Smart Back-To-School Shopping

It’s that time of year again. The swimsuits are looking a bit frayed and bleached, and the store aisles are overflowing with school supplies. When you grab your list and head for the store, don’t forget to bring along your common sense and do some smart shopping.

School Supplies—Your kids will need the usual notebooks, pencils, erasers, rulers, crayons, as well as the mandatory box of tissues. But don’t fall for the high price tag of those fancy notebooks. After all, it’s just paper. Instead, buy some inexpensive composition book and let your child decorate the cover. Put out an assortment of old magazines that have plenty of photos and illustrations. Give your child a pair of scissors and a glue stick and stand back. Let her decorate the cover by making a collage of pictures and then cover it with clear, wide packing tape to protect it.

Clothes—Don’t blow your budget on a bunch of fancy clothes that are just doing to get torn and dirty before interim reports go out. Get the basics—things like blue jeans, some skirts, T-shirts, and buttoned shirts. Make sure you get plenty of solid colors and clothing staples that can be mixed and matched. Also, don’t buy super-expensive sneakers. You want your child to be concerned about keeping her grades up, not her appearances. If you give your kids expensive shoes, then they may feel pressured to keep them clean and tidy (not a good idea during recess). And for a last wardrobe touch, pick up an inexpensive digital watch with an alarm. That way you can set it if they need timely reminders throughout the day, such as when they need to leave for the bus stop.

Home—Don’t forget back-to-school shopping for your home as well. Get a large basket or some other container for your home so that your kids know where all of their school belongings go. When they return home, everything goes in that basket, and when it’s time to go to school the next day, they know where to find it. You also want to make sure that your child has an adequate place to do their studies. Any type of tabletop with good task lighting will do, even if it’s the dining room table. If you don’t have a convenient spot, you can always get an inexpensive folding side table for your child to store in her room.
Keep in mind that going back to school doesn’t have to mean breaking the bank. Shop smart and shop happy!