Savvy School Shopping from Average Jane...

School Shopping Savers....

Well, it's that time. If you have kids and are living a typical middle class life - it's time for school shopping and most of us don't really have the money for it this year (did we have the money for it last year?? um, probably not...)
A few tips from around the Internet globe and also a few things that I myself find handy to do an entire wardrobe for a teenager and then turn around and get sports supplies, school supplies, and also have the $20 that's going to have to be sent into the school for the various items that school taxes used to pay for, but no longer do.

First and foremost - if you have a pre-schooler........... wait until after the school shopping frenzy for the sales!! Children's Place often can take $50 from you and in return give you two huge bags full of cute and trendy clothing for your mini-me.

Elementary and Teenagers: You probably won't be able to wait until after school starts to do your shopping without your kid dying on you at the dinner table shopping discussion. They need clothes for the first week! The need supplies for the first day! etc, etc.

Basic Rule #1 - make a list and stick to it, do not stray from the list - get the school supply list that was mailed to you from the school and then make a clothing list (including shoes/belts/underclothes)

Basic Rule #2 - set an amount in your mind that you are going to spend (probably the max amount that you even have available to spend, or what's left in your checking after buying all the hogs in your house their food for the week). If this is only $100, don't panic! That's enough for a good start. If it's less, tell your child that you'll get a few things now and a few things in the coming weeks, focus on a few new pieces of clothes for the first few days and at least their supplies. Luckily the stores have lots of Back To School Sales.

Basic Rule #3 - Start at the discount stores! Go to Gabriel Brothers, TJ Max, Marshall's, the Dollar Tree, Family Dollar, Big Lots, Ollie's, etc.......... Look for all items on your both lists. Whatever you can buy there, buy! Whatever you can't, go to the next price level. Go to Wal-mart, Target, K-Mart, etc. These stores will have the rest of the supplies at cheaper prices, the underclothes, and maybe your kid will even pick some of their clothes from there (especially Target who has nice clothes - but unfortunately isn't that much cheaper than the mall anymore).
FINALLY - after all that is done, take the final items on your list (probably clothes and shoes) and go to the outlets or the mall. Know how much you have left after your spending at the discounts stores, and tell your child, "Hey look, this is what we have. So let's look for sales and try to be smart about this! Ok, Pumpkin?" Or whatever you call your kid when you're trying to put them in an agreeable mood. I call mine Captain Caveman.

Basic Rule #4 - Don't let your little manipulator guilt you into spending more. If they pull out the big guilt guns, pull out your own weapons. Especially if you have teenagers who can handle a little real life bubble-bursters. For my 14 year old, his $160 sneakers were just not going to happen, when the guilt speeches started coming out of his mouth, I fired back with "X down the street has clothes that are too small. You told me yourself it seems like he doesn't ever have anything new. You could be him. I don't have to spend a dime on you, new school clothes are not a necessity. I would love new work clothes! And that is how we get money! So shouldn't I look my best every day since I'm bringing in the money? Yes, of course. But I'm spending all my extra money this month on you. If you don't want any new clothes, I'll buy the sneakers you want. If you do want new clothes, then we're getting the Nike's or Jordon's at Saturday's Flea Market from the Asian Guy who sells them 2 for $60."
I'm not about to pay the car payment late because I spent that money at Footlocker on sneakers. And I will definitely pull all the stops out, modify the above speech however you like. Sorry if it's offensive to the kid down the street with little money.

This year I had $200 - that was our budget. We got one pair of jeans and six shirts and Ross for $70 (all Mark Ecko and the jeans were Flypaper - all name brand crap).
I spent $30 on white Nike Air Force One's at the flea market.
I spent $25 between the dollar store and wall mart on binders, papers, pencils, and underwear that he needed. He wanted new socks but he has plenty of socks - they are just old - but so what, no one sees them anyway.
Football gear was provided by a $50 Dick's card he got for his birthday that I required him to save until football shopping time. I ended up spending $10 extra because we went over $50.
I bought lunch that day also which cost me $14.
We then went to the mall and I spent $60 at Pac Sun on three pairs of jeans - two for $25 each (back to school special - buy 2 or more and they're $25 each) and a $10 clearance pair that he happened to like.
Then we ordered $30 worth of t-shirts online that he wanted.
That's more than enough to get him started and I told him we might get some more stuff in a few weeks. NOTICE - the term "might". I went over budget for the day by $39, because of lunch and the other small items. I will be buying a little less at the grocery store or more generic items probably due to going over. But as we all know, we almost always go over - so try to keep your overages to the bare minimum!!! And make them small so that you can undercut other areas to make up for it.
School shopping doesn't have to be a bank breaker! Don't make it be an argument or a stress ball. Overall the best part for me was that I actually spent a day with my 14 year old!
Who would've thought?

Tips from the Internet - WITH my commentary in blue:

Ten tips for smart back-to-school shopping
The best strategy for back-to-school shopping? Get organized, stock up on the basics, and look for sales and promotions.
By GreatSchools Staff
Start your back-to-school shopping with a game plan. Even if your child's teacher hasn't provided a list of school supplies, you can't go wrong by sticking with the basics and taking advantage of back-to-school sales (many states offer “tax-free days” during this season).
I don’t know about you, but I have no idea what the “tax free days” are or how to find out when they are.


Here's how:

Make a list and get your child involved.
Use the recommended or required supplies from your child's school or teacher as a starting point. If you don't have a list yet, check with parents at your school who have older kids. They might have good advice about what is required in your child's grade. Or check our recommendations for elementary, middle, and high school. Sit down with your child and go over your list together. You'll be teaching her how to get organized, a skill that applies to more than shopping.
Good tip, I mentioned this, I didn’t check with parents at the school. Who has time to do all that? I also didn’t sit down for hours with my child – again, who has the time? I asked him in a 2 minute conversation what he thought he needed, then I looked through what we already had.

Best back-to-school gifts
Your grandparents might have brought an apple to the teacher on the first day of school. Jane Ann Robertson, Arizona's 2004 Teacher of the Year, has a more timely suggestion: "If you really want to make a good impression, add a packet of stickers or a ream of colored copy paper for your child's new teacher."
Nikki Salvatico, Pennsylvania's 2005 Teacher of the Year, adds that the key to helping your child succeed in school is not something you can buy at your local office supply store. It's time — time spent reading stories, rhymes, poems, and plays with your kids. And it's being a role model for the behavior you want to see in your child.
"Parents spending time with their children — modeling reