| Back to School | |
It's that time of year again; this week I discuss some tips and hints to help stretch your dollar when shopping for back-to-school supplies
My two older sons actually went back to school in July since they attend year-round school. (See my previous feature on the controversy surrounding year-round school.) So, I thought I would share the financial blunders I made when I went back-to-school shopping. Hopefully this will help you to avoid these same mistakes!
My biggest mistake when I did our back-to-school shopping was bringing my two sons with me. While I was heading to the sale items, they were off finding the "cool" stuff. I found a perfectly good backpack on sale for $7.99; in the meantime, Mikey, my 6-year old found a "really neat" Phoenix Suns backpack that he just had to have. Needless to say, this backpack was $14.99, and Mikey is now the proud owner of a Phoenix Suns backpack.
This might sound pretty obvious, but I forgot a pen, or pencil, or any means at all to cross items off the lists. And both boys had fairly long lists of supplies they needed. So while I was wondering which items I had already picked-up, I could have been looking for the best bargains.
Unfortunately, one disadvantage of year-round school, is that there are no good "back-to-school specials" in July. My older son, Danny, a fourth-grader, needed five ruled notebooks. These cost $.99 each. Now they are on-sale for 19 cents each, with a coupon, at our local grocery store. So I am going to buy several at that price for next year.