Three Kazan Mothers Share School Prep Costs

Natalia, 42, Mother of a Future First-Grader

Natalia has worked all her life as a kindergarten teacher, and her husband is a driver at a municipal enterprise. This year, their only and long-awaited daughter will start school. According to the woman, this is an important event for the family that requires serious preparation.

«I want to buy the best we can afford for my daughter. And we«ve been living for a while, so we understand the realities. So I started shopping back in winter. I bought everything I saw and liked, except for clothes and shoes. Parents will understand me: you never know how much your child will grow over the summer,» Natalia shared.

First, our interlocutor began buying stationery: a strategic supply of pens, pencils and other small items that are not affected by time and long storage. She found a pencil case with her child«s favorite character in advance.

«I only buy everything on sale. Because I wasn«t limited by time, I calmly looked for things that would please both of us: my daughter would want to use them, and I»d be satisfied with the quality and price. Almost everything was bought on promotion,» the woman said.

She admitted that she spent a lot of time scrolling through products on the marketplace.

«I work, so I simply don«t have time to walk around stores and look for something appealing. »The city falls asleep, and mother goes shopping.« That»s how I ordered a good backpack. I got lucky: with a discount in May, I spent 3,500 rubles (about $37 at current rates). Now the same item is listed at 5,000 (about $53). Recently I bought three blouses — my daughter shouldn«t outgrow them in a month and a half. So count: backpack and blouses — 10,000 rubles (about $105),» Natalia shared.

Our interlocutor is now actively searching for a uniform. She is glad that the school doesn«t have strict dress requirements: a dark blue suit and a white top. This makes the search easier.

Among recent school purchases that the woman is maternally happy about are several pairs of sports shoes.

«The children«s store has great discounts right now. I bought my daughter three pairs of sneakers for PE in different sizes at once. Each was up to 1,000 rubles (about $11). I couldn»t pass it up. By the way, tip: it«s better to go to the store farthest from the center — there»s more choice and sizes,» the mother said.

Natalia doesn«t know exactly how much money has already been spent on school preparations, and as she admits, she doesn»t even want to know.

«Because I started buying back in winter, it went unnoticed by the budget. We didn«t set aside anything separately. We buy as we find things. My husband and I didn»t even set a specific budget, like «here»s 40,000 rubles for school preparations.« Why? To be upset that we went over budget? We still have to buy everything, we»re not taking anything extra. Whatever happens, happens. As long as our daughter enjoys studying, we«ll manage the rest,» Natalia said.

Aigul, 41, Mother of Many Children

Another heroine of ours is a mother of many children. Her eldest son is already in college, the middle one is going into 8th grade, and the youngest is starting first grade. The father of the family runs a small furniture manufacturing business, and Aigul works remotely for a bank. Our interlocutor admits that she doesn«t like the entire process of summer preparation and getting ready for school.

«If I meticulously prepared each child for the new school year, I would have gone crazy 5 years ago. I remember going to school bazaars with my eldest son in the early years. All that in the heat, the child is tired, I«m angry and hungry. Thanks to marketplaces, which saved me from that,» Aigul says with a laugh.

The experienced mother says that her eldest son now puts together his own cart on the marketplace for the new school year: he adds everything except shoes (her mother is strict about buying shoes). Then Aigul checks the cart, removes extras, adds what«s needed, and places the order.

Our interlocutor adapted her middle son to this system starting from 5th grade. She says it teaches children independence and saves her time.

The situation is made easier by the fact that the eldest son has no uniform at all, and the middle one studies in a cadet class — the parent committee buys the special uniform. The family only needs to find shoes and T-shirts.

«If I spend time choosing their notebooks, backpacks, and pens, the family will be without dinner and in a mess. The guys are already big; let them learn themselves, think about prices. Too bad we can«t do that with the youngest yet,» Aigul said.

Our interlocutor carried out the shopping for her youngest child in several stages — her son is already fully ready for first grade.

«I spent 2 evenings to find everything for school. I put together a huge cart, ordered everything except the school uniform and shoes. For those, we separately went to the mall about 2 weeks ago and bought everything at once,» Aigul shared.

Our interlocutor estimated that preparing all three children for school will cost the family over 100,000 rubles (about $1,100 at current rates).

«I spent about 60,000 rubles (about $630) on the youngest alone. I«m done with his expenses. The older ones are dragging their feet with their carts this year. But I think the middle one will need about 20,000 (about $211): a few pairs of shoes, T-shirts, sportswear. And the eldest about 30,000 (about $316) — to update jeans, T-shirts, pullovers, sneakers,» Aigul shared.

For her family, that amount is a serious blow to the budget. Given the experience of past years, the couple decided to save money in advance into a special account.

«My husband and I set up our cards last year so that a few percent from each purchase goes into a special account. Of course, we had to dip into it, but by summer about 90,000 rubles (about $947) had accumulated. That made life a lot easier,» the woman said.

Aigul admits that preparing children for school can be done much cheaper, but the family chose not to skimp.

«You can definitely prepare cheaper, but it«s up to the parent: you save on quality and run around like a hamster on a wheel all summer with their sneakers and shirts, or you take it all at once, buy what fits without looking too much at prices. But you save, first of all, your time and energy. I choose the latter,» the mother says.

Anna, 38, Mother of a Teenage Girl and a First-Grader

Anna is a single mother and entrepreneur. She raises her eldest daughter, a seventh-grader, and her son, who is starting first grade, on her own. Our interlocutor says that over the years of preparing her daughter for school, she has become a real expert on buying school items.

«I never set a budget for school preparation because it«s pointless. But I know you can»t start shopping in the summer. If you think you«ll buy everything in one day at the last minute, you»re in for a huge disappointment. And it«s not even about the money. In August, there simply won»t be any choice,» Anna said.

Our interlocutor relies here on her own experience from many years ago, when she decided to go to the mall at the end of summer and buy everything she needed at once.

«I remember buying all sorts of cheap Chinese goods at sky-high prices at the end of August because there was simply no choice. I haven«t made that mistake again,» the woman shared with a laugh.

Recently, she bought a school uniform and shoes for her first-grader.

«We went to the store the day before yesterday and bought a set of school uniform, a second jacket, and small items like shirts and socks. By the way, our school sells uniforms, but the quality is terrible. And the price tag is like that of a good suit. So I decided it«s better for me to bother, search, even pay extra, but my child will wear clothes made of good fabric,» Anna said.

According to her, the clothes for the seven-year-old cost 21,000 rubles (about $221 at current rates).

«I think that«s very expensive for a person who is 130 cm tall. But I couldn»t find anything else suitable,» Anna shared.

Our interlocutor also buys stationery on the marketplace and says that now is the best time for such purchases.

«I recently ordered stationery for both: pens, pencils, various notebooks, art sets, and other small items. I won«t say how much it came to. Honestly, I didn»t even look because if you start thinking about the price of each pen, you«ll go crazy. July is the right time to order this. In August, the selection will be smaller and prices higher,» the woman said.

Previously, we published a ranking of Kazan schools whose graduates showed the highest results on the Unified State Exam. The list was topped by Lyceum No. 131.

However, it turned out that not all parents choose a school based on the Unified State Exam results. One mother told how she visited schools looking for the best one for her child. The woman paid attention to the conversations between students and how their parents behaved.