Families head back to school with an eye on budget

To help cover the costs of sending her daughter to eighth grade and her son to his freshman year of college, Cathy Brodnax reluctantly dipped into her nest egg.

"I had to literally borrow money from my retirement, from my mutual funds, to pay off some credit cards," said Brodnax, 42. "It's a little tough right now."

The financial relief helped the Norfolk family pay for about $300 in clothes and supplies for Danielle, a 13-year-old Ruffner Academy student, and everything needed to equip her brother's dorm room - from sheets and towels to a laptop computer.

"I didn't want to do it," Brodnax said of the withdrawal. "But I needed something just to give it a boost. I'm thankful that it was there."

Consumers out back-to-school shopping in Hampton Roads in recent days said they're relying on discounts, trying to limit their purchases and sticking to a specific budget more than they have in the past. Despite those efforts to balance out the higher costs of fuel and food, most said they expect to spend at least as much on clothes and supplies for their children as in prior years.

They have little choice. Growing youngsters no longer fit in the outfits they wore last year, and teachers provide lists of required supplies.

"I used to just, on a whim, buy toys or CDs or whatever for the girls," said Laura Spires, 38, standing in an aisle crammed with pens, notebooks, glue and other shoppers at the Wal-Mart Supercenter on Tidewater Drive in Norfolk.

Now, the Norfolk mother of three daughters tells them to keep lists that she'll consult for Christmas.

"If we don't need it to eat, pay the utilities, get to and from work, or get to and from school, it's not a necessity," she said.

The higher cost of basic goods has eaten into consumer spending. According to the U.S. Commerce Department, consumers spent about 0.6 percent more in June than they did the month before, but prices rose 0.8 percent - the highest inflation level in the monthly report since September 2005. Accounting for that inflation, spending actually dipped for the month.

Many local shoppers took advantage of the state's sales tax holiday this past weekend, which freed them from paying the 5 percent tax on purchases of clothes and shoes costing $100 or less and school supplies priced $20 or less. The savings help but don't go as far these days, parents acknowledged, with gasoline priced near $4 a gallon.

"It's not a whole lot, but still, five dollars is five dollars," said Isaac Rodgers, a Franklin resident who bought about $100 in school supplies over the weekend for his 8-year-old son and 11-year-old daughter.

He expected to spend about $400 total for their back-to-school needs, and more of that will go on credit cards than he'd like, Rodgers said.

"I've got to do it until things get better," he said. "Now, it's getting to the point where we keep coming up short because gas is so high and food and all that stuff."

Rather than waiting for the 5 percent break over the weekend, Brodnax said she saved more on composition books for Danielle by buying them the prior week, when they were on sale for 50 cents apiece from $1.49.

"I'm just looking for the best bargains," she said.

Monica Cheeks came to a similar conclusion at Stein Mart on Laskin Road, where she bought her 13-year-old daughter two shirts on Thursday.

"We decided it wouldn't be worth the gas to drive all the way back" the next day, when the sales tax holiday began, from the Salem neighborhood in Virginia Beach where they live, she said.

Cheeks, 38, did get the tax savings Friday at Macy's at Lynnhaven Mall and maximized her money with sales, coupons and the department store's additional discounts. All that brought a pair of Rocket Dog shoes that her daughter wanted down to about $20 from an original $50.

"I am trying to use my money smarter," Cheeks said.

Tina Elkins set aside her rebate checks - $300 for each child as part of the federal government's economic stimulus package this year - for school-related purchases for her two children, ages 7 and 12.

"I wanted to take advantage of getting that little bit of money back," she said.

The 33-year-old Chesapeake mom looked for sales. She found backpacks marked down to $39 from $50 at JCPenney and bought eight polo shirts, which have the collars that her daughter's school requires, at 50 percent off at American Eagle.

"So I just tried to make $300 apiece go as far as I could," Elkins said.

Ronnie and Chrissy Shillings capped their back-to-school spending at $200 for Zoey, a first-grader this year at Tarrallton Elementary School in Norfolk. Once they reach that amount, Ronnie Shillings said, extra purchases will have to come later.

"We have to be careful about our budget," the 26-year-old father said, watching over a cart of Hannah Montana goods, jumbo crayons, socks and pants at the Wal-Mart Supercenter. "If we set an upper limit and we stay under that and can get everything she needs, we're good."

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

Carolyn Shapiro, (757) 446-2270, carolyn.shapiro@pilotonline.com