School Pictures: Waste of Money Or Memorable Tradition?
NOTE FROM COLLIN:
Similar to how we do our Try Me Tuesday posts with product recommendations, I thought it would be also fun to do basically the complete opposite. With that said, I introduce “Waste of Money Wednesday!” 😂 This post will be exactly that – the Hip2Save team will be sharing products that they aren’t happy with, products they feel are a waste of money – basically product UN-recommendations.
Hey There! It’s Lina – one of Collin’s sidekicks!
Do you purchase school and team portraits each year, and still have them in the original envelopes? 📸
I recently came across a box of these familiar blue and white Lifetouch envelopes filled with sheets of pictures of my kids. The sad part is that most of them were untouched like the day I received them! Oops!
We just had picture day again, and every year I say maybe we will skip this year, but then I’ll still write that check again because of guilt! And these packages aren’t inexpensive!
That has me thinking… Are school pictures kind of a waste of money?🤔
Maybe it’s because I’m not taking the time to send them to out of state family? Honestly, I can barely manage to get Christmas cards out half the time!
Or maybe because of the internet and the fact that my friends and family see pictures of my kids all the time on my personal social media, so I’m not really as motivated to share these?
(Me in 4th grade with the bangs and acid wash jean outfit! Priceless! )
Remember the old fashioned school class pics?!
Now those portraits are like gold! Why aren’t we still doing these? I would be excited to buy this for my kids to look back on of them with their class. (At least my school doesn’t offer them.)
Doesn’t it seem like there are pictures for every single activity and sport?
Every time we turn around there’s picture day for something… dance, baseball, softball, football, soccer etc. There’s even spring time school pictures!
I hate that there are stacks of pictures collecting dust, but definitely feel like I need to still buy them. Is it okay to stop buying these when your kids are 9 and 11 and already halfway through school? LOL I’ll probably continue buying them or at least buy a digital copy. 🤣
P.S. I did find one great way to organize school portraits, and other important school related papers by creating bins for both of my kids organized by grade level! Go HERE to read about it and grab the FREE organizing printables! 🙂
We need your help!
Do you still buy school or team portraits? Any tips to save money on them?
Any ideas what to do with all these older school pics from years past, still in the sheets?! Asking for a friend! 😉
Other Waste of Money posts:
- THREE Mascaras I Will NEVER Buy Again
- Dear General Mills, Your Charm is Not Making My Bank Account So Lucky!
- These Pioneer Woman Dishes are So CUTE, But Sadly They CHIP…
- Bryn Will NEVER Buy This Nintendo Product Again, Ever!
- Michelle Will NEVER Again Buy A Wanna-Be Roomba Vacuum
- Thinking of Buying a Hoverboard? Read This First!
- I Won’t Buy Cra-Z-Art Crayons Again – Too Waxy, Clumpy & Soft
- Seriously Amazon… Why Such BIG Boxes?
I never buy them, even if I can see them before I buy. They are way overpriced. I volunteer regularly and there are so many opportunities to take class pics during any of these events.
For my son’s 10th grade pictures I purchased the digital copy and print only what I needed at Costco (1-8×10, 1-5×7, 4-4×6) My total for picture and prints was $15 and change!
I still buy them. The uniform pic I only get the 8×10. The spring pic is the one I give to family but I buy the cheapest option and reprint them at home. I also buy the class pic. My girls all have a 3 ring binder with all the 8x10s inside. They do look at them occasionally.
Thanks for the binder idea! I like that 👍🏻
Honestly lifetouch is to expensive, the quality is not great and they don’t even care if the kid has a face full of chocolate they will still take the picture…yet I still do get them every year. I only have 1 kid in 3rd grade so I guess that’s why I do it but I have had so many issues with lifetouch, one time it took 6 months for them to fix a problem after I called 12 times. I think I am going to get them through 5th grade since those little years are so special and then I am just going to get the yearbook after that.
I agree 100% with you Trish. Lifetouch is expensive and they don’t give a hoot what the kid looks like when the photo is taken. My son had one half of his polo shirt collar sticking up and one side laying down in his picture and they still forwarded the image to me for purchase. When I refused, I asked for a new picture on retake day, and they told me that was “only for those kids who were absent, not those kids who had bad images.” I did not purchase those pictures.
