Hello! If you're a Metro student like myself then you know that we go back to school in 10 days(cue the tears). While it will suck to have to wake up at the crack of dawn again, it will be exciting to see all of your friends who you didn't get to see that much(or at all) this summer. If you're a nerd like me though, the most exciting part of going back to school is definitely buying school supplies. All of those brightly colored folders, all of the neat boxes of markers and pencils, organizing all of it only for it to look a mess by October. Ah yes, school supplies. For parents however, this can be the worst part of the entire school year. The random weird items that your kid will never use. The $159.99 calculator that you have to buy. TWICE. And if you're like my mom and you have an expensive high schooler and TWINS who ALL need new calculators this year(I'm the $159.99 one) then it's even worse. Luckily, I'm here to share 5 tips on how to take the hassle out of getting new school supplies at the beginning of every year.
1. Don't confine yourself to shop at just one store. Target has cheaper pencils than Office Max. But Office Max has cheaper composition books than Target. What's wrong with going to more than one store? Nothing! If you're on a strict budget for school supplies, or if you have more than one kid, or if you just don't want to break the bank before you even consider other things such as clothes, then you should consider shopping at more than one store for supplies. There's no sense in paying $1 per composition book at one place when you know you can get them for $.10 each at another store. You'll save yourself a lot of money and be able to purchase more than what you need in case of emergency or unexpected projects throughout the year.
2. Don't shun the dollar stores. They sell school supplies too, and while it may be appealing to shop the stores that specifically sell school and office supplies, such as Office Depot and Staples, you may find some of the best deals at places such as Family Dollar and Dollar Tree. My mom and I went shopping yesterday and one of the main things we didn't get was notebook paper, which is already cheap even at the bigger stores. We luckily live within a mile of both a Family Dollar and a Dollar General, and I'm sure that they have just as many sales on school supplies. Since their items are already cheaper than at other stores, the discounts will only save us that much more money. We will definitely use this tactic to stock up on some much needed supplies, which brings me to my next point.....
3. ......STOCK UP. If you know your child runs through a million and one packs of notebook paper throughout the year, or they have that one teacher that makes them write EVERYTHING DOWN, then you'll definitely want to take advantage of this tip. As I said in the last tip, for items such as notebook paper are already cheap, so if you can get an already cheap item at a DISCOUNT and you know for a fact that you use it A LOT, why would you not want to stock up on it. This can also apply to items such as pens, and if you keep them in a safe place at home and only take them as you need them, you can end up like me and not have to buy new pens for the next school year.
4. Don't wait until tax-free weekend to buy EVERYTHING. Tax-free weekend in Tennessee and other states is a weekend right before school starts when school supplies, clothes, and many electronics can be purchased without tax being added to them. This weekend is the smaller and much less violent equivalent to Black Friday, but still similar in many ways. If you wait to do all of your shopping during the tax-free holiday, you may have to pick through leftovers, and worse, you may not be able to find all of your child's supplies. While this weekend can be a huge money saver, it's not worth it to wait until this time to buy EVERYTHING. Clothes are a great thing to buy during this time. Items that everyone doesn't need are also good to buy during this time, as are electronics. But pens, pencils, and paper??? You'll be lucky to find much if you wait until the tax-free holiday to try and purchase these things. Do yourself a favor and buy some things early to be sure that you will definitely have them.
5. Don't doubt the list. If your kid's teacher says they need 150 straws, buy them 150 straws. I know that some items on supply lists seem ridiculous, but if the student didn't really need it, the teacher wouldn't list it. Save yourself the hassle of not being able to find these things later by just buying them when you buy all of the other supplies. Chances are, it'll be something only sold at a few places, and if you doubt the list and wait to buy it, it may not be there when you go to get it. Remember, the teacher is always right(most of the time).
Well that wraps up this installment of Aminah's Back To School Tips. I hope everyone is well prepared to start the school year. I hope everyone keeps their grades high and has a great 2014-2015 school year and I look forward to seeing you for the next round of back to school tips :-)
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