C.O. parents spending hundreds on school shopping

Summer is coming to an end, which means school is about to begin. Many parents in Central Oregon are busy buying supplies for their children.

According to a new report by TopCashBack.com, 40% percent of people said the costliest items to buy are new clothes and shoes, while 35% said technology and appliances are the most expensive.

Only 15% said they spend the most on school supplies, but these items are the most important on the list, according to the report.

” A miniature stapler, a hole puncher, a tape dispenser, a pair of scissors, ” said Caliahna Staskal , who’s entering sixth grade at High Desert Middle School.

” Mom will finally get me a new lunch box, ” said Kearina Staskal , who’s entering fourth grade at Amity Creek Elementary School.

TopCashBack.com reports 41% of parents will shell out up to $500 on back-to-school shopping, while about 36% will spend between $51 and $100, and 17% will pay $50 or less.

” I think we’ll probably be spending about $500 per kid, I imagine, with the shoes and then the supplies and the clothing, ” said Cami Staskal , the mother of Caliahna , Kearina and one other child. ” It gets pretty spendy, definitely. But it’s fun, and they’re really excited about it. And they need new clothes anyway, because they keep growing out of everything. ”

Part of getting ready for school includes getting your hair cut. Poinciana Dellinger , the general manager for Great Clips, said her three local salons – one in Bend and two in Redmond – see a spike in traffic and revenue during this time of year.

” The first two weeks before back to school, we see just a huge influx in customers and little kids coming in, getting ready for back to school, ” Dellinger said. ” It gets pretty busy and pretty crazy. We do hundreds of customers every day in each store. ”

Dellinger said the Bend location typically sees about 80 customers each day, but that number more than doubles in the two weeks before school, jumping up to 170 customers on average.

Dellinger also said the Bend location brings in about $15,000 a week right now, compared to the normal average of about $10,000.

Topcashback.com offers five main tips on how to save money on back to school shopping: Get creative and reuse what you can, check out your local flyer for sales, shop online, don’t ignore the summer clearance racks — and get those freebies.