I used to purchase my son’s sports pictures, when he was really little, because they were adorable. I stopped once I realized that I had 4 or 5 years of the identical pose with the same kids. I love pictures. But they are too expensive.
I still have all my school pictures. My mom dutifully saved them, put them in a “schoolhouse” frame with the designated years and handed them down to me, when I started having kids. It’s fun to see the resemblance I have with my kiddo, at the same age.
Yup they took my son’s pic last year right after lunch and he had chocolate and dried milk on his face. He was in 2nd grade, he’s little…they should help make sure they look decent before expecting us to spend $25 on a package. I called and ended up getting free retouching and a CD for free from complaining.
Teacher here. Lifetouch is the worst. The photographers do not care about getting the best picture, just getting it done as fast as possible. The packages are way too expensive. I take my own pictures every month and get real expressions instead of forced smiles.
I have worked as a photographer for Lifetouch for 19 years and care A LOT about getting the best picture-I have won national awards for my work.You say that Lifetouch is the worst? I can say from a LOT of experience from not only me,but my other Lifetouch collegues that the schools contantly pressure us to get the job done as quickly as possible,and to get out of their schools ASAP.And we are all aggravated by this treatment,because how are we supposed to get the “best picture”,when we are being treated this way? We are working for the parents,but the schools mess this up by often not giving us the time that we need.Don’t always blame the photographer,and I’m serious! Every parent needs to be a school photographer for at least a week,to walk in our shoes and see what we go through………..
Would Michelle’s mod podge idea for the kids art work work for these school pictures? You could make a collage to hang or gift.
Yes fun idea!
I don’t think mod podge will work on the front. It will mar the emulsion(gel picture part). You could invert and podge them to a surface (like the picture to wood transfers).
Buy the cd that has the copyright! It’s usually less than $10. That I way you can head to Walgreens and get as many pics any size for a way better price!
I never order photos however I order yearbooks. My kids school offer yearbooks starting in Kindergarten for $15 so i get one for each of my kids. Then they have the memories from them and the photos dont get ruined plus get more for my money. Since they make friends in all the classrooms and not just in their own.
Yes – love yearbook tradition!
Waste of money IMO. I don’t like fake smile, posed, school portraits. And my 3 boys could care less about taking school pics…and it shows in the pic! I like action shots of them playing outdoors or sports. I take them myself, the look great, plenty of memories, and they’re free:)
Thanks for your opinion Steph!
Take the pictures the morning of the picture day. Save the pixs on a flash drive. You can send the pixs or make as many copies you want. This is also important if a fire or natural disaster occurs. Put the drives in a sandwich bag and grab the drives on the way out.
Great advice – thanks!
No, i do not buy them because my child is usually not pleased with the photo and unfortunately i have to agree, there isn’t much effort put towards making sure they look good. They are also expensive but I do like the idea of reprinting from home never thought of that.
I wait until the proofs come back, if the picture is especially good (which they usually aren’t) then I can buy them in a special usually a month or so later. The proof has the online ordering information with it and if you sign up online they said you email promos.
I buy it, and I am a photographer! I take my own also. I do not buy a big package usually the digital or a mini pack with it. Our school has class pictures still. <3 I love all these memories. It goes fast…. and I only have one little one. Our school uses a local pro studio so I am expecting them to be good, and if not there's free retakes. Just so excited to see the photos. <3
Cheapest school package for us is around $25+. I stopped getting them and take my kids to Picture People in uniform. So I still get “school” photos, just not from the school. Is Picture People great? No, but they’ll shoot at least 10 different poses and I get to choose what I want. And we do it when they have deals, like a package with several copies/sizes for $14. This last time I paid $10.
Nice! Thanks for sharing 👍🏻
This is my second year and ordered the package. The kindergarten package is around here somewhere. Maybe one day I’ll use them.
I love school pictures, I just get an 8×10 then scan and print what I need way cheaper that way and easier to control the size I need and how many
I too was thinking the same thing!!! Like should I buy bc it’s what my parents did??? I just purchased the minimum package bc I only plan to give grandparents and his aunt plus some wallets. $38… I guess that’s still a tad pricey but for once a year, it’s good.
Thanks for sharing! Yes that’s about our package price too.
