LOUISVILLE, Ky. (WDRB) -- It's back to school time, which means it's time to shop for school supplies. But the items on that list will cost you.
"It’s my favorite part of starting a new year," fourth-grader Szara Blackburn said.
Szara is already planning to use a new Squishmallow notebook for math class, but that shopping cart full of supplies comes with a steep price.
Pictured: this image grab taken from video shows a student with a notebook after a back-to-school shopping trip in Louisville, Ky. (WDRB photo)
"Her supplies cost about $200, which hit a little bit," said Maranda Wilson, Szara's mother. "I don't remember it being that much growing up."
She's not wrong. According to the National Retail Federation (NRF), back-to-school spending this year is expected to reach a new high, with the average family spending about $890.
The NRF said the increase is largely driven by the price of electronics.
"(It's) a little bit of a shocker, but I wasn't too surprised by it all," Wilson said. "Everything's been rising."
We wanted to see where you could cut costs, get the best deal and maybe save a couple dollars on that supply list. So we looked at how much the nine items on the Jefferson County Public Schools supply list for K-2 would cost you online and at some major box stores. We kept some constants, like the 24-count Ticonderoga #2 pencils, to see how much they varied by price.
If you clicked through Amazon, the entire list would run you about $99.
If you chose Walmart it would be about $63.
Dollar Tree had some more affordable prices, but you'd only get about half of the list done for about $20.
The list runs about $86 at Kroger.
Target would run you about $114, which also had some of the most expensive prices for those #2 pencils.
If your student is going to college, the NRF said the average family will spend more on college supplies as well: about $1,300 compared to $1,200 last year.
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