3 Hacks to Handle Back-to-School Expenses Without Debt | 77

Back-to-school season can feel like a financial ambush—supplies, sports fees, clothes, fundraisers, and picture day all hitting at once. Most families grab the credit card to cover it, but the stress (and interest) sticks around long after the school year starts.

In this episode, I’m sharing three simple, practical hacks to help you handle back-to-school expenses without debt—so you can feel confident and stress-free as your kids head into a new year.

You’ll learn:

• ✅ How to create a sinking fund that makes August expenses way less painful

• ✅ Smart strategies for back-to-school clothes shopping (without blowing the budget)

• ✅ How reusing and inventorying what you already have can save $20–$40 instantly

• ✅ Why progress > perfection when it comes to budgeting during busy seasons

Whether you’ve got little ones just starting school or teens with never-ending sports and activities, these tips will help you cover costs without credit cards—and with a lot more confidence.

✨ Links & Resources Mentioned in This Episode:

• Debt Rebel Starter Kit (Free Guide) – Build your emergency fund + find hidden money in your budget

• Episode 44: [Saving Money with Secondhand & Consignment Sales]

• Episode 76: [Saying No Without Mom Guilt]

👋 Did this episode help you? Share it with another mama who’s feeling the back-to-school money pressure. Let’s spread the word: you don’t have to go into debt to provide for your kids.

Follow Jewlz The Budget Nerd on Instagram @jewlzthebudgetnerd

Episode Transcript

(00:00):
All right, school is in session and now the expenses start
coming in hot and heavy, right? School supplies, fees, sports,
clothes, fundraisers, school pictures.
Before you know it, you swipe the credit card.
So today I'm going to give you 3hacks to handle back to school
expenses without debt so you canfeel confident about sending
your kids back to school withoutthe extra money stress.

(00:26):
Welcome to the Debt Rebel Podcast where we discuss the
insurance and outs of personal finance for families so you can
eliminate the burden of debt, create financial margins, and
learn a new way to interact withyour money.
I'm your host, Jules the Budget Nerd and I have been in your
shoes. My husband and I have paid off
over $107,000 in consumer debt until we finally threw in the

(00:47):
towel and decided it wasn't for us.
Throughout our journey, we learned another way to do life
without debt and that's my hope for you.
You can learn more about our story and see full show notes on
my website, julesthebudgetnerd.com.
That's JEWLZ, the budget nerd.com.
Now let's dive into today's episode.
School is in session and we havea little bit of a break.

(01:11):
New routines and that also can mean we can completely train
wreck our spending because there's a lot of expenses that
come up, especially at the beginning of the school year.
This is something that we work on every single month in the
Alliance coaching program. But today I want to talk to you
about ways that you can save some money but still accomplish

(01:32):
a goal. Because that's what I love is
being able to do the thing but not spend as much, but also to
provide for your kids. Because there's a lot of things
about back to school that are really, really great and
exciting. And it is a time of transition
and change, not only in our routines, but in the seasons
too. So a lot of things can come at

(01:53):
us and I know for myself, it's really easy to overspend,
especially in back to school. Our youngest is in first grade.
And so a lot of things are like,OK, do we actually need these
things? Or sometimes there are things
that are absolutely your your kids going to need that for a
successful school year. And so it's really important to

(02:14):
think about those things, but remember that you're not
failing. Most families don't plan ahead
for this one. But today we're going to talk
about a better way of doing it and ways that we can plan ahead
and actually, you know, accomplish the goal.
OK, so First off, one of the things that's super OK.

(02:34):
So the first one, this is a really easy one to do for back
to school. But also I suggest this one for
like the holidays and birthdays and all that kind of stuff.
But we're going to focus today on back to school.
And that's a sinking fund. That's just a category, a line
item in your budget that you puta few dollars aside every single
month. But you start, you either do it

(02:56):
year round or you get started earlier in the year.
So for example, so if you start in March and you put 20 to $50
in that category, then you'll have over $150.00 by August.
So some stuff to think about is kind of looking at what last
year's expenses were. That's a great way to figure out
how much you're actually going to need and then work the

(03:17):
problem backwards. So depending on how many kids
you have and how and what types of activities and things, if you
participate in school photos, that kind of stuff.
Fundraisers are a big one. That's actually kind of a hot
button for me. That's another episode.
But these are the kind of thingsthat we talked about inside the
Alliance coaching program. Also every single month is we

(03:38):
make sure we factor those thingsinto our budget because when
those things come up, then we'reless likely to go to our credit
cards because we have that moneyset aside.
Another one is to actually look through close before you go
shopping. So I said this is this is
twofold. So one is know what you need and
know what you have and then set a budget for that before you go

(04:01):
shopping. So I know a lot of families
might do it a little bit differently and say, OK, we're
going to get these shoes. You know, we need we need new
shoes. So you go get shoes and you're
like, Oh my God, shoes are so expensive.
But if you have a number set aside for for each child and
stick to that, whether you use cash or debit card, it's going
to help set you up for success. And so some places that we love

(04:25):
shopping when it comes to back to school.
But I would say year Round 2 forourselves is second hand stores,
thrift stores. If you haven't had a chance to
listen to episode 44 of the showinterview a couple of amazing
gals that have just between friends sale here locally, but
it's nationwide and they've got some great tips about how to
save money but provide for your family.

