Report: Back to School Spending 'Down,' Still Big Business

iPads for all! 

The cost of the average back-to-school shopping list is down this year from the record spending of the 2012/2013 school year. Families are expected to spend, on average, $635 per student for the upcoming school year, according to the National Retail Foundation.

OK, maybe Trapper Keepers for all is more reasonable.

And even those quaint supplies of yesteryear may be big-ticket items considering the ways people are spending money. 

According to the NRF, biggest chunk of back-to-school spending will buy new, ostensibly fashionable clothes for the kids: about $230 worth. The next biggest expenditure will go toward shoes: $114 (So … how many pairs is that?)

And, oh yes, actual school supplies should set a family back, on average, $90 per student. At $15 a pop, even a Trapper Keeper begins to look extravagant. 

The numbers come from the NRF’s annual back-to-school survey, which concluded that this year’s thriftiness is a result of leftover supplies from last year’s school supply bounty when families spent, on average, about $688 per student.

“Having splurged on their growing children’s needs last year, parents will ask their kids to reuse what they can for the upcoming school season.”  NRF President and CEO Matthew Shay said in a news release. 

“As they continue to grapple with the impact of increased payroll taxes, Americans will look to cut corners where they can, but will buy what their kids need. It’s important to note, however, that spending levels are still well above where they were a few years ago.” 

Kids will be doing their (tiny) part, too. According to the NRF, teenagers will contribute, on average, a whopping $30.13 to the back-to-school bill. And tweens? About $18.45.

How much do you plan to spend to get your kids ready to go back to school?