Back to School - saving money

[bensmom526]

ajrsmom: Ben cry maybe a little..he says he's not scared just nervous..none of his preschool friends are going to this school..Me I look at him and cry wondering where my baby is..Dh has taken the morning of the 5th off to be there comfort my crying when I walk out the school building


I have so much to buy the list has to be close to $100 and its all specific name brands too..like he needs clorox wipes to wipe down the keyboard at music class..I have to go to an art store for his art supplies..it's ridiculous
my MIL did say she'll help buying the uniforms...<keeping fingers crossed>
What happened to kindergarden being about cookies juice and eating paste?

[Vrsherren]

Just when I thought I didn't have to be concerned about "Back to School" along comes the grandkids!

My dd is very good about getting the school uniforms on sale durring our "tax free on school items" weekend or getting them second hand, as there is a group at both schools that recycle clothes. Its the rest of the stuff that can be a problem.
Now they have a list each child has to bring, like pencils, kleenex, sani-wipes, lined paper, etc. and the Teacher doles them out "as needed". Its kind of unfair here as there are some dead beats that refuse to bring the items on the list and the rest have to supply their child/children. I figure if you can afford a caddy you can afford to buy your kids supplies.
Grandma helps out with going to the dollar stores and picking up supplies and labeling them. I found a place that had pronged folders with pockets (required) that were 5 for a dollar! Usually here they are 2 for a dollar. Pencils 20 for a dollar, paper in 150 ct pkg. 2 for a dollar. Amazing what I can find @ the dollare stores in late July! Plus in December it will all go on sale again! Just in time to restock. I keep it in one closet and if the need arises I can pull it out.

Vivian

[cat lover]

Sounds wonderful;that is what we did when the DS were in school; bought it all on sale during the year and never paid full price when they needed more during the school year! No GK so no need for any now!~

[RobertaD]

My DH asked if DD1's school supplies went into a community fund. I wrote her name on everything that I could before sending them to school.

I used the Staples $3 coupons for returning ink cartridges to pay for most of her supply list. Bought over a couple of weeks and picked up what the weekly specials were. Had to have purple, blue, red, yellow, green single subject wide rule notebooks with matching color two pocket folders with the fasteners. That was fun to shop for.

Roberta

[MrsManiac]

I really really wish I could get Vince his pants at yard sales--he's very tall and skinny and finding jeans is impossible. He would wear a 7 slim-tall, if they made them lol!! I usually buy him an 8 slim so the legs are long enough and have my mil take in the waist.

Roberta, we don't have a community fund here, but a lot of the parents will buy a few extra items and donate them to the class to kind of help out. I did this year because last year things were really bad for us and we spent a lot of time depending on the kindness of others for even the most basic things like notebook paper!! So any time I can return the favor, I do. But I write the kids' names on everything, too. Had some kid last year try to swipe Matt's pen--he had the only one like it in school and it was still a hassle because we need to label everything!!

Vivian--I hate the "namebrand" list they send home lol!! I don't use most of it myself, yet I have to buy it for school. But I guess it's better than having very sick kids all year.

[RobertaD]

I'm going to redeem some more ink cartridges at Staples today and pick up colored pencils, more notebook paper and another pack of notebooks. Figure might as well get them now when they are on sale and I have coupons to pay for it.

We have always picked names off the Salvation Army Angel tree for Christmas the last couple of years I've picked up things on clearance and matched a kid to what I had already bought then just finished with buying clothes, etc. for their size. With the extra crayons, colored pencils, paper, scissors, etc. I'll look for someone wanting arts & craft items.

Roberta

[Pag36]

I too pick off the childrens Angel Tree but have any of you picked from the Seniors Angel Tree asuming you have them where you live. Gina and I did that last year we really enjoyed doing it.

[suzster]

Don't know if any of you guys are ever looking for software or that kind of school stuff but Academic Superstore has some really great deals for students and teachers. Check it out if you haven't heard of it...Just one more way to save

[RobertaD]

I sure was glad that I had purchased the maxium allowed last year at the $.01, $.05 sales as the good stuff wasn't that cheap this year.

Had just about everything on the list at home this year except a single subject wide rule red notebook but Grandma had one.

Had purchased socks and underwear for the kids before school started on sale. We have been given bags of clothes from my sister and SIL's neighbor so didn't need to buy clothes for DD1. Will probably need to buy some long pants in a month for DD1 after checking to see what still fits and the hand me downs that will work but need hemmed.

Roberta

[preacherswife]

I bought Land's End or Jansport backpacks, as those companies will replace them if they wear out. They did, and they did!