Rising inflation leads to higher back-to-school costs

ATLANTA, Ga. (CBS46) - Amber Humphries and her 9-year-old twin daughters Audrey and Autumn went back-to-school shopping on a budget this year.

They only needed the basics like backpacks, paper, pencils, and hand sanitizer. But with record high inflation, everything is more expensive.

Initially, the twins wanted backpacks that cost about $50 apiece, but Amber managed to dig around and find cheaper ones for only $20 apiece.

“You don’t want to be a buzzkill. But I also don’t want to pay $50 for a backpack, especially as they’re kids and they will destroy everything,” Humphries said.

And at the checkout counter, the damage for the Humphries was $106 and some change.

“It’s never fun to you know, drop $100. But I feel like they made smart decisions,” Humphries said.

It turns out to be a bargain compared to other families. The Griffiths in DeKalb County didn’t fare quite as well. Supplies for their four children cost $176 and change.

According to the National Retail Federation, families plan to spend $864 on average for back-to-school supplies this year.

It’s one reason North Fulton Community Charities is assisting low-income families with school supplies. They said the demand for help is up significantly.

“I’d say it’s about at least 50%, at least 50%, which is a big jump. But we have a very generous community here that’s responding to the need. And we are serving as the middleman to bring together the people who want to help with the people who just need a little extra help at this time,” North Fulton Community Charities Becky Cottingham said.

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