Let the price matching begin! Or not...

I had mentioned in a previous post that I was going to look all around and let you know where I find the best prices on school supplies. I also mentioned I was pretty sure I already knew where that was. Similar to 99% of the time, my intuition was right. I looked at Target, Staples, Office Max, Dollar General, and of course, Wal-Mart.

I found a few good prices at Target, but nothing that really stood out. Office Max & Staples, as wonderful as they are, we're the highest priced. However, they both offer great prices on items if you spend a certain amount first. I'd rather just start saving my money right out the chute, no thinking required. Dollar General was ok as well. They just don't have a very large selection, which is fine. It only becomes a problem when they have run out of stock and you don't have the time to wait for them to refill because the store is full of people and only three employees are working. I'm not knocking it. I love that place. It's just better for me and my family as a convenience store rather than a buy-all store.

And finally, trusty ol' Wally World wins again. I'll be the first to admit there's plenty of stores I'd rather spend my money for plenty of reasons. But when it comes right down to it, as far as school supplies are concerned, they have an upper hand on their competition.

I was looking at the local ad for this week's special prices on back to school items and YOWZA I had no idea what I would be seeing. If you have a family with one child, 5 kids, or if you're like me and you have a whole classroom to prepare for in addition to your own children, this is the place you should go.

I'm sure lots of people have convictions regarding why they do or do not shop at WM. It's a love-hate relationship for many folks. Well, I'd say this is a time to set aside your differences and save a buck or two! I'm pretty sure my wallet will be thanking me. :)

 

Back to School Shopping Phase 1 Complete!

I took my little people shopping for their backpacks and lunch boxes today. Before we actually went to the store, I looked online at a few places online to get an idea of the prices so I wouldn't have sticker shock! I didn't show them what I had found before I asked them what they had in mind. Lady Bug knew immediately what she wanted, so that was easy: something exactly like what she had last year. It was pink and covered in glitter. Fortunately, The Children's Place (one of my favorite stores!) had a backpack almost identical to the one we bought at Academy last summer. She debated between two choices before she picked the one I really wanted her to have. :)

 

 

BMan on the other hand wasn't quite as easy, unfortunately. I thought we had already made the decision to get one backpack and a non-matching lunchbox. Once we got to the store, all of that changed! He saw the other, not-mom-approved options. 

"BMan, you have two choices," I said. "Camo or sports?"

Cute, right?

 

No such luck. This is what he just had to have:

I mean really. He's four. Ugh. So I called my husband from the store to get his opinion on the subject. "Pick your battles. He's going to like things that you don't. If you get him a bag he doesn't want, he's going to fight you on it all year." Sheesh. Every once in a while, he's the voice of reason. Usually that's my job.

 

Being the smarty-pants that I am, I thought I'd try a compromise. Again, he's four. Suggesting that he get a flames lunch box and one of the other backpacks didn't work. At one point, I thought I had Lady Bug doing the dirty work for me. BMan asked her if she liked the flames. As I stood behind him, facing her, I suggested she tell him no by shaking my head at her. He walked away, proudly taking his big sister's advice, ready to put the bag away. She and I shared a private high-five before realizing he didn't really care what she thought after all. Turkey.

 

I hope you're having, or have already had an easier time shopping for backpacks. Somehow I presume we all share similar experiences. The joy of being a parent!

 

***Here's my super cool little people with their new digs!***

 

 

Time to go shopping!

Do you have your school supply list yet? Have you found where the best prices are? Have you set aside a budget?

Back to School shopping has always been one of my favorite times of the year! Even when I was a little kid, I loved the smell of school supplies! Since I began teaching, I've loved getting them for my own students. However, this is the first year I'm not quite as excited about it. Landry is starting Kindergarten. I swear her supply list is a million miles long. I suppose it only feels that way because my more-than-ready, too-big-for-her-britches little girl is officially starting school. She's been in Mother's Day Out programs and preschools since she was two years old, but this. This makes it real- She's growing up. Whether I want her to or not!

*** OK, mommy rant over! ***

If you haven't yet picked up or printed out your school supplies list for 2nd grade, you can grab it here.





2nd Grade School Supplies

I plan on doing plenty of price comparisons {even though I'm pretty sure I already know where the best prices will be}... I'll make a note of anything really great I find on here.

I'm definitely working with a super-tight budget this year. Both kiddos starting school, supplies for my own classroom, and not to mention school clothes and shoes. Oy!!! Baby steps! Buy a little at a time. I don't want my wallet (or my husband!) to flip out! We will make it fun though! I can't let something I love doing so much become a burden! Maybe make a game out of it? How about we get the backpacks and lunch boxes first? Then on our next trip, we will only buy the things that will fit in our bags. After that, the big jumbo things: like a million boxes of Kleenex and 10,000 bottles of Germ-X! Depending on sales, we might hold out for school clothes until the very end. It's not like they need an entirely new wardrobe all at once. They still have clothes to wear. Not to mention, since we live in an area that feels like it's next door to the sun, they can probably wear their summer clothes until December. Shoes are a must. Their sweet little feet grow so much and so fast, I don't know how their little piggies haven't popped out of them yet! Thank goodness for Crocs and flip flops!

Check out THIS post I wrote last year as I was school shopping!

August Calendar

 

I'll be adding more info as it becomes available!

Happy Little Harts!

I hope everyone is enjoying their summer! I sure am! I spent most of June in workshops and trainings to prepare for a great school year this fall.

I'm thrilled the 4th of July is this week! It's absolutely one of my favorite holidays. Did you know that most stores begin putting out school supplies soon after the 4th?! Our family will be buying school supplies for the first time ever this summer! LaLa starts kindergarten and BMan will be just down the hall from her in Pre-K. Our plan is to buy a little bit at a time so we don't leave in a state of shock! I usually buy a few extra supplies to keep in my classroom in the event a new friend joins us.

I hope everyone is swimming, reading, and soaking up the sun! Summer always seems to fly by, so enjoy it while you can!