PINELLAS COUNTY, Fla. — In one month, many kids across the Tampa Bay area will be back in class. A recent survey looked at how people are navigating school shopping this year.
Summer days at the park will soon turn into days in class for Lindsey Bauer’s kids.
"We have to make sure that we have pretty much bulk of everything,” said Bauer.
She has five kids, and three are home-schooled. That means a big school supply list, from markers to glue and everything in between.
"Probably within this month, we'll start kind of looking through and looking for deals,” said Bauer.
The National Retail Federation’s (NRF) June survey found 25 percent of back-to-school and back-to-college shoppers have already started shopping. That’s up from 17 percent five years ago.
Many people also expect to see higher prices for things like clothing, school supplies, shoes, and electronics.
"Everything's been a little bit more expensive lately, so we just try to take advantage of what's on sale and kind of look for the deals, look for things online too versus in stores at times,” said Bauer.
The survey also found people are finding ways to stretch their dollars, like buying more generic products and using coupons more this year than in years past.
"We always make everything exciting for the kids,” said Rene Niedzwiecki, a parent. “Deep down inside me, there's some rage moments where I'm like I've got to get out of here, but other than that, I think we try to make it fun."
Niedzwiecki said he tries to find the best deals whenever he can get them.
"Even Amazon Prime right now, they're doing, the 11th and 12th, they're doing their Prime sale and all that, so we're going to be hitting that up too,” said Niedzwiecki.
Don’t forget a back-to-school sales tax holiday is coming up too. Items exempt from sales tax include most school supplies selling for $50 or less and clothing, footwear, and accessories selling for $100 or less.
The holiday will run from July 24 through August 6.