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The Gazette recently asked Frederick County PTA Council President Daphne Gabb for tips on saving money and maintaining a budget while shopping for new school items.

What types of places are best to go to first when doing back-to-school shopping?

I look at the sales ads, and coupons that are in papers, and check what my students are going to need for the year. Staples and Target are where I personally shop; Staples has really good deals on notebooks and folders.

I know folders won't necessarily last the whole year — they get beaten up — so I tend to buy a few extra, so when my kids need a new folder second semester, I bought them at the good sale price. In January they don't have as good of sales as they do in August because they're not thinking back-to-school then.

Q. How do parents avoid impulse buys and succumbing to kids' pleas to buy things that they don't need?

Gabb: I just tell mine "no." If it's not needed I just tell them no, or if it's not needed I tell them they can babysit or do something to get some money to pay for it.

It teaches the kids to budget for what they need. If they want a fancier folder or something, they have to pay the difference. You have to look at things as are they a need or a want. If there's a want, then they have to work for it.

Q. Which types of items are the most important to buy with limited funds?

Gabb: The required supplies: the notebooks the pens, all of that. [The issue] is more the type of notebook or binder they get. The teachers aren't requiring these big fancy binders, so they don't necessarily need them.

It's about what will allow them to do their schoolwork. I tend to get the plain notebooks for my children instead of the ones with the Disney star or rock star because there's a price difference on those and they don't need that.

Q. How do parents who may have tighter financial situations than last year dampen expectations for back-to-school shopping?

Gabb: I can only say what I do personally with my own children. They understand that things are tighter now, and we've explained to them that if you buy this, you won't have money for something else.

And you have to explain to them that there are the necessary things — necessary clothing and things — and then there are the more fad types of clothing that aren't necessary to keep warm or go to gym or whatever the function is.

We try to use these moments as teaching moments for kids, because they're going to have to learn to do that anyway to function later on as adults in life. There are times that they aren't necessarily happy with it but I explain that this is what I've got to spend and what we've got to cover.