Doing Well
August 29, 2026 β’ Estimated Reading Time: 3 minutes
The cost of a basic supply list jumped enough this year that it's showing up in national headlines.
Lunch boxes, notebooks, basic gear, all of it costs noticeably more than it did last year. We broke down what's actually driving it and what you can do about it.
πΒ What's felt like the biggest financial surprise of back-to-school season for you?
And in case you missed it: We recently launched our new website and weβre running a promo to celebrate ππ
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What decade did high school become a normal experience for most American teenagers, instead of something mostly reserved for wealthier families? |
(Actual answer at the end of the newsletter π)
More than half of parents (57%) are heading into this school year already carrying credit card debt, and on top of that, nearly half say they'll need to take on new credit just to cover the supply list.
Some of that comes down to specific items costing a lot more than they used to. Lunch boxes are up 26.8% from last year, and notebooks are up 23%. So if the same list feels like it costs more this year, it's because it does.
Here's where to put your energy instead of your credit card:
π Do an inventory sweep before you buy anything. Half-used notebooks, extra pencils, last year's backpack if it's still holding up. Whatever survived summer doesn't need replacing just because it's August.
π Check for gift cards sitting around unused. Americans are sitting on roughly $23 billion in cards that never got spent. If you've got a few in a drawer, this is exactly what they're for.
π Price match instead of price hunt. A lot of the big electronics and office retailers will match a competitor's price if you find it cheaper somewhere else. Takes two minutes and skips the multi-tab browser marathon.
π Split bulk purchases with another family. Pencils, wipes, folders, anything that comes in a giant pack for less per unit. Divide the pack, divide the cost, nobody ends up with 40 glue sticks they'll never use.
Need help figuring out where this fits in your bigger budget? Book a free call with the team.
π¨ Take action
Power outages are getting way more expensive
Major outages now cost the U.S. $121 billion a year. Thatβs more than double the seven-year average, and they're lasting longer too.
Sourceπ Pay attention
Rolling your 401(k) into an IRA can quietly cost you
$682 billion got rolled into IRAs in 2023 alone. A lot of that came with higher fees nobody flagged before the transfer.
Sourceπ Keep an eye
Fewer international students are enrolling in U.S. colleges
New international enrollment dropped 17% this fall, and applications for next year are down 10% and itβs the steepest decline on record.
Sourceπ Looking Up
California just made personal finance class mandatory
California joins 30 other states requiring high schoolers to now take a semester-long money course to graduate.
SourceThe Panic Meter reflects our editorial read on urgency β not financial advice.
The emergency expense more than half of U.S. workers can't cover.
A survey found 55% can't come up with $500 for a surprise expense, and 26% have no emergency savings at all. It's a reminder that the size of your emergency fund matters less right now than whether you've started one.
The share of childless Americans who feel confident about hitting their retirement goals.
That's compared to 72% of parents, according to Allianz's 2026 Annual Retirement Study, which challenges the assumption that skipping kid-related costs makes retirement easier to plan for. Without built-in savings deadlines like college tuition forcing the issue, a lot of childless adults said they're stuck in day-to-day mode and can't picture the bigger retirement number at all.
What Americans wagered on sports betting in 2025 alone.
A study found that once a state legalizes online sports betting, household investment deposits drop by an average of 20%, and by more than half for frequent bettors. That money isn't coming from nowhere, it's coming directly out of what would've gone into savings and investing, hitting lower-income households hardest through rising credit card debt and overdrafts.
Need to talk numbers? We can help you sort out your money.
C) the 1930s
When jobs disappeared during the Great Depression, there was a real hiring push (backed by federal policy) to keep teenagers out of the shrinking job market so adults supporting families could get the work instead. Staying in school stopped being a choice for a lot of families and became the default. By 1936, 65% of teens were enrolled, a record at the time.