I mean what will you terrorize your teenager with if you don’t have horrible school pics? The only thing left will be naked baby pics. 🤣🤣
And now…our school system has added spring and fall pictures. Although we do…also out of guilt, by the fall pictures when school begins. I find it ridiculous that they would even try to push these things twice a year. While we are on the subject of useless school rip-offs. I am really getting tired of 15 fundraisers a year selling even more overpriced things I will never need, or $1.50 worth of holiday nut tins for $20. Along with every extra curricular activity, each knocking at my door every year for hand outs. Not to mention the schools asking for a new levy constantly (in all fairness…our particular system cannot manage a dollar, yrs may be more fiscally responsible) Don’t get me started on the lunches. Phew…I feel better. Thank you for listening. 🙂
School pictures are actually a sneaky fundraiser. The school makes $1 for each kid photographed, even if no one ever buys a package. And of course, people do. That’s why they do spring too.
Unfortunately, most companies only pay schools if a package is purchased. A new company we started using (I am a teacher) will now only pay if purchased on picture day no credit for online orders:(
Interesting! Thanks for sharing 👍🏻
haha right?! I will get an 8×10 from here on out for each child (I have 5) but most pics don’t turn out very nicely. My daughter last year looked like an inmate, and this year she looks stoned. PERFECT blackmail for later, but no one wants that on their wall for a year (Grammas and Grampas). I took photos in my backyard this fall with all the colors and got pics that I will give to family – turned out WAY better than the school ones, and we have a good Lifetouch photographer.
Oh fun- thanks for sharing!
I buy them both both kids. I buy the cheapest package that has an 8×10, our school uses Interstate Studio, about $21 for an 8×10 and more smaller sizes per kid… not bad at all. I have a huge wedding type photo book where I keep these photos along with the yearly class pictures. One child’s team gymnastics pictures are much more expensive – about $40 for literally 2 pictures! So I’m not complaining about the school ones, even if they are not that great. Plus, we rarely print out pictures from cell phones, so it’s nice to have something in print.
They are expensive but you don’t get a chance to re-do those ‘smiles’ as years go by. We were watching our granddaughter on picture day… kindergarten. Was told they had decided not to participate. We sent the money because I wanted her picture. Pictures were beautiful…so much so, they had it done in a canvas. They have done every year since (now have 2 in school). Just got my adorable pictures last week!
Those pictures become priceless when you get older and can look back and remember and especially ones of my brother who died at 38 and I treasure every school picture and any other picture I have of him. I am glad my Mom bought all of them every year.
could not agree more!! Most people wouldn’t think twice about spending $25 plus at Mc Donald’s or Chick fil A…….why not spend that on pics that will last a lifetime??!!
These days I buy the smallest package, $11. Worth noting that Lifetouch does offer a money back guarantee if you are truly unsatisfied. When my son was in Kinder and my girl not in school I took the kids to Target to get pics together so I only ordered a couple of his school portraits. Fast forward-he came home DEVASTATED that he was the only kid that didn’t get the “big face” picture (8×10). Total mom guilt for years afterwards. 🙁
Yes I’ve been there too- Mom guilt!
My daughter has attended the same private school for 8 years and each year I bought the class picture. At her graduation party she did a cute display on the wall with all the pictures. Her friends loved it! It was fun seeing how they had all grown.
LOVEEE School PICTURES!!! 🙂 I dont do Social Media, so I do still give the pictures to family members. My parents always bought them Every year for me and my siblings. I Cherish them now, even the bad ones.!!!! So I will continue to do the same for my family. They are Priceless! 🙂 🙂 🙂 . Plus I also love keeping old traditions alive, not all but the most memorable ones.
Thanks for your comment!
Just ordered from LIFETOUCH, grossly overpriced and not affordable for all. $35 for a few pictures, I only wanted one but am forced to get a package I don’t want just to get a 5×7. Can get an entire package at JCPenny for $10.
TOTAL RIP OFF!!! But I believe it just depends on the person. Some like the tradition like my MIL, but I would rather higher a professional photographer or even amateur to take family photos and individuals. They always turn out so lovely. I do ours every two years.
I always buy the class photo and get the digital copy on cd. Then I order prints from walgreens.
Great idea! Thanks
I’m a professional photographer. I never buy the school photos because they are such poor quality. Luckily I can take my own of my kids. If I wasn’t able to get my own photos for free I would still once a year hire a photographer to get shots of my family and of each of my kids and get digital copies to print as needed. Way better value and better pictures.
