As School Needs Rise, Here's How to Manage Spending Flexibly

Ahead of the new academic year, many families in Indonesia are once again faced with rising expenditures for educational needs. From the purchase of school supplies and learning devices such as laptops or tablets to additional course fees, all these requirements often arise at almost the same time.

For some households, this period becomes one of the moments with the highest expenditure pressure of the year. This is not only due to the increasing number of needs but also because they tend to be required within a short timeframe to ensure the child’s learning process is not disrupted.

Buy Now Pay Later (BNPL) services have become one of the options now widely used to support these needs. This system allows the public to make purchases first and pay them in instalments over a certain period, ensuring that the expenditure burden does not have to be borne all at once at the beginning.

One BNPL provider, Indodana Finance (PT Indodana Multi Finance), views the new academic year as a crucial period in the public’s spending cycle. Through a programme titled ‘Back to School’, the company is offering various promotions aimed at helping the community meet educational needs more flexibly.

The Director of Indodana Finance, Iwan Dewanto, stated that educational needs often arrive simultaneously, requiring more mature financial planning. “We are committed to providing easy access and flexible financing that is comfortable and safe, so that parents can prepare their children’s educational needs more systematically,” Iwan said in his statement.

Through this programme, users can take advantage of various promotions such as 0 per cent instalments and discounts for educational needs during the period from mid-June to the end of July 2026. These offers cover various categories, ranging from technological devices and school supplies to educational courses, as well as fashion and lifestyle needs.

In the learning device category, for example, needs such as laptops and gadgets are among the most sought after ahead of the new school year. These devices now function not only as supporting tools but also as an essential part of the modern learning process, which is increasingly digital-based.

Meanwhile, in the non-formal education sector, the public is also increasingly allocating budgets for language courses, skills training, and self-development classes. This trend shows that educational needs are no longer limited to formal schooling but also encompass competency enhancement outside the main curriculum.

In addition to primary educational needs, family expenditures often extend to other categories such as clothing, personal supplies, and family entertainment. This is common as part of the preparations for the new academic year, especially for children entering a new educational phase.

With the increasing variety of these needs, flexibility in financial management is becoming something that the public pays more attention to. Digital financing services like BNPL have become one of the options used to help manage spending so that it remains in line with each family’s financial condition.

Nevertheless, financial observers emphasise the importance of using financing services wisely. The ease of access to digital credit needs to be balanced with mature payment planning to avoid creating financial burdens in the future.