FAIRVIEW HEIGHTS — There won't be as many new clothes for Mary Franzen's daughter this school year.
With the cost of gas and her overall cost of living higher than this time last year, Franzen is more limited in the amount of school supplies she buys for 4-year-old daughter Lexi's prekindergarten class.
"It's not cheap," Franzen said. "Last year, it was a lot easier."
The Pinckneyville mom is also getting ready for a new school year of her own. She will drive 37 miles to attend Rend Lake College in Ina this year.
"Gas prices are the main thing," she said. "I usually just fill up and let it run out and fill up when I get paid."
"We're a little more limited this year in what they're getting and where they're getting it at," said Kassie Fisher, of Swansea, and mother of three school-age children.
"School supplies were a biggie. We really couldn't cut back on the list our school gives. You have to have what's on that list. So it's clothes. They're just not going to have as many outfits to choose from or from where they would want them from."
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