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Released: August 05, 2011

Smart college shopping saves time, money and the environment

Source: Oliver St. John and Jayne O'Donnell, USA Today

Five years ago, Carlene Igras spent $150 on color-coordinated dorm furnishings for her daughter Lyz, 23, then a freshman at college. The lamp has never been used: It was deemed a fire hazard and wasn't allowed into the dorm. The matching sheet set went into storage after one year because the extra-long sheets didn't fit the bed in Lyz's off-campus apartment. Annual attempts to unload the sheets and lamp at yard sales at her home in Bath, N.Y., have failed. Back to school is the second-biggest "season" for retail sales, after the year-end holidays, so retailers are marketing up a storm. But with the economy still in the doldrums, most parents can't afford to buy things their college-aged children won't use or don't need. That's likely to affect sales: Parents and students plan to spend an average of $808.71 on apparel, electronics, dorm furnishings and food items this year, down from $835.73 last year, according to a National Retail Federation survey by consumer intelligence firm BIGresearch.

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