Ultimate guide to cutting back-to-school costs by £100s – from discounts on uniforms and shoes to FREE breakfast

EARN a gold star by following our ten great tips for cutting back-to-class costs. From getting kids a free breakfast to making sure everything is labelled, swot up now to save money throughout the school year. Make the back-to-school return a little less stressful with our 10 tips on how to cut costs Credit: Getty Stationary is a must-have for any school kids – but have you checked what you already have at home? Credit: Getty SMART CHECKS Avoid an expensive back-to-school shopping spree by checking what you already have. Kids may ask for pens and colouring pencils, but look in the cupboard before you go out and buy new. There may be some stashed in there. Sign up for the Money newsletter Thank you! The same goes for lunchboxes and water bottles. Check for cracks or leaks, then pack them for another year. If you do need to buy fresh supplies, take advantage of the back-to-school sales. Read more on back to school It could be worth purchasing pens, glue sticks and highlighters for the full year ahead if you find a great deal. Own-brand is likely to be as good as more well-known products. A Sainsbury’s 36g glue stick is £1.25 compared to £2.25 for a 22g Pritt Stick. ON YOUR MARKS Use name tags, a stamp or marker pen to put your child’s name on anything they take to school. Most read in Money We rate the £14.99 stamp and ink pad kit available from stamptastic.co.uk. Mark smaller items, such as pens and colouring pencils, with a dot of nail varnish so they get put back in the right pencil case. MEAL MATHS Free breakfast clubs continue to be rolled out for primary school pupils in England. Around 1,400 more schools will begin offering free breakfast clubsfrom September, taking the total number participating to over 2,700 schools across England. Using the clubs, which provide kids with a free breakfast and free childcare at the start of the day, could save families up to £450 a year per child, as well as offering around 95 hours of free childcare. SCHOOL SAVINGS If you add up all the extra school-related costs over the year, you’ll likely be looking at hundreds of pounds. Avoid being caught out by creating a savings pot. Check if your bank account offers this and, if not, put money aside at home. That way, you won’t be caught out by cake sales or donation days. TRIP TIPS Class days out and residential trips are planned months ahead, so ask for details at the start of the school year so you can budget in advance. You may be able to get financial help if you are going to struggle with the cost. At the same time, request advance notice of inset days. Knowing the dates could help you plan holidays or cheaper days out when most children are in school. SHOE IN To get money off school shoes, check cashback sites. You can get 5.5 per cent cashback on Clarks by using a gift card bought through cashback app JamDoughnut. Signing up to emails from shoe brands may also net you a discount. At Schuh, you can recycle shoes from any brand to get £5 off a new pair. The Kickers Reskinned service gives you £15 to spend when you send a pair of old Kickers back. You can also pick up cheaper reconditioned shoes at reskinned.clothing/kickers/kids. FOOT FIT If you are buying shoes online, make sure you get the right size. Find instructions on how to measure at home at clarks.com or startriteshoes.com. You can also buy a plastic foot measurer from £2.99 on Amazon. MAP YOUR ROUTE Don’t forget the cost of simply getting to school. With high petrol prices, driving can soon add up. Compare with public transport and check which is the cheapest route. And find out what local travel passes give the best deals for kids. CLEAN UP To give PE kits a longer life, don’t let your kids leave items to go musty in a bag. That just makes it harder to get rid of mud and sweat stains. Add half a cup of bicarbonate of soda to your detergent for extra washing power. A paste of bicarb and white vinegar can help tackle sweat patches. If clothes come home with stains, pour on laundry detergent and rub with an old toothbrush. Leave to sit for 15 minutes before washing as normal. QUICK CHANGE There’s an easy way to get almost double the wear out of aschool uniform. Simply get your kids to change into other clothes as soon as they arrive home. Wearing school gear less will mean less wear and tear on your wallet. TIPS TO SAVE ON COSTLY UNIFORM New school uniform rules are coming into force this September – but half of families aren’t aware Credit: Getty One in five parents spends more than £150 a year on school uniform per child, while three-quarters fork out between £51 and £200, according to financial advisory service Money Wellness. It found half of families are not aware of the new school uniform rules coming in next month. From September, schools in England will only be able to ask parents to buy a maximum of three branded uniform items per child (four or fewer items for secondary and middle schools) – a move designed to make kitting out the kids more affordable. While the big school uniform sales happen in June and July, you can still pick up great deals if you know how. Look out for supermarket savings during the school year. If there’s a deal on clothes, like a 20 per cent off offer, which happens often, it will usually include uniform, too. Check out uniformerly.co.uk, a marketplace dedicated to preloved school uniforms, where you can also sell your own items. Along with Vinted and Facebook Marketplace, it’s a good way to find kit. When it comes to shoes, head to the outlet shops to pick up a pair for less. At clarksoutlet.co.uk you get 20 per cent off when you buy two pairs of shoes from a selection, already discounted, or buy two items and get the third half price. Sizes are limited, but you might be lucky and snag a real bargain. At Deichmann, you can also buy one pair and get another half price. BAG YOURSELF A WRITE BARGAIN WITH SCHOOL KIT There are plenty of bargains to be had on school kits – from bags to calculators and pens ALL ADDS UP… solve tricky equations with the green Casio Classwiz Plusscientific calculator, down from £17 to £13 at Asda. ON THE CASE… lemons pencil case, down from £9 to £6 at TGJones. MAKE A NOTE… stock up on Pukka A4 Core Jotta notebooks, down from£4 to £3 at Tesco with a Clubcard. IN THE BAG… pack for the day with the Puma backpack from Lidl, £12.99. BLACK AND WRITE… scribble away with a pack of ten zebra pens from The Range, £1.99. HEAT AND EAT… prepare for colder weather with the Decor vacuuminsulated food flask, £8 at Argos. LUNCH ON THE GO… carry everything in the cherry lunchbag from Dunelm, down from £5 to £3.50. Comment now