The summer holidays are almost over and it seems like everywhere you look there are "back to school" signs up in the shops. 

It is interesting to think that parents might be battling the stress and soaring cost of back-to-school shopping by hunting for loose change down the back of the sofa … and borrowing from their own children. A Coinstar Back-to-School survey among UK parents showed 65% of British mums and dads say they find the process of shopping for new school kit stressful - and expect to spend an average of £328 per child to return to school. 

We may not be looking for coins down the back of the sofa but having a teenager with a stationery habit, we need to look for the best (and long lasting) stationery products to go back to school with, so her is her essential Back To School Stationery Checklist! 

Highlighters

This is the top choice. Forget essentials like pens and pencils, our teenager is a big fan of a higlighter as apparently it makes her work much more interesting. The Stabilo pastel shade highlighters are a particular favourite and are available from most retailers.They also do a super cute mini pastellove set for £8.78.

Pens

This might sound silly but buying a pen is apparently no easy task. The teen is extremely specific about the type of pen she likes and the colour it has to be. I am quite sure that we have pens in every colour available (you can tell that she likes to be expressive in her workbooks). The Stabilo range of writing pens have a variety for her to choose from (lucky really!!) 

Maths set

Oxford metallics maths set and ballpoint pen in silver and rose gold - £9.99. Rose gold is really popular at the moment, so makes it very on trend from Maped Helix, who are a British company that have been synonymous with the stationery world for over 130 years. 

Those added extras

Some may say that stationery is quite boring (don't utter those words to the teenager) but it is good to add a little fun to your school set and this year, Helix are featuring a  'Pepsi' stationery range that are destined to be the must have school product for 2018.

So while there are some children who are happy with a couple of pens and a calculator to go back to school with, it is good to know that you don't need to break the bank to find different products out there for those who like that little bit extra. This is useful, especially when forty-two per cent of parents are worrying about costs and have said school clothing was the biggest expense they faced before September, followed by extracurricular fees (18%), school supplies (15%), electronics (14%), and tutoring (10%).

It seems that whilst parents are crunching the numbers before school even starts, the only thing the kids are worried about is making sure that they have a pencil case to put all their new stuff into!