A Deloitte 2022 Back to School survey found that parents plan to spend an average of $661 per child this year for school supplies — that's up 8% from last year.
Decluttering expert, author and Tiktok star Tracy McCubbin told KMOX that there are simple things parents can do to reduce the amount of back-to-school clutter — and spending. Her first tip? Buy a dry erase calendar.
"It's one of the least inexpensive things you could do and it can organize the whole family," McCubbin said. "Put it somewhere where everybody can see it and start the year off by calendaring in the event. Kids learn so quickly to go to look to the calendar."
She said this can help take some of the weight off of parents by allowing kids to be responsible for their own activities.
As for decluttering last year's homework, artwork, and other leftover school items, McCubbin said to only keep the best of the things your kids worked on.
"Because remember, if you keep everything because it's special, then nothing is special," she said.
As for books, McCubbin said it's vital to get rid of old books to make room for new ones to encourage kids to keep reading at higher levels.
"If you keep lots and lots and lots of the younger books for them, they're going to go back to what they know and they're not going to push themselves to read a little bit further along," she said. "So you know, keep the favorites...but a lot of the books you can pass along and donate to your local library or preschool, you know, someone will be happy to get those books."
Having a designated homework space for your child can be especially helpful — but McCubbin said it's important to start of small to prevent clutter.
"Just give them the bare necessities. Really good pencils really good pens, a pencil sharpener, some lined paper," she said. "Because here's the thing: Kids are gonna gather stuff, you know how they bring home those little rocks and the little rubber band balls and I don't know where they get it all. And it'll stack up on their desk. So start their desktop organized."
Hear more of Tracy McCubbin's tips for organization:
Tracy McCubbin on Instagram | TikTok
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