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Off to college? Buy!
Posted by the Asbury Park Press on 08/16/07
BY SHANNON MULLEN
STAFF WRITER
After 90 minutes circling the Circuit City store in Eatontown, shopping for a computer, printer, TV and refrigerator for her college-bound son, Lovette Wright is empty-handed and beginning to feel the strain.
It's the last Saturday in July, crunch time for students like Wright's son, Malcolm Bond, 18, who is about to start his freshman year at Morehouse College in Atlanta, and for parents who are caught up in the rush to get their children ready.
With a short shopping list today, Wright and her son, who live in Neptune, figured they'd be on to their next stop, Monmouth Mall, by now. Instead, they're bogged down by all the choices, despite the best efforts of two earnest store supervisors.
Should Malcolm get a laptop or a desktop computer? What about a computer lock? A service plan? Meanwhile, Wright is in sticker shock over the cost of flat-screen TVs, virtually the only kind that are sold these days, and she's not sure about the dorm room refrigerator the store has in stock.
"I'm telling you," she says, "my head is spinning."
She's not alone. Nearly 18 million students are bound for college this year, according to the U.S. Department of Education, and in recent weeks they've been out in force, with parents in tow, piling shopping carts high with a lengthy list of "must-haves," from laundry detergent to laptops.
They're expected to spend more than ever this year to get ready: an average of $956.93 per student, up 8 percent, according to the National Retail Federation's annual back-to-college spending survey, which was released Tuesday.
The industry group estimates total back-to-college spending will exceed $47 billion this year. The figure includes purchases for electronics, dorm furnishings, clothing, school supplies and textbooks.
Incoming freshmen will lead the charge, spending an average of $1,193.60, up 7 percent.
Smart shoppers
That average amount is in line with what Vinnie Cabrera and Melissa Butcher expect to spend to get themselves ready for their first year in college.
Cabrera, 18, of Aberdeen, starts his freshman year at the Fashion Institute of Technology, New York City, next week. So far, his parents have spent $400 to buy him a second-hand Mac G4 desktop computer and about $500 for new clothes. Once he purchases sheets, towels and toiletries, Cabrera figures he'll be all set.
"I'm very satisfied with what I have, I take good care of my stuff, and I don't see the need to go over the top," he said.
Butcher, 18, who lives with her aunt in Asbury Park, has tried to be as frugal as possible, because the money is coming out of her own pocket. She's working two jobs this summer — as an intern at Fort Monmouth and a sales associate at Stein Mart, Ocean Township — to pay down the remaining half of a $13,000 student loan that wasn't offset by scholarships and to buy her start-up essentials for her first year at Hartwick College in Oneonta, N.Y.
Among the smart buys she's especially proud of: a pair of Swiffer WetJet mops she picked up for about $22 at BJ's Wholesale Club — half the price she saw at another big store — and a small refrigerator she found on sale at Wal-Mart for $50.
Butcher had hoped to save enough from her two jobs to buy a laptop computer, but now thinks she'll rent one from the college this year for $300. She's also ordering basic bedding supplies from the college's linen service.
That leaves clothing. At 4 feet, 11 inches tall, she said she's tiny enough to fit into children's sizes, so she's hoping that $100 will cover it, though she's a bit perplexed about exactly what she'll need, considering how cold it gets in upstate New York.
"I went to (visit) the school in May and I was freezing," said Butcher, a native of St. Croix in the U.S. Virgin Islands whose mother and father live separately out of the area.
Big and little budgets
Of course, many families in the Monmouth-Ocean area will spend well beyond the average amount to send their children off to college.
Felicia Younger, one of the supervisors at Circuit City who is helping Wright and her son, says it's not unusual for some parents to spend $5,000 or more on electronics alone, everything from plasma TVs to iPods to high-end laptops.
"We had a couple come in (recently) whose daughter was going to Princeton and they wanted everything top-of-the-line," she says.
At the same time, she also routinely helps students and parents on a tight budget who agonize over buying the right computer for college.
"People come in and they're actually shaken," she says. "They're really nervous because this is a one-time buy and they want it to last."
As a single parent, Wright, 46, is trying to economize, too. But she estimates it will still cost about $5,000 to get her son settled at Morehouse. That includes:
$1,500 or more for a new computer and the necessary add-ons;
$500 for dress shirts and ties (Morehouse, an all-male, historically black college, has a more formal dress code than most schools);
another $500 for sheets and towels;
$50 to $100 for a refrigerator;
$200 to $300 for a new TV (if she can find one at that price); and
$1,700 on airfare, a car rental, a hotel room and meals while Wright attends the college's four-day orientation for parents of incoming freshmen and finishes up her shopping for Malcolm.
Her estimate doesn't include Malcolm's textbooks; Wright isn't sure yet how much they'll cost, but she's bracing for a high tally. On the positive side, she estimates roughly half of these expenses will be offset by leftover cash from $10,000 worth of scholarships Malcolm earned as a student at Neptune High School.
"I would really encourage people to apply for these (scholarships)," she says. "It helps a lot."
Because they're flying — the 16-hour ride to Atlanta is just too long, Wright says — they'll have to travel light. Her plan is to ship Malcolm's clothes ahead of time to a friend who lives not far from campus (another $50 or so.) She'll buy his sheets and towels once she gets down there, and will arrange to pick up whatever they buy today at Circuit City at one of the electronic retailer's stores in the Atlanta area.
That's the plan, anyway.
"OK, so Malcolm — we're here to make some decisions," Wright announces, trying to muster some momentum.
It doesn't happen. In the end, what they decide is to give these purchases some more thought. They leave the store without buying anything.
"OK, I thank you all," Wright says to Younger and Chris Cruz, the other supervisor who has been helping them.
Laptop gets the nod
Malcolm, who started out preferring a desktop computer, decides during the short car ride to Monmouth Mall in Eatontown that a laptop does make more sense, after all. With that logjam broken, the pace picks up considerably once they arrive at Macy's. It takes Malcolm just a few minutes to buy two pairs of Timberland shoes for $120.
"I'm a big fan of Polo, but it burns a hole in my pocket," he says, entering the section of the store devoted to clothing from designer Ralph Lauren. He checks out the price tag of a blue windbreaker — $145 — and moves on to the clearance rack.
He's in luck: Tons of clothes are on sale that he really likes, reduced by 40 and 50 percent. With about $320 left from the amount they've earmarked for clothes, he quickly picks out nine shirts and one pair of pants. At the register, the total comes to $340.70 — not too far off the mark.
Wright is satisfied. She will have one more big expense before they leave for Atlanta: a going-away party for Malcolm at their house the following Saturday, Aug. 4.
Renting tables and chairs and buying enough food for 100 relatives and friends will cost her more than $1,000 (her mother and grandmother chip in another $500), on top of her other out-of-pocket expenses. But she's extremely proud of Malcolm, her only child, and wants to give him a proper send-off.
When the day comes, Malcolm receives a lot of nice gifts. One of the nicest comes from a couple who live in their neighborhood: a brand new Compaq laptop.
They just thought it might come in handy.
