Wallet Watch newsletter: Back-school-shopping already started
The share of consumers who started back-to-school shopping as early as June and July. Note: This is K-12 + college Source: National Retail Federation
As a kid, I loved back-to-school shopping. There's nothing quite like the potential of a brand-new composition notebook (bought on sale for 25 cents each), or a fresh pocket folder (purchased back in the day for as little as 10 cents each).
Like many other families, we used to do our shopping in August. But that timeline seems to have moved up in recent years, with most parents starting their shopping by early July to get ahead of costs, reports Tory N. Parrish for Wallet Watch.
Large retailers like Walmart and Target also rolled out big annual promotions in late June instead of July, retail experts said, contributing to the timing shift as well.
Ninety percent of consumers expect to spend the same or more on back-to-school shopping this year for fewer items due to higher prices, according to Coresight Research, a Manhattan-based retail analysis provider.
Price hikes from inflation and resilient household spending capacity will fuel a projected $36.1 billion in back-to-school spending this year, a 5.9% increase from $34.2 billion last year, Coresight reported.
Lauren Alongi, an Oceanside mother of two, started shopping in late June to search for the best deals, have a range of school supplies and be finished early.
"And then I can enjoy the rest of the summer without having to think about getting school supplies," Alongi, 40, said Tuesday morning after buying the bulk of her kids' school supplies, including crayons, scissors, markers and glue sticks, at a DII Deals & Discounts store in North Bellmore.
Have you started back-to-school shopping? What kind of concerns do you have headed into the new school year? Let us know at walletwatch@newsday.com.
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From our readers
Mary Ellen Pantaleo asks:
My property taxes are $11,500. Haven't been reassessed since I moved in — 1987. I also am aware that our property taxes can be a deduction on our federal taxes. My question is: how much of Long Island taxes paid go to upstate NY and other states in the USA? I recall years ago it was in the millions/billions. How much is it now? Please look into that. Could still have a significant impact on LI residents.
The Long Island Regional Planning Council, a planning body representing Nassau and Suffolk counties, looked into this question a few years ago. Using data from fiscal 2022, the council published a report that found a more than $40 billion combined deficit in government tax spending versus collection on Long Island.
According to the report, Long Islanders sent around $68 billion in total tax revenue to the federal government in fiscal 2022. Excluding COVID payments, the federal government spent around $42 billion on Long Island that fiscal year. That's a $26 billion deficit.
Long Islanders also sent around $24.6 billion in taxes and fees to the state that fiscal year, while receiving around $9.8 billion in return. That's a $14.7 billion deficit.
Compared to 2013, revenues from Long Island to Albany increased 40% while state expenditures in the region dropped 10%. Federal expenditures on Long Island increased 75% during that time period, while tax revenue from Long Island to D.C. increased 29%.
Part of the reason there's such a difference between expenditures and tax revenue on Long Island is because of the region's general wealth, the report notes. Besides having a strong business base, median household incomes on Long Island in 2022 were 161% higher than the state median and 171% higher than the nationwide median.
Have a question you'd like to submit? Confused by a bill? Spotted a price hike? Ask our team and we might answer it in the next edition. Email walletwatch@newsday.com or click here.
Brianne Ledda covers personal finance and affordability for Newsday. She previously covered Southold and Greenport for The Suffolk Times and is a graduate of Stony Brook University.
