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The start of a new school year is an exciting (and sometimes terrifying) time for kids, but for parents it means shopping, organizing and all the stress you can shake a stick at.  This year, according to the National Retail federation’s 2012 Back-To-School spending survey, the average person with children in grades K through 12 will spend $688.62 getting them ready for school; this figure is up almost exactly $85 from last year’s average of $603.63. The same survey estimates the total spending for Back-to-school shopping is expected to reach an amazing $30.3 billion. The reason that this number is so large is that the most recent data from the U.S. Census Bureau showed there were 77 million children and adults enrolled in school–from nursery school all the way up through college–that’s nearly 25% of the country’s entire population.