. Go buy the supplies yourself, easier than saying no to expensive stuff your girls may want.

-If you have a .99 store, check them out.

-See if there is a Backpack Give Away in your area. I'm in So Cal and there are quite a few here. The ones I've helped at didn't ask for proof of one's financial situation.

-Garage sale?

-Maybe your daughters can do some babysitting/entertaining a child or chores for a neighbor you trust to earn money for school supplies?

-If you need books, google search the ISBN number like this: ISBN XXXXXXXXXX (with correct numbers, of course), you can find used books for good prices. Amazon is a great source.

-Grandparents, relatives or friends willing to help?

-Be very frugal with supply choices and put it on a credit card.

-Try to cut back on food expense for a couple of weeks, search the 'net to see how. Coupons, eating certain foods, sales, some people are amazing at getting healthy food cheap.

-Go to a food pantry and see if they'll help and use the money you would have used for food for school supplies. You can always donate later or volunteer if you feel funny about it.

-Speak to the school if you run out of other options. But I understand your concern, if I were treated like you were previously, I wouldn't have much trust in the school, and I think I'd rather not know their attitude.

Good luck.

Answer 4

you may not like what I say..

but you are saying you can not buy school stuff while sitting on a computer and paying for the internet????  I been in bad places..cable TV and the internet were the first to go. I am sure what you pay for that for one month would be enough for school stuff. ( unless you need the net for work) then I sold my computer.( after everything was ok we got another one) Maybe you need a better budget. I leaned when i was going threw a hard time there are a ton of things we spend our money on that we don't need to.

Answer 5

I know how you feel. What I did is I emailed my kids teachers and told them I could not afford their school stuff. ( i have to do it for 3 kids.) I am getting help from the teachers and school board. If the teachers dont have an email address or you dont know it call the school or the supers office someone should be able to help you.

I believe no one is going to trouble for not having the school supplies.

best of luck

Answer 6

no nothing will happen to your kiddo's there are actually places that you can go and get school supplies for free. you should call the school and im sure they could tell you where to go

Answer 7

nothing will happen to your kids. some teachers can provide them with the things they need. but if you go to office max they are selling school supplies for a penny my mom got some for my younger siblings and I went and got paper and crayons for my daughter it was a good deal

Answer 8

Pawn your computer.  Anyway there are agencies to give you the help that you need.

Answer 9

You can go into the school and talk with the teachers, and principal and they usually always have extra things for children, they know some people are not going to be able to afford school supplies so teachers pick up extra stuff...

Answer 10

Have a look at your finances and make sure that you are not expending money wastefully. This is hard for some people to do, but I remember my Mom stopped wearing makeup and she shut off our cable when I was a kid, simply because we did not have the money for necessities.

Also, go over any school-supply lists you may have gotten. Schools are notorious for asking for ridiculous things for children that they may use once or not at all. Don't be afraid to call the school and go over the list with someone in the office or the teacher. Make them give you a good reason why it has to be a particular brand of notebook, etc.

Stick with the basics! Don;t bend to the kids and buy mechanical pencils, etc. Good old fashioned wooden pencils are like a billion for a buck, and they work just as well. In addition, they will not be stolen.

For those annoying workbooks they want for some classes, talk to a parent whose kid had that class before and see if they have a usable one. Or hit a bookstore and try to find one yourself. It's usually a lot cheaper than what the school will ask you to pay for it.

Also, I'm all for parents providing for their own kids, but if you are spending as frugally as you can, and still cannot afford school supplies, ask at the school. Sometimes, you just need a little help.

Answer 11

You should be able to talk to their teachers or the office and let them know your situation. The school my son goes to has backpacks filled with school supplies that the community has donated for some of the kids that their parents have no money.  

Answer 12

I know places like the Red Cross and community centers take donations to give to needy families so you should call them and see if they can help you. If not then let the school know your situation. I'm sure you are not the only one.

Answer 13

Most schools and/or local stores have programs for families that cannot afford school supplies.  Talk to the school.  

Answer 14

No, I have never been in your situation, but I know there is help available.  One of our local tv stations has a drive each year at this time to collect backpacks and school supplies for those in your situation.  I'm not sure where they go once they are collected, I read somewhere the other day that the Red Cross is an agency that may be able to help you or at least point you in the right direction.  If I didn't know where to go for help, I'd call anyplace that normally helps people out with other things like that - places like a food pantry might give you info, or even your local social services dept.

I wouldn't chance sending your girls to school without the proper supplies they are supposed to have.  No matter where the supplies come from, it's still your responsibility to make sure they have them.  I'm not saying this in a mean way, just a matter-of-fact way.  Plus I'm sure it causes unnecessary embarrassment for your daughters to have to show up to school without the things they need for classes.  Find out where you can get the help you need, and take things from there.

Answer 15

So you and I are in the same boat salary wise, and we just bought a house too. Money is very tight, but those dang supplies have to be bought. we just spent nearly $100 between 2 kids, middle and elementry on supplies, and that isnt including backpacks, shoes and clothes, or the $200 bus pass !

But we just put it on the credit card and will being paying it over over the next couple months.

what i did find out after the fact was that my younger son's supplies were not required, but were classroom donations. the middle schooler needed his own individual supplies though.

last year they were both at a charter school that provided everything for them, so that was a big change.

i think you should just buy the bare minimum for now and see if they need more later .

good luck !

Answer 16

United way or Red Cross will help you get them.....also try and see if they have a Catholic Charities in your city and they can also assist you or supply you with the basics your kids need....ask family members for assistance I know time are rough with the raise in gas and food it's hard to just make ends meet...good luck and God bless you and your family

Answer 17

okay well go to cheap stores like 99 cent store

go to Staples i kno that sounds expesive but trust me

cause my mom never lets me go there but this time she did

cause every thing is dirt cheap ok.

follow the links okay and you will see.

hav a yard sale and collect money thats wat i did.

O and if they go to school with out supplies u will get calls home and be in trouble.

Answer 18

You kids don't need anything above paper, a pencil and a bag.

Thats it.  If you have one calculator at home they can share for homework that is sufficient.

"school supplies" is the most ridiculous marketing tactic I've ever seen and everybody falls for it.

They don't need 90% of the things parents buy at the start of a school year.

If they need some new clothes, that is one thing... but all this "office supplies" c**p is ridiculous.

And no, your children should not get punished for not having Brittany Spears backpacks and matching 3 ring binders with stickers, highliters, chalk, pencil erasers, and post it notes.

Answer 19

If I were you, I'd have a talk with your kids' teachers prior to the school year actually starting. Let the teacher/principal know that your kids will be late getting their supplies and why. You're certainly not the only parent who've been in this situation, so 9 times outta 10 the teachers will understand. They may even be able to tell you where you can go to get reduced in cost, if not free, supplies.

I guess it may vary by state but in DC, it would be illegal for a teacher to not allow a child in class because they lack supplies. There should be supplies at school, that they provide, for the first couple of days. Some times, the list of what a student may need, isn't given to the parent until the first day or during the first week. So, in most cases, the school will apply some leniency.

My husband and I are somewhat in the same boat. Due to our income, we don't qualify for any type of government assistance so those reduced cost programs wouldn't be of any help to us. Luckily, we have the help of family to assist in getting our 4th grader what he'll need for the first few weeks of school. I don't know why people automatically assume that just because a person say that money is tight, it means they're living in poverty.

Answer 20

Well, don't worry. It happens. It's called LIFE. It throws us for a loop sometimes. It's ok. There are many different places that will help you.

Call your local childrens&families dept. or early childhood coalition.

They usually have donated school supplies. Also Goodwill, and the Salvation Army is good to call.