With prices climbing for everything from groceries to gasoline, parents are working hard to save on back-to-school shopping as most public schools prepare to resume classes in two weeks.

Saving means "shopping around," said Kalihi resident Stacey Kipi, who was adding multicolored portfolios yesterday to a shopping cart at Fisher Hawaii that also held her squirming 2-year-old twins, Stacia and Saige.

Kipi started shopping for her other two children, a kindergartner and fifth-grader, last weekend at Office Depot and was shocked at the price tags.

"We didn't even get everything, and the bill came out to $82," she said. She ended up returning some of the items and picking up those supplies elsewhere.

Pushing a shopping cart around Wal-Mart yesterday, Roxanne Oguma, a parent of two, echoed that sentiment.

"This is easily $200 to $250 for them — and that's not including the clothes," the Waimanalo resident said.

Oguma said she's noticed that things are more expensive.

"You gotta (shop around) because if you don't, you end up shelling out all this money. You work very hard for money," she said.

Although back-to-school spending nationally is expected to be on par with the $18.4 billion spent last year, economic conditions have put many parents in a pinch, the National Retail Federation's Ellen Davis said by phone yesterday from Washington, D.C.

"We don't expect the bottom to fall out because when it comes to spending on kids, parents find other ways to save money rather than pull back on their children's spending," she said.

The organization's 2007 Consumer Intentions and Actions Back-to-School survey said the average family was expected to spend $563.49 on back-to-school merchandise — clothing, footwear, school supplies and more. That's a 6.9 percent increase from the previous year's $527.08 average.

The National Retail Federation is expected to release its 2008 back-to-school spending report in two weeks.

More retailers this year will consciously promote school supplies as necessity items, which could mean better deals, Davis said.

"When a teacher puts out a list of Kleenex, pencils, crayons ... that's what you buy," she said.

"Even if there is a slight increase in pennies in school supplies over last year, consumers will still be able to find great prices. We expect to see a lot of retailers promoting school supplies because parents see them as a necessity."

The back-to-school scramble has brought about 1,000 people a day to Fisher Hawaii's Kaka'ako location in recent weeks, store officials said yesterday. The sale runs through Aug. 4.

BUSTLING BUSINESS

Around noon yesterday, a line of cars snaked out of the store's small parking lot and up Cooke Street.

Parents and kids with shopping carts scanned their school lists inside the store and tried to avoid hitting each other as they moved between the aisles.

Mililani resident Jan Ohira spent $64.16 on various supplies for her twin sons, Cody and Ryan, both fifth-graders at Mililani Mauka. She had already hit up Wal-Mart for certain items such as crayons and glue.

Ohira says she saves money by comparing prices or shopping at stores such as Wal-Mart and Fisher, which will match or beat other stores' prices, and by recycling supplies from the previous school year.

Ohira's son, Cody, said he doesn't mind not having an all-new wardrobe at the start of each school year and likes accompanying his mother to pick out pens and folders.

"She takes me along so she knows what I want," he said.

HELP FROM SCHOOLS

Some schools have developed ways to make going back to school easier on parents. Le Jardin Academy, for example, will continue a program this year where parents can pay a set fee for nearly all basic supplies. The school's parent-teacher association collects and places the orders so the crayons, pencils, markers and folders are sitting on students' desks when they go back to school on Aug. 18.

Lani Piche, administrative assistant for the lower school, said 40 percent to 50 percent of parents now use the program.

"I think a lot of parents mainly do it for the convenience, so they have the supplies here waiting and don't have to run around looking for them," she said.

The school supply "packages" differ with each grade level and range in price from about $26 to $53. A third-grade school supply package, for example, would cost $53.82.

According to sale prices at Fisher Hawaii, school supplies for a third-grader at Princess Likelike Elementary School would cost around $45.

MODERN NEEDS

With the advent of computers in the classroom, many schools have added new, often more expensive, items to their lists.

Some require headphones. Many ask for a 512 MB jump drive.

"What's that?" asked Gerald Fujita, who was shopping for his second-grade son with a dozen of other parents at Wal-Mart on Ke'eaumoku yesterday.

Traffic, crowds and long lines have many parents wishing there was a better way to get the things they need without walking the aisles with an extensive list.

Fujita outlined his strategy: "Get the list, get it done and get out of here."

"I'm not going to drive around and get stuff here and there," the Kaimuki resident said. "Gas is too expensive."

He did have a suggestion for retailers for next year's back-to-school season: create packages of school supplies according to grade.

"Box 'em up," he said. "Then you'll have second-, third-, fourth-, fifth- and sixth-grade (supplies) right there. Throw them together, and you're done."