Next month the back to school sales start. Its almost unbelievable that its nearly time for that again already, since most public school kids in our area aren't even out of school yet!
Even the most frugal homeschoolers need school supplies, and the beginning of the back to school season seems to be the best time to purchase certain items. If you wait until closer to the actual start of the new school year, stores are either out of the loss-leader (ridiculously low priced) items, or they've jacked-up the prices again because everyone who has waited that long will be desperate for whatever they can get their hands on.
I've found the best deals, in general, are at Target and Walmart. I generally buy only a few basics- lined notebook paper, pencils/pens, glue sticks, and possibly some folders or notebooks (if we really need them). Happily, these basics are usually the loss-leaders (wire-bound paper notebooks are usually 10 for $1.00 at Walmart!). We don't really have a need for crayons right now in our family, since we have an infant and a 5th grader (who is too cool to use them anymore), but boxes of 12 crayons are normally 5 for $1.00 at Walmart, so I usually stock up on those anyhow. I've kept a stash of them for babysitting, entertaining rowdy children on a neighboring row at church, giving along with gifts as for younger children, donating to school supply drives, replenishing Primary supply closets, etc...
I also like to grab one of the school-supply lists that the stores provide, which show the required supplies that each student needs for the year at the public school in their area. I would never in a million years purchase most of the silly & expensive things on the list, but I do like to keep the list on hand as a reminder of yet another reason why I'm glad to be a homeschooler!
No comments:
Post a Comment