Back to School

Yes it is that time of year again where parents need to get to the stores and get school supplies and clothes for their children.  Depending on where you live, school should be starting up in about three weeks.  Based on last years back to school shopping spree, I was able to come away with 7 outfits, a backpack, two pairs of shoes, a jacket, and school supplies for around $150-$200.  I am hoping to stay in that same price range this year.  Luckily my children are still in elementary school so I am getting away cheap but I know that as my children rise through the grades, the cost will rise also.  I know a mother who spent $500 on just one of her four children for back to school supplies when her children were in high school.  I am not looking forward to such a dramatic price increase but I will make sure my children have nice clothes, shoes, and educational supplies at the start of every school year.  Keep in mind, if you are buying for young children do not go overboard because most of the clothes you buy are not going to fit next year or will be turned into play clothes because they are going to get stained up on the play ground, etc.

There are families that cannot afford to get anything for their children for school (There should be local help for situations like this, such as churches or your local assistance office may know where to get help for school supplies and clothing.)  I remember going to school with people that would show up on the first day with sneakers held together with duct tape, their backpack held together with duct tape or patched together with whatever would hold, and clothes they wore two or more years ago.  I always wondered weather their parents simply could not afford to get them new clothes, or if they blew their money on beer and drugs and chose not to take care of their child's school needs.  Either way I would like to remind parents of what school was like when we went...kids were ruthless to those who were less fortunate.  I went to a blue ribbon school filled with upper middle class students who wore expensive name brand clothing that my parents simply could not afford.  Luckily I had a brain for saving money instead of trying to keep up with the trends because I could not justify paying more than $15 for a shirt, even $20 was pushing it.  So my Mom had it easy buying me school clothes, I was perfectly fine with getting my clothes from discount stores. Even today I refuse to over pay for clothing, if I can get 6 outfits for the price of one name brand outfit...I'm going for the 6 outfits.  There is nothing wrong with shopping at Walmart, the Dollar Store or discount stores.  The Dollar Store has some really nice outfits every now and then, you just have to catch the new stock because that stuff goes fast at the store in my town.

What I do to prepare for my back to school shopping spree is first, go through all of my son's clothes!  Whatever still fits, is not stained up or holey will be put in his closet for the school year (I put his school clothes in his closet and his play clothes in his dresser).  Then I take inventory on what he has and what he will need and base the quantity of what I will be buying on what he needs.  I like to make sure he has at least 7-10 pairs of jeans, 15 different shirts, 2 pairs of shoes, 3 hoodies, at least 2 jackets, and new socks and undies just for school...this is not counting the clothes he has for play which are usually his clothes from last year that got stained up.  This year my son had a bit of a growth spurt so I may need to buy him a whole new wardrobe. Growth spurts are sporadic and leave some mothers buying all new clothes in the middle of the school year because their child's pants are up past their socks!

I went to Walmart last year and got some good deals but my Mother is insisting I head to Kmart this year and do my back to school shopping there.  Let me give you an idea of how "out in the middle of nowhere" I am.  Walmart is about an hour away from where I live, Kmart is about 2 hours from where I live...ugh.  I am going to give Kmart a try and see if I make out better there but based on my online price matching I think I will break about even.  I do know that the Walmart in my area does not have a huge selection on shoes which can be very frustrating for a 9 year old looking for skater shoes.  I was told that the Kmart in my area has a much larger selection so I am looking forward to seeing what they have to offer.  I will more than likely get pencils, binders, whatever is needed for school supplies this year, at the dollar store because they have really great deals on that stuff.  If you have a hoard of children and need to buy in bulk, I suggest going to www.usschoolsupply.com.  You can get 50 lead pencils
for $18.25!  That is amazing.  Check out that website and see what other bulk deals you can find.  They pretty much have everything, if any parents have any tips on where else to search online or shop please comment and help all mothers save a penny or two this year!


Good luck parents!  I hope your back to school shopping spree is full of bargains and sales so we can all walk away without debt or anxiety of how your going to pay the bills this month.  By all means, do some research and know your options.  There is nothing that grinds my gears more than finding out I could have bought something somewhere else for way cheaper!