Back to school is nothing short of a challenge for Angie Smith.
"It's crazy and as they get older it gets more expensive," said Smith, who’s from Sherrard.
She has two daughters, Taylor and Bailey, she's shopping for.
"You got a couple hundred bucks in registration and supplies and the shoes they want this year are $100 shoes," she said.
According to the National Retail Federation, the average family will spend almost $700 this year on their child's back to school expenditures.
That's up by almost a hundred dollars from last year.
When it comes to buying school supplies, every dollar counts and that's why it's important to be prepared and look at that school supply list before you get to the store.
If you find yourself in a real financial bind, mom Katy Strzepek, from Davenport, says share with each other.
"Call a friend, ask around at your church or wherever people might have extra notebooks or extra pencils or things like that,” said Strzepek.
Since 62-percent of students at Davenport Public Schools are considered eligible for free and reduced lunch, the district’s holding a donation drive this Saturday, similar to the one that happened a couple of weeks ago with Illinois districts participating.
Other Iowa school districts included this weekend are Bettendorf, Blue Grass, Buffalo, Leclaire, Moscow, Pleasant Valley, Walcott and Wilton.
"If you're buying school supplies for your own children, maybe a couple extra boxes of crayons or a box of washable markers, some pencils," said Dawn Saul, with Davenport Public Schools.
Two ways to get involved if you live in Iowa: leave school supplies in a bag near your mailbox to be picked up Saturday or drop off donations Friday at the McDonald's on Welcome Way in Davenport or the one at Duck Creek in Bettendorf.