By Sarah Kempson
The Christmas decorations are safely packed away for another year and the last of the streamers from New Year have been cleared. The hangovers have dissipated and the New Year resolution diet has started. It’s 2010 and for some of us, today is numero uno back at work. Those unanswered emails from Christmas Eve are still sitting in your inbox and the filing you promised you would finish still clogs up the available desk space. Yep, it’s good to be back, you think.
The first day back at work, even if it is just after one week off, is always exciting, at least for me. As much as I love a holiday, I am the kind of person who gets bored easily and sometimes the challenge of a new project is just what I need. I love hearing about what everyone did for the break, who went where and who saw what. It takes me back to my first days of school as a child, when the six week summer break was a lifetime and returning to a new school year was a step up in the world from when you left. Older and wiser, the New Year usually meant a new haircut, new shoes and new uniform – always trying to outdo the year before. I recall trying to convince my mother that a heeled Mary Jane shoe was exactly what I wanted to wear to school for the coming nine months only to have her assure me that the more sensible (and un-heeled) Clarks school shoes would be just fine. She just didn’t understand I was trying to be cool – I didn’t understand that the Clarks were what every other kid at the school would be wearing.
Going back to school and work is a big money spinner for office supply and department stores. Boxing Day sales are barely over when the signs are strung up over the promotional area – ‘Back to School SALE!’ flogging everything from an abacus to zigzag contact paper. Stuff you didn’t even think your child would need is up for sale; ‘essential’ items for a proper education. Who would have thought that kids starting prep would require a set of pencils and textas each? Not so long ago the school had a set and everyone shared. Are exercise books branded with the latest movie star an important part of the learning plan? Will Avatar characters assist with your child’s ability to concentrate and count, or render them distracted?
A big part of the money saving equation is not giving in to marketing and advertising designed to sway consumers, designed to convince you that the item is something that you need to have. I have a marketing background, I know how the system works and most of the time it is all too easy to convince a customer that this is a product that they need in order to live their life. When it comes to returning to real life at the start of January, the temptation to have new things for work and school is all to real – it represents a new start and a fresh beginning – why would we want to taint it with last years stuff? Your ambition to do well in 2010 – whether at work or at school – will not change if you are using a note book with a few pages torn out of it or a pen with promotional information on the side.
When I was in the latter years of high school, my family spent a small fortune on textbooks, stationary, school uniforms and associated expenses related to my schooling. A recent story on A Current Affair informed us that raising 2.7 children (I know, who has .7 of a child?!) from birth to 18 costs an estimated $1 million. Another woman featured in the story claimed she could do it with under $400,000. Of course, the difference between public and private education makes a huge difference, but for the most part it doesn’t need to cost the earth to send your kids to school.
Most schools run a second hand uniform store where uniforms sell for a fraction of the price and are still in relatively new condition. As most kids grow at the speed of light these days, new uniforms every semester are a costly venture but can easily be reduced by shopping at second hand uniform stores. Similarly, sell the outgrown uniforms back to the school – you can use this money to buy the next size up. School textbooks can be purchased in the same way, or borrow them from a library. This is especially true for University students – I spent hundreds of dollars at University only to have textbooks lie in the boot of my car for years. Now, they are outdated and of no use to me or anyone else.
Stationery is an easy fix, I recommend you have a search around your house and I’m sure you will find discarded pens hidden in all manner of places – Lord knows they are never by the phone when you need them. Last years exercise books can be reused by turning them upside down or ripping out the used pages, and if you do need to purchase new ones head to Big W or Kmart for bargain buys – notebooks for less than $1. It might be nice to have Kikki.K. or Smiggle, even Typo (stationery is the new it product) but it all comes back to clever marketing – nice to have but not necessary for a good education.
Packed lunches are always the first money saving item promoted by magazines in the lists of ways to save, and much as you might love buying a gourmet sandwich on your lunch break or sending your kids to school with money for the canteen, you will save both your wallet and your health by doing it yourself. Cheese and Vegemite was my childhood favourite, my brother loved beetroot and pickled onion. While the beetroot generally doesn’t fare so well by the time the clock strikes noon, using frozen bread at 8am to make the sandwiches ensures freshness for the lunch hour. Most offices have microwaves and leftovers are an easy and healthy alternative. Make cordial in a drink bottle for school instead of buying Primas and using a travel mug for coffee on the morning commute all adds up over the year – and equals savings. It’s ok to treat once a week or once a month depending on your budget but do not use laziness as an excuse for not slapping two bits of bread together of a morning.
Simple ideas for big savings are not hard to come by and when your exams are finished and you throw away all the notes you have made this year, you will feel much better knowing it was on paper you reused from last year instead of notebooks you paid a fortune for because they had your favourite movie star (at the time) on the cover. Good for your wallet and good for the environment. Welcome back to school, work, life for 2010.
Image credit (front page): Kathryn Sprigg
