Bobbi Rebell, CFP®, CFT™, Chief Financial Education Advisor at Accredited Debt Relief, appeared on Fox 5 New York to discuss why so many families are heading into the back-to-school season already carrying a balance from last year.
The segment opened with National Retail Federation 2026 Back-to-School Survey data showing back-to-school shoppers expect to spend an average of $864 this year, a slight increase over last year. Rebell pointed to Accredited Debt Relief survey findings that help explain how families are covering that cost.
“They are not affording it. They are financing it,” Rebell said.
Asked what it signals when families put recurring annual expenses on credit, Rebell said the pattern rarely stops at the school year.
“It is incredibly worrisome because a lot of them then carry that debt into the holiday season. It also means that sometimes parents are forced to cut back on other things that are really important, like cutting back on school activities that mean a lot to their children, or being a little bit tighter with the grocery bills, and unfortunately sometimes even paying bills late,” she said.
According to the survey, 60% of parents entered this back-to-school season still carrying debt from previous years, and 53% say they are leaning on financing more than they did three years ago. Rebell noted that credit cards remain a large part of the picture, but buy now, pay later has become a significant factor as well.
That borrowing does not end when the school year begins. Rebell said 54% of parents expect to carry the debt into the holiday season, which can shrink holiday budgets and force tradeoffs elsewhere. She pointed to families scaling back on school activities their children care about, tightening grocery spending and, in some cases, paying bills late.
Asked why many parents still feel optimistic, Rebell described an optimism bias that can lead to overspending.
“Confidence is not a plan. What we see a lot, unfortunately, is an optimism bias where people believe that they are going to be able to pay down the debt,” she said.
The survey found 70% of parents are confident they can cover this year’s costs without taking on more debt. That includes 68% of parents who are already carrying more than $1,000 in debt.
Families feeling the weight of balances built up over multiple seasons can learn more about their options by talking to a debt specialist at Accredited Debt Relief.
About Accredited Debt Relief
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