(04:45):
And so it's really, really cool.Also keeps things out of the
landfill. So that's a really cool thing
about second hand stores is justand also clothing swaps.
I know I'm going to be participating in one here
shortly with one of my mortgage friends and I'm really excited
about it. Just being able to refresh our
closets without having to spend a bunch of money.
And then of course, clearance racks.

(05:07):
I am all about clearance rack. There's some good stuff on
there. And you know what the really
cool thing is about that is that's a great way to find stuff
that's like from the season thatmaybe we're currently in because
they're trying to move that so they can make room in the stores
for for the upcoming season. So retail is always one season

(05:27):
ahead of the calendar. So that's why right about now
it's we're coming into fall timeand you're seeing Christmas
stuff that so and then that third thing is just is reusing
and inventorying what we have first.
So one thing we noticed this year was there were some
supplies that my daughter didn't, she was asked to bring
those, but then she didn't use them.

(05:47):
So they were returned to us thislast year.
And so we just saved those for this year.
And then just going through sometimes you don't absolutely
have to buy brand new things. It could be, you know what,
maybe you've got a notebook thathas a couple pages out of it is
send that the kids won't know everything is used by the first
time you open it up and a couplepages missing out of a notebook

(06:08):
is not going to be the end of the world.
And so that could those can be some really great ways to save,
but just look and see what you have on hand.
I know for us, or that's a really easy place to overspend
is because we're thinking what we actually have already that we
can just send send with hers. Depending on what your school
system looks like and if you have very specific things that

(06:31):
you need to bring or if it's just general things, maybe you
can reuse. I know we've used reuse
backpacks from year to year now with young kids.
I know that having having a backpack two years in a row was
like, OK, all right, teaching our kids to, you know, take care
of our things. That's something that we're
trying to to install in our daughter right now.
So that and those things last, just kind of checking to see

(06:54):
what you have on hand could saveyou maybe 30 bucks, maybe 40
bucks. And that's something you can
take that money that you would save on those school supplies.
You're still getting the school supplies that your child needs,
but then you can take that moneyand put it towards your
emergency fund or that debt if you're trying to eliminate your
debt. So the cool thing about that is

(07:16):
all of those things are possiblewithout using a credit card.
So you don't need to pull out that credit card so that you can
pay for back to school if we plan ahead just a little bit
with that sinking fund. So 20-30 dollars a month really
isn't a lot in the big picture. It's going to save you a huge
amount of stress and interest inthe future if you just use your

(07:38):
debit card or cash for that and then set that spending limit for
yourself. So you know, all right, this is
these are the guidelines I have set for us when we go shopping.
And then maybe if you have some other things lying around that
you haven't used yet is send those with your kids.
And so they are getting the school supplies that they need.
Everything doesn't have to be brand new.

(08:00):
OK, so even if you only do one of these, you're going to be
better off than you were last year.
So you won't be putting those school supplies, you won't be
putting those things on a creditcard, and you're going to be
farther ahead than you were lastyear.
And that's a huge victory. So don't want you to lose sight
of that. And also, I just want to say
thank you so much for the feedback on the last episode,

(08:22):
the mom guilt episode. This one kind of lines up with
that because we can have so much, we can have so much
baggage behind what we think back to school needs to look
like and what we want to providefor our kids.
So if that's an area that you struggle with when it comes to
spending, because we're talking about providing for our kids and
you haven't listened to that episode, I would highly
recommend you go back and listenbecause it's been it's been a

(08:45):
really popular one That's episode 76.
But if you are ready to stop feeling behind with your money,
I do have a free guide for you. It's called the Debt Rebel
Starter Kit and it it will just help you take control.
It'll help you start building your emergency fund and find
money that you might not have realized that's in your budget.
And then it's going to help you create that emergency fund, but

(09:07):
pay off that debt faster than ifyou were doing it by yourself.
So you can grab that at Jewels the budget nerd.com/starter kit.
That's JEWLZ the Budget nerd.com/starterkit.
I hope this episode was a blessing to you.
And also remember that this is about progress over perfection
and you're doing amazing. Mama, talk to you soon.

(09:29):
Thank you for listening to the Debt Rebel Podcast.
Now, if you want to take your next step, check out my website,
jewelsthebudgetnerd.com. That's JEWLZ the budget
nerd.com. I've created a bunch of
resources just for you, so hop on over, check it out and we can
connect more there. If you love today's episode, I

(09:49):
would be honored if you would hit that subscribe button and
leave me a review. And remember, every step towards
financial independence is a rebellion against debt.
So stay strong, keep pushing forward, and fight the good
fight until next time. Debt rebels stay resilient.