[ellenmelon]

We found that shopping before the 3rd week of August gave us the best selection (saved time) and also had some pre-season sales and also take advantage of the end of season sales. DDs are going to the mall tonight to scope it out and I'll go with them in the next few days to make the purchases.

If you are a homeschooler or have a teaching certificate our Office Depot will give you a Star Teacher discount card and coupons. Same for Barnes and Noble. Only there you have to be actively teaching in a school system and not just hold the certificate.

We do a lot of hand me downs from aunts and nieces. That really helps. And the girls do some exchanges with friends.

One dd picks up lost and forgotten pencils and has a box full of them. The other dd recycles most of her notebooks and folders. This is after the big bonfire they have at the end of the school year for classes for which they will not want the notes again.

We shop throughout the year and try to get to the stores before the college students do. So we keep track of the return dates and move in weekends on campus and work around those.