Makenna Carlin had done her homework on back-to-school investments. "You only need one outfit for the first day to look snazzy," explained the friendly 11-year-old from Kennedy. She's planning to wear new skinny jeans in a dark wash from Delia's with a hand-me-down-but-never-worn pink polo shirt.

The nation's kids have learned budgeting this year, even before the first school bell rings. Parents losing ground to high fuel prices and food costs are teaching children to make things last and to make careful choices about what they do spend.

That means going through the closet, NPD Group researchers found. Book bags, footwear and clothes are the items most likely to get another year of use. "If it fits, you're going to wear it again," said Marshal Cohen, NPD's chief industry analyst, noting this was the first time in years he'd seen this kind of hesitation about spending.

Deloitte researchers saw it, too. In a survey, 83 percent of respondents planned to spend less on clothing, 48 percent said they'd spend less on shoes and 30 percent were cutting back on backpack expenses.

That last one is nothing new for Miriam Carlin, mother of Makenna and four other children. "I don't buy a new backpack every year," said Ms. Carlin, who was in the Mall at Robinson last week with all but one of her youngsters. Her strategy: invest in a bag that will last. "They take good care of it. I wash it."

Her 13-year-old, Kitty, got new tennis shoes -- "My foot grew," the teenager said, modeling her white and pink footwear -- but sons, Brody, 9, and Riley, 7, didn't need bigger ones yet.

Being frugal comes naturally, Ms. Carlin said, citing values inherited from immigrant Italian grandparents. But rising prices also have reinforced that attitude. "I definitely am not succumbing to the pressures that I may have succumbed to in the past," she said. When the offspring wanted to buy something to drink, she'd reminded them she had bottled water in the car.

For retailers, the economic environment is having the effect of breaking up some mall cliques and garnering new friends for stores that can spice up their practical "value" messages with fashion twists.

In interviews with consumers around the country, Mr. Cohen found parents letting children get one or two "power" outfits but insisting they make do with less pricey items or last year's styles to fill in. Or they might just set a budget and let a teenager try to figure it out.

While that could keep retailers such as Abercrombie & Fitch with a cool-but-expensive reputation in the game, it also seems to be steering more traffic toward "value" retailers. Aeropostale, considered among the less expensive brands for those who like a preppy look, has picked up market share at the expense of South Side retailer American Eagle Outfitters, which is seen as a bit more expensive although not as costly as Abercrombie.

The operator of Limited Too, a mall retail chain offering plenty of hot pink accents and Jonas Brothers gear for tween girls, recently announced it would convert those stores to the company's more "value" oriented brand, Justice.

Mr. Cohen said children know both brands and don't mind heading to the less expensive version. "They recognize there's better value, and their parents let them buy there."

So many retailers are eager to prove to consumers that they can nail the fashion-value equation that Chris Murtland, of Oakdale, found herself making her daughter try on lots of jeans. Delia's, for example, was offering a $10 gift to those who just put pants on. "Every place that offered that, I made her try on a pair," laughed Ms. Murtland.

J.C. Penney had a buy-one, get-one-for-$1 offer on shirts that was so appealing she went ahead and got four shirts. The mall was full of variations on the BOGO theme. Both Express and Gap Kids offered to let shoppers buy one pair of jeans and get 50 percent off another. Wet Seal extended that to both jeans and graphic T-shirts, which was almost the same as American Eagle.

Back-to-school messages permeated the mall from the poster in the Sears window urging students not to just go back but to "arrive," to Radio Shack's "make it the best school year ever" sign, illustrating both how important the season can be -- many see it as an early read on the critical holiday season -- and how parents have to spread their dollars across more categories.

Electronic items such as laptop computers and cell phones now gobble up more dollars, said Mr. Cohen. Even if families cut back on clothing and shoes, they may end up spending about the same because they are investing in equipment.

Meanwhile, the girl absentmindedly fixing her hair in the empty glass window of a former Wilsons Leather store -- the company was trying to change direction but has since given up -- was a reminder that some retailers have found the overall slowdown in consumer spending a challenge to their very survival.

Nicole Kelly, of Bridgeville, sat down on one of the Robinson mall's benches to take a break from back-to-school shopping with her 8-year-old son, Jacob, and ponder the choices people have to make. "You see people with very expensive name-brand clothing, and they don't have furniture in their houses," she said.

Even though it might be nice to get her son an Abercrombie shirt or some other fashion name, Ms. Kelly wasn't feeling too much pressure. "I don't feel that I need to keep up with anybody," she said, with a smile. But then, she also figured she might be getting off easy because boys tend to keep it simple -- jeans and T-shirts.

In a year when more families will be applying for school lunch help and more schools considering if uniforms would ease economic disparities, trading down to less expensive clothes makes sense to Thom Blischok, president of consulting and innovation for Information Resources Inc.

Even those who don't need assistance will be digging for extra dollars in other ways, such as putting off oil changes, using razor blades a few extra weeks or waiting another year to paint the house, he said. They may also delay buying back-to-school items as long as possible and buy only notebooks and pencils that they really need, rather than stocking up on extras.

Still, there's sometimes a tug and pull as parents and children set priorities. Ms. Murtland was negotiating with her daughter over the backpack situation. "She wants a bag. She has a bag. They're like $30," said the appalled mother, who offered to buy a $20 pair of jeans instead.

After much negotiation in homes across the country, students will be fine as they head back to the classroom in a blend of old favorites and new acquisitions, said Mr. Cohen. "The kids are going to be dressed. They're going to be wearing clothes. They're going to be fitting. And they're going to be looking good."

Because, he added, "Parents make sure kids are in the right frame of mind for starting school."