Thrifty Thinking - BTS Shopping Survey

 With back-to-school sales-tax holidays starting up, the personal-finance company WalletHub recently released its Sales-Tax Holiday Calendar highlighting the best times to buy in each state, along with editors’ picks for 2025’s Best Credit Cards for Back-to-School Shopping and a nationally-representative survey of parents. You can check out highlights below.

Key Findings

• Held Back by Education Costs: Nearly 3 in 5 parents say the cost of education is the biggest thing holding them back financially right now.
   
• Untenable Tuition: 91% of parents think the cost of education is out of control.
   
• Bigger Back-to-School Bill: 53% of parents say they will spend more on back-to-school shopping this year compared to last year.
   
• Too Much to Buy: Nearly 3 in 4 parents believe that schools ask them to buy too much during back-to-school season.
   
• Education Is Worth the Sacrifice: 72% of parents think their child’s education is worth going into debt for.
   
• Demand for Financial Education: 92% of parents think financial literacy should be part of the core curriculum.
   
• Sales Tax Holidays: Held in 17 states at different times during July and August, sales tax holidays offer savings of up to 7% on popular back-to-school items.
   
• Best Credit Card for Back-to-School Shopping: The Blue Cash Preferred® Card from American Express offers 6% cash back on up to $6,000 spent each year at U.S. supermarkets, where parents can purchase a lot of school supplies.
  
   

“Back-to-school shopping season has always been expensive, but it seems like things are reaching a new level, due to rising costs and increased expectations from schools. Most parents expect to spend more during back-to-school season this year than they did last year, according to a new WalletHub survey, and nearly three-quarters of parents think schools ask them to buy too much.

The good news is that people have tools to fight back against a back-to-school budget blow-up, including sales-tax holidays that can save you up to 7% and credit cards with rewards that could save you $250+. The bad news is that the rising cost of back-to-school season is just a microcosm of a larger issue. WalletHub’s survey found that 91% of parents think the cost of education is out of control, and nearly 3 in 5 say it’s the biggest thing holding them back financially. If we really want to make education affordable for parents, we need to start by restricting federal loans for schools that have tuition above a certain threshold, increasing the funding for public universities that serve their communities, and other drastic measures.”

- John Kiernan, WalletHub Editor
 
 

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