At the end of this month a new school year will start. It can be a hefty financial time for many parents, not only do they have school books and uniforms to pay for, but for some there is also the cost of school fees.

Perhaps the greatest tip for minimizing these costs is to be sensible about purchasing only what your child needs as opposed to what they want or what the back to school catalogues tell you to buy.

If you are new to all this and have a child starting school for the first time, perhaps you could ask other parents with school age youngsters for some help with discerning what the essential items might be. There’s not much sense in sending a first timer off to school with a bag full of items that won’t be used until secondary school.

Of course, there are many other helpful hints but here are my top five.

©   Carmel McCartin – Budget Bitch

And don’t forget – (The views expressed in this blog are the personal opinions of the author. Don’t rely on them to make financial decisions; you have to make up your own mind. If you don’t like the content – then either stop reading or send me an email)