Back to School Cost a Record $146.8 Billion. Here's How to Keep the Bill From Following You Home

American families spent a record $146.8 billion on back to school this year, and 45% leaned on buy now, pay later to do it. Here is how to see every scattered payment before the late fees find you.

September 7, 2026 · 5 min read

A shopper pushing a cart overflowing with backpacks, notebooks, and school supplies

Backpacks are bought, first day photos are posted, and now the bill is showing up in your inbox. American families spent a record $146.8 billion getting kids ready for school and college this year, and a lot of it went on cards that get paid off later, not now. If you said yes to a “pay in four” button at checkout this month, this one’s for you.

The Numbers Behind the Chaos

Let’s start with what actually happened this back to school season. The National Retail Federation says families with K through 12 students spent $43.3 billion this year, up from $39.4 billion in 2025. College families spent even more, $103.5 billion, crossing the $100 billion mark for the first time ever. Add it up and you get $146.8 billion, a new record.

Per family, that works out to an average of $863.86 for K through 12 supplies, clothes, and electronics, according to the NRF’s survey. Electronics alone averaged $293.11 per K through 12 household and $341.95 per college household. Laptops and calculators add up fast, and so does everything else on that supply list your kid swears is “required.”

Why So Many Parents Reached for Pay Later

Here’s the part that caught my attention. Nearly half of American families, 45%, say they used buy now, pay later (BNPL) services this year, up from 39% in 2025. BNPL just means splitting a purchase into a few payments, often four, instead of paying the full price at checkout. About one in three families expect BNPL to cover more than half of their total school spending.

A separate survey of parents published in late July found that 45% planned to take on debt specifically for back to school shopping, up from just 34% two years ago. More than half, 57%, already had credit card debt going into the season, and 63% expected to add to that balance. Sixty percent said their kids were asking for items they’d seen trending online, and 54% admitted they’d rather charge something than tell their kid no.

The Part BNPL Doesn’t Advertise

BNPL plans feel painless because the first payment is often small and due today, with the rest spread over the coming weeks. The catch is that 60% of BNPL users are juggling multiple loans at once, and 41% reported paying late on at least one in the past year. Miss a payment and you’re often looking at late fees, and sometimes a ding to your credit report, depending on the provider.

Stack four or five of these plans across different stores and you’ve basically rebuilt a credit card statement, just without a single due date to track. That’s the trap. It’s not that BNPL is evil, it’s that it’s easy to lose the thread when the payments are scattered across five different apps instead of one bill.

Meanwhile, the Bigger Picture

This is all happening while inflation sits at 3.4% for the year ending in July, according to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, and the Federal Reserve is holding interest rates steady at 3.5% to 3.75%, where they’ve been since late last year. The Fed doesn’t meet again until September 15 and 16, so borrowing costs on credit cards aren’t getting cheaper anytime soon. That makes carrying a balance, whether it’s BNPL or a credit card, more expensive to sit on than it might have felt a few years ago.

Here’s what I’d tell a friend

Nobody wants to be the parent who says no to the shoes everyone else has. But BNPL doesn’t make something cost less, it just moves the pain to a date you’re not looking at yet. If you already clicked “pay in four” this month, that’s fine, you’re not behind. Just make sure you actually know when those payments hit.

What you can do this week

Pull up every BNPL and credit card charge from the last month and put them in one place. A notes app, a spreadsheet, whatever works. You can’t manage what you can’t see, and scattered payments are exactly how people miss due dates.
Circle the next three due dates and set reminders two days early. Late fees on BNPL plans are avoidable, they just require you to actually see the date coming.
If you’re already holding a credit card balance, call and ask about a lower rate or a hardship plan. It sounds intimidating, but issuers do this regularly, and it costs you nothing to ask.
Before the next BNPL button tempts you, wait 24 hours. If the purchase still feels necessary tomorrow, it probably is. If it doesn’t, you just skipped a payment plan for something you didn’t need.
Set a spending cap for the rest of the school year now. Homecoming, holiday gifts, and spring sports fees will start stacking on top of what you already owe if you don’t.

None of this requires you to be perfect. It just requires you to know what you owe and when it’s due, which honestly puts you ahead of a lot of people right now.

Sources

Disclaimer: This blog may include AI-generated content derived from web crawling, and it features quotes from original cited inline or public sources. The information presented is for general informational purposes only and may not reflect the most current data or information available. While we strive for accuracy, we encourage readers to verify the information from original sources or reach out to a certified financial adviser for important financial decisions.