For a lot of families, the school summer holidays end with the familiar and increasingly eye-watering back to school bill. New uniforms, new shoes, PE kits, lunch boxes, pencil cases, this list goes on and on. For some, September might also mean shouldering the cost of a laptop or mobile phone for their child too. <\/p>\n\n\n\n
These are all costs that all land in the space of a few weeks. Right at the time when summer holiday spending has already stretched the budget thin and money is often already tight.<\/p>\n\n\n\n
You’re not alone if you are experiencing this now and finding things hard. According to Save the Children’s 2026 survey<\/strong>, nearly one in five UK parents will borrow money or use credit just to manage the return-to-school bill. School uniform tops the list of what worries them most, ahead of everything else on the list. A third of parents said they’d rather go without something for themselves than let their child fall short.<\/p>\n\n\n\n The average yearly spend on school uniform has climbed to \u00a3141.15 in 2026, up from \u00a3108.59 in 2025, with more than half of parents (57.9%) saying they will have to spend even more over the rest of the year to cover replacements, growth spurts and seasonal changes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Unlike Christmas, which most of us see coming and plan for over the course of several months, back-to-school costs can feel like they arrive overnight. Children outgrow uniforms and shoes over the summer without warning. Kit lists sometimes aren’t confirmed until late. And because the spend is spread across so many different things at once it’s easy to underestimate the real total until it’s all added up.<\/p>\n\n\n\n So many parents turn to short-term borrowing almost without consciously deciding to: a credit card purchase here, a buy-now-pay-later split there, maybe a short-term loan to bridge the gap until payday. This is fine if there is a plan to pay it back later on, but if you\u2019re already juggling a tight budget and other debts, things can quickly start to feel unmanageable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Add everything up properly, in one go.<\/em> A rough guess is almost always going to be lower than the real total. Write down everything you expect to need and price it out before deciding how to pay for it as seeing the actual number often makes it a little easier to plan around.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Ask about help, before assuming there isn’t any.<\/em> Many local councils offer school clothing grants or uniform bank schemes, and quite a few schools run hardship funds that aren’t advertised, so a word with the school office is often worth doing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Try secondhand and swap schemes first<\/em>. Uniform swap groups, often run through the school or on local Facebook pages have grown a lot. PTA secondhand sales can also cover most of a kit list for a fraction of the price.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Planning ahead for the rest of the school year. <\/em>It\u2019s likely that there will still be costs ahead, such as school trips and replacing uniform and shoes that become too small through the year, try saving a little regularly rather than borrowing for them. Putting a small amount aside, week-by-week means you\u2019re not adding interest to these costs and means you can get ahead of next August too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If back-to-school costs are piling on top of existing credit card debt, loans or an overdraft you’re already finding hard to manage, that’s worth paying attention to because this could tip you from “just about coping” into something that is much harder to carry. Problem debt is rarely one big expense that causes difficulty. It’s usually a series of smaller ones that add up faster than expected.<\/p>\n\n\n\n If that sounds familiar, it’s worth taking an honest look at the bigger picture of what you owe, rather than focusing on the next bill in front of you. There’s free, confidential support available to help you see that picture clearly and work out what would genuinely help – including an IVA solution, if that turns out to be the right fit<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Back-to-school costs can be significant, and for most families they’re not optional. But reaching for the credit card isn’t the only way through. A bit of planning, saving and making the time to check what support is available locally can take a lot of the weight off<\/p>\n\n\n\n If debt is already a worry that goes beyond the reopening of school in September, then getting proper advice is a far kinder thing to do for yourself than waiting until it things become unmanageable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Source: Save the Children UK Back to School 2026<\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" For a lot of families, the school summer holidays end with the familiar and increasingly eye-watering back to school bill. New uniforms, new shoes, PE kits, lunch boxes, pencil cases, this list goes on and on. For some, September might also mean shouldering the cost of a laptop or mobile phone for their child too. …<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":12,"featured_media":1084,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[45,1],"tags":[],"ppma_author":[79],"class_list":["post-1082","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-cost-of-living","category-general"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\tWhy this time of year catches so many people out<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
A few things worth trying before reaching for credit<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
If this is landing on top of debt you’re already carrying<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n
You don’t have to carry this on your own<\/strong><\/h3>\n\n\n\n