Save money, stress: plan now for '10 school year

Media Release

7 October 2009

Summer school clothes, exams, reports and final assemblies are not far away. The pressure is on for parents and children alike as planning, budgeting and swotting all become part of family life in the headlong rush for Christmas and summer school holidays ahead of the 2010 school year.

By mid January most households are receiving credit card bills from Christmas and summer holiday spending, according to Michelle Hunder, Community Adviser for ASG Education Programs (NZ) Limited.

“October really is the best time to start planning and budgeting so as to save money and reduce family stress in getting ready for the new school year.

“The networks that operate throughout a school and residential community can provide parents with their greatest savings. These need to be accessed before the current school year ends and we begin the summer holiday season.

“ASG’s Member parents tell us that getting children and the family into gear for the new school year can be really challenging. We’ve developed a self-help e-guide, From Holidaze to School Days, to help busy parents make the process stress-free rather than stressful,” says Michelle Hunder.

The e-guide can be viewed at www.asg.co.nz/nzwd and provides tips for new school parents and for those parents who promised themselves that the 2010 year would be easier than this year.

“Families that allow more time to cover all the different aspects involved in back to school preparations, from getting supplies, budgeting, getting the family organised, putting some systems in place, and encouraging excitement and a positive attitude in children, are making it easier for themselves now and into the rest of the school year.

“It is such a shame that we put ourselves, and sometimes our children, under such pressure when we leave things until the last minute,” said Michelle Hunder.

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