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Parents taking advantage of tax-free weekend for back-to-school shopping

This year, parents are purchasing supplies not only for their children, but also to host free giveaways and give back to teachers in need.

SAN ANGELO, Texas — Back-to-school is upon us and shopping for the new year has become a more difficult task, thanks to inflation.

The National Retail Federation says parents will spend a total of 37 billion dollars on school supplies this year. One parent says no matter what, it’s a cost parents usually can’t escape.

“I haven't even paid attention because you just have to get what they need.” Connie Duran said.

This year's tax-free weekend is expected to help parents with the cost of buying needed supplies.

The average price of school supplies has increased 3.7%, according to the U.S. Bureau Of Labor Statistics.

Still, parents have to pay the price to get their kids ready for the first day.

Veribest parent Karen Juarez came in to shop for her child's teachers. Teachers are known to struggle with buying supplies for their classroom and she says she just wanted to help how she could.

“Some schools don't have that. You know, they have to be kind of out of pocket. So it helps a lot. The teachers do come in and just kind of get what they need for their kids and stuff like that. I think it helps a lot with the parents being involved,” Juarez said.

Another parent is hosting a back-to-school giveaway to help other parents who aren't able to buy supplies.

“We know times are hard and inflation is just skyrocketing. I started noticing the price of some things when we started searching the price on backpacks and I was like, oh my gosh, you know, that even a backpack is outrageous,” local parent Candina Abrams-Kent shared.

A big suggestion to lower the cost of back-to-school shopping is to look through the school supplies your child may already have at home so they can reuse them this school term. Also to make a list of things your child needs to help with budgeting costs. 

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