The real cost of going back to school

2026-05-22

Every September, Spanish families face an expense that, although expected, is still surprising. On school supplies alone, including books, a backpack, stationery, and sports clothing, the average spending per student exceeded EUR 490 in 2024 and the trend is upward: in 2022 it was EUR 425, and in 2023 it was EUR 449, according to data from an idealo.es study.

Of that amount, textbooks represent the largest part: around EUR 340 on average per student. In other words, almost 70% of total spending on school supplies goes to books. The remaining 30% is split between the backpack, stationery, tracksuit, and sports shoes, categories that are difficult to optimize.

This is not a minor concern: according to a Milanuncios study, 90% of Spanish families say they are worried about rising back-to-school prices. And more than half are considering turning to second-hand options to soften the blow.

The problem is not a lack of willingness to save. It is the lack of tools to do it without spending hours comparing prices store by store, product by product, and with the fear of making mistakes in the process.

With a list of 30 or 40 products, manual comparison is unworkable for any parent who also has to deal with other purchases that are not on the list, multiplied by the number of children.

lolalist solves exactly that: upload your school book list and in seconds you have prices from all stores, including used-book options, all on one screen, ready to go to the online store you choose and add everything to the cart.

If you are interested in the cost of going back to school, I recommend reading How to save money on school books, and if you live in Catalonia, Val Escolar