Back to School Guide

back to school supplies

Photo by 3lilmonsters411

I'm bad at the back to school thing. My first-grader starts in a little over a week, and he still doesn't have new shoes, a lunch bag, or a haircut. There's a library book sitting on our bookshelf that he (we) neglected to turn in LAST year.

And I've yet to go out and purchase back to school supplies.

I know most of you probably did this ages ago, or were smart enough to buy the pre-packaged deal from the PTA. But I don't even have the list. I think they sent it home months ago, but I lost it. Maybe I could tell my son's teacher that the dog ate it.

Many schools are already in full swing, but for me and the other proscrastinators who still haven't picked up those glue sticks, pens and pocket folders, cleanaturalady shared some Money and Time Saving BTS Supply Tips. Read her full Journal, but here are some teasers:

Go through that big bag of stuff that your child(ren) brought home at the end of school last year and see what can be reused. Does it really matter if there are 55 instead of 70 pages in that spiral notebook?  I don't think anyone will notice.

Don't go all over town trying to find the exact brand/size/colorof everything on the school's supply list. The PTA picks the brands that they want for the supplies and contracts with the school supply vendor based on those choices. It probably doesn't matter if your child has Crayola crayons or Prang crayons, they both make pretty colors when applied to paper.

Go shopping alone.  Do it in the dead of night if you have to but under no circumstances take your child(ren) with you to buy supplies. It is a recipe for disaster.

 

Do you buy your own school supplies or do you order the package from the PTA? Is there a big difference in price?