Oh and yes I understand people getting the class photo for memory sake but I usually get photos of my little guy at school with his friends. Either I take it or another parent and they text it to me. Not professional quality but doesn’t bother me. It’s free and an excellent memory.
Our school does both fall and spring, in the fall you have to pre-purchase a package and in the spring they send home a package of prints and you only pay for and keep the sheets you want. I have been the smallest package in the fall that has a 5×7 (we don’t have a digital option) it’s about $26 but leaves with a lot of left over pictures. Sadly, we don’t have living Grandparents and only 2 Aunts that we send pictures to. Out of the 3 years we have done this only one year has been good. I agree with the others that have said the photographers don’t care about getting a good picture, just moving them along. It’s the guilt and the fear that the one year we don’t buy they will be really good.
I only bought school pictures for the first couple years. It gets really pricey, and we just can’t afford it, especially with me as a stay-at-home mom. So we take our own photos, usually in late November. We make sure to get a good “headshot” of each of the kids, as well as several photos of them together. These are then saved for us as their “school photo” but then also sent out with Christmas cards to any relatives (usually printed on a great deal through Shutterfly or Walgreens). These photos ALWAYS turn out so much better than anything the schools have ever taken, and we can take a zillion pictures in order to narrow it down to the perfect one.
My eldest is a senior this year, and senior portraits are no different. We did fork over the $27 sitting fee from the studio just so she can have her yearbook photo match the rest of the class, though. But the cheapest package was almost $120, and that only included 4 pictures: 1 5×7, 1 3.5×5, & 2 wallets. Instead, we’re going to take her all over the city in different outfits, in different locations, etc., and take as many pictures as we can. Hopefully we’ll be able to get several great shots. If all else fails, we can easily do a mini session with a local photographer for $50 or less and get the digital images from that. Still so much cheaper than the school portraits, and we’d have the rights to print out however many we want (and order stuff off Shutterfly!)
I try to only get the digital version nowadays – I use them for my Shutterfly calendars, Shutterfly books, e-mail them to family, and print them at Costco. Getting “prints” from the photographer seems like a waste because you have the digital copy so you can make any size print you want anywhere!
Agreed, only the digital copies are useful for me. I use them in Shutterfly Books.
Another sentimental vote since they are some of the few pics left I have of myself through the years that I kept, after my family home was flooded. They are from the sixties and seventies so I’m sure they were a bargain back then. I’d get a minimum package at least if I had to make the decision today though.
My first child is now in 1st Grade. I have ordered both years and I LOVE them!! Our school does about 5 pictures a year. Part of the proceeds are a fundraiser for the school so that’s why I think they have so many (School pictures, Class Pictures, Fall Pictures, Santa Pictures and Spring Pictures). I only do school pictures and class pictures. Last year my son went with me to hobby lobby and picked out the frame for his K picture. This year we will do the same thing! I’m also going to get one of those frames that have the year pictures to watch the growth because there is not enough shelf space to pick a frame every single year. My plan with that though is in a few years to have one set frame for my son and one for my daughter. I’ll trade the pictures out every year and put the old one in their school “scrapbook”. For the pictures, I only order what I need, my son signs the back and puts his age and we include them in our Christmas cards!
I LOVE your organization bin!! Thank you SO much for posting that! I’m for sure going to do that!
One thing that I can’t spend money on is the yearbooks. My sons K yearbook was $40! I do not know what the norm is but to me that is outrageous. However, they have left over yearbooks at the front office for sale and as the year goes on, the price goes down. So I will snag one when they go cheaper!
Lifetouch is horrible quality for school photos and sports photos. I remember one year getting a soccer picture of my son kneeling in completely dead grass….what? It looked so awful next to their white jerseys and we live in Oregon where green is everywhere! Half the time my daughter eyes looked closed and like others have said, the photographers never care. This seems outdated as most people have phones or a digital camera and can take the photos themselves for pennies on the dollar.
School pictures are rip-off! I usually volunteer at the school & go to school functions where I can take my own pictures. Some candid, some not. They all turn out better than the ones the school has to offer. One year I even took the time to make a DVD with the pictures set to music containing the school song for the teacher’s last day. She played it for all the kids & they loved it! Its way more personal to take your own.