KSAZ TV Fox — Arizona Morning - Back To School Supplies

The national average for grade school back-to-school supplies is $75 to $100 per child and another $300 on clothes and shoes (that's an absurd amount of money to spend — if you ask us!)

You can save a ton of money and time by reviewing the ads and buying supplies at the lowest price possible.

On the set at Fox10 in Phoenix, Arizona with morning host, Rick D'Amico, Annette, Co-Host Linda Williams and Steve.

Cell Phones  These little conveniences / toys in the hands of an financially irresponsible kid can spell disaster for your family budget. If you're looking for a better way to control your cell phone costs and usage consider giving your child a pre-paid cell phone plan. The minutes are paid for in advance. It may cost a bit more per minute, but you'll control your monthly expenses much better. And your child will eventually learn to budget their minutes over the course of a month. This is a great learning tool. (This works even better if you let the kids pay for their own phone bill).

Most cell phone companies offer offer pre-paid plans — we use one for our emergency cell phone. We found the best deal and best customer service at T-Mobile (If you buy $100 worth of air time — 1000 minutes — you can roll over any remaining minutes at the end of the year by purchasing a minimal amount of additional minutes).

Do your own research though — Google: prepaid cell phone. For more information on cell phone savings order our September 2004 back issue (Talk Isn't Cheap). Back issues cost $2 each.