Back to school -- economics school: Strain on household budgets will cut into apparel, dorm spending

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from MarketWatch:



Back to school -- economics school
Strain on household budgets will cut into apparel, dorm spending this year
By Jennifer Waters, MarketWatch


CHICAGO (MarketWatch) -- The sharp paring of consumer spending is already cutting into its next victim: back-to-school sales.

Consumers beaten down by prices at grocery stores and gas stations are taking their newfound money-saving ways to the shopping centers and school-supplies stores in what promises to be one of the most challenging back-to-school seasons in many years.

"This year's back-to-school season, without question, is continued belt-tightening as the consumer tries to stretch the dollar as far as possible," said Thom Blischok, president of IRI Consulting and Innovating.

A series of surveys asking consumers about their spending intentions for the back-to-school season -- second only behind Christmas in terms of consumer spending -- underscores that projection.

America's Research Group sees back-to-school spending falling as much as 2%. A mere 1.5% of consumers said they will buy products at full price. Last year, 11% said they would.

* The National Retail Federation said spending in most categories will be flat, with the exception of electronics. College students will learn a hard lesson in tough economic times as even their spending on electronic must-haves and gadgets will fall some 22% though it will remain their No. 1 buy.

* The International Council of Shopping Centers found that 90% of households said they will pick up everything from T-shirts to T-squares at discount stores. That's up 16 percentage points over last year and 34 percentage points over 2006.

* Deloitte found that 90% of households say they will change their back-to-school shopping habits to include more sale items, to purchase only what's needed, to shop for more lower-priced goods and to use more coupons, among other things. Nearly nine in 10 people said they will shop at discount and bargain stores. ........(more)

The complete piece is at: http://www.marketwatch.com/news/story/strain-household-budgets-crimp-back-to-school/story.aspx?guid=%7B2DC0A419%2DD1E2%2D4D6F%2DADB9%2D2DFCB66AD825%7D

[LeftyMom]

1. I'm a college student and mom and I'm hardly buying anything this year.

I stocked up heavily on school supplies last year, and other than more erasable pens, graph paper, folders and computer paper, I'm still pretty much set. I'm going to go thrifting for a file cabinet and some new clothes. Total expenditure? Under $100.

[Scooter24]

2. Forget the dorm, how about a condo for your college kid?

http://www.orlandosentinel.com/business/orl-mortgage2807oct28,0,7990822.story

Forget the dorm, how about a condo for your college kid?

Checklist as your teenager heads off to college: Don't forget to: a) pay the tuition; b) have the safe-sex talk; c) have the drinking-and-driving talk; and d) buy your student a house or condo.

Pardon the whiplash on that last one, but the fact is, many parents who are financially able to do so are choosing to invest in real estate close to campus for their college-bound offspring. In many cases, it's preferable to shelling out dormitory fees or apartment rent.

...

Although NAR doesn't track campus-area housing prices per se, Phillip Filardi, a real estate agent with Keller Williams Realty who specializes in properties near the University of Texas at Austin, will attest that Longhorns with their own digs are living large.

"It's amazing the number of parents who are able to come in and buy a $200,000 or $300,000 condominium, or even a $400,000 or $500,000 house for their children right around campus," he says. "I've had any number of parents tell me, 'If I'm going to spend this kind of money every month to house my children, I might as well buy an investment property and get some return.' "