The month of August can be a stressful time for many parents who are doing back-to-school shopping.

With their children at home for the summer time, there are increased expenses that can also lead to parents spending more than they bargained for.

Since this is a recurring issue, Our Today spoke with a financial advisor who gave three tips on how parents can better prepare themselves for the season.

Carmen E. Lawrence-Raymond is a financial advisor at Sagicor who helps her clients to make wise financial choices and ensure that all their needs are being met.

When asked: ‘How can parents better prepare for the back to school period?’ she gave the following tips:

Start early

Lawrence-Raymond noted that oftentimes parents wait until it is too late to start back-to-school preparations.

“It shouldn’t be at the point of going back to school that you start to address the funds for back to school. Preparation must always be in place,” shared Raymond.

She encouraged parents to start emergency accounts for back to school, making monthly deposits from the beginning of each year.

“Every little counts, and I think what a lot of persons aren’t doing is that they are not positioning themselves enough and they use the excuse ‘but me cah do it’. But just look at some area where you think you can squeeze that thousand dollar per month,” said Raymond.

She added that if proactive measures are not taken, parents will find themselves in financial crisis, borrowing loans or money from family and friends. This is an added financial setback, noted Raymond.

Strategise with teachers

The constant increase of textbook prices is another major financial concern for parents. Though they are a back-to-school necessity, many parents struggle to purchase all their children’s book on the booklist.

To solve or help reduce the persistence of this issue, Raymond recommends strategising with teachers to create a priority list.

“Ask teachers to give you an idea of what books they will be using in the first term and buy those first. Then you can strategize yourself for the other months after school opens to purchase the rest,” Raymond recommended.

She noted that sometimes bookstores will run out of a certain book so parents should also find out from teachers what are the most important books to get.

Give yourself a break

Oftentimes, when back-to-school shopping, some parents find themselves having little wiggle room for other expenses.

In these instances, Raymond recommends for parents to give themselves a break.

She shared that “instead of buying three or four uniforms at once, you could just buy two. By doing this you give yourself that break going into the next few months”.

She further stressed starting the preparations early so that parents do not feel too pressured.