Business Innovators Radio - Episode #47 – Back to School Budgeting – The 15 Minute Financial Feast Podcast-With Mark Triplett & Troy Westendorf

Episode Date: August 11, 2023

We believe that every dollar has a purpose and a timeline. When and how your retirement assets will be used should be understood before making important financial decisions.The Triplett-Westendorf Purpose and Timeline 5 Step Planning Process (PT5) begins with Discovery.Understanding where you are now, and then defining where you want to go (Your Purpose) and when you want to get there (Your Timeline), programs your financial GPS. Our Purpose and Timeline 5-step process (PT5) programs your financial GPS.Learn more: http://triplett-westendorf.com/ | https://mypt5.com/The 15 Minute Financial Feast Podcasthttps://businessinnovatorsradio.com/the-15-minute-financial-feast-podcast/Source: https://businessinnovatorsradio.com/episode-47-back-to-school-budgeting-the-15-minute-financial-feast-podcast-with-mark-triplett-troy-westendorf

Welcome to the 15-minute financial feast podcast, bringing you 15-minute segments to help you retire with purpose on time. We're serving up food for thought and bread for the head. Are you hungry to learn? Here are your hosts, Mark Triplett and Troy Westendorf. Welcome to another episode of the 15-minute financial feast. Today, you are listening to the audio from a live television interview where one of our favorite local news station anchors asked us questions about a financial topic on the minds of many hardworking folks in our community who are trying to make good decisions and get ahead.

Starting time to start thinking about back-to-school shopping. How, as the back-to-school season approaches, families are faced with the burden of shopping for supplies with persistent inflation. Pencils, notebooks, clothes, backpacks, costs can add up quickly. So staying within a budget, that's critical, right? With the sales tech holiday coming up this just over a week, we have local financial professional Mark Triplett from Triplett-Westendorf Financial Group. Here to just help everybody stay on track, what can parents expect to spend this year, Mark? Well, inflation is kind of tapering off,

which is great news, but things still cost more than last year. So folks can expect to spend more on back-to-school shopping than they did a year ago. That has a lot of families starting early. In fact, I came across one recent survey that indicated about 25% of families had already started shopping at the beginning of summer. And like you mentioned, everything adds up, whether it's backpacks and lunch boxes or just school supplies, back to school clothes, all of that can really eat into a family's budget. So it's really important to start early and make sure that you don't overdo it. You want to send your kids off to school prepared, but you don't want to do it in a way that

puts your family behind. Totally. And in Iowa, are there specific ways to save here in the Hawkeye State? Absolutely. We got our sales tax holiday coming up Friday, August 4th through the entire day on Saturday, August 5th. Unfortunately, my family's going to be in Colorado on a trip, so I'm going to miss out on that, which is kind of a bummer. But the families that can get out and get some school shopping done, if you're buying items that are less than $100 a piece, you can avoid paying the Iowa sales tax on those. Okay, so yeah, you are going to miss that out.

Colorado's not cheap either. So luck on shopping out there. But how can families save money while they shop? I am somebody, I take pride and go into that sale rack, you know, I mean, tips and tricks. Well, first of all, when we're talking about back-to-school shopping, I would say, number one, create a spending plan or budget, if you want to call it that. That's a great way to set yourself up for success. And also then reuse and repris supplies from last year. take inventory of what you have left over from last year.

Compare that to the school supply list that your school district puts out. I can tell you, my son has a lot of stuff left over, nice backpack from last year, pencil sharpeners, erasers you never touched, things like that that we can check off the list. And then buy extra of items that maybe you're going to need in the future or if you have multiple kids. A lot of school supply list will include things like tissues or a classroom. And if you have multiple kids and multiple classrooms, you can buy in bulk and kind of to spread those out. And last, you know, look for discounts, whether it's coupons or rewards for, you know, a lot of companies that will have loyalty programs or customers, repeat customers,

take advantage of those things as well. I think couponing is definitely, it's a lot more digital these days. So there's a deal everywhere. You just got to look, keep your eye out for it. So as we are heading into fall, what else should families keep in mind to just stay on track with their finances, anticipating, you know, a tight budget? Well, getting back to school shopping and creating a spending plan for your school shopping, really should be a reminder to have a spending plan for your lifestyle as well. And if you don't have one or you haven't updated your spending plan for your household in a while, you can go to our website at tripload-westendorf.com underneath the planning tools and download a spending plan,

actually create a cash flow for what's coming into your household versus what's going out of your household and get your arms around your personal finances so that you can get ahead. It's, you know, good life advice. I mean, it's better for the environment. And it also teaches kids to, you know, use what they have and don't just keep overspending. Thank you, Mark, so much for your time. We really appreciate it. Good tips there. You've been listening to the 15-minute financial feast podcast. Remember, every dollar has a purpose and every dollar has a timeline. If you have questions about today's topic, schedule a call with a team member. Visit www.com.com. Until next time, be sure you're taking steps to retire with purpose on time. Mark Triplett is an investment advisor representative of and advisory services offered through Royal Fund Management LLC, an SEC registered investment advisor. Nothing contained in this program should be considered an offer to buy or sell securities. Different investments have different risks associated with them, and not all investments are appropriate for all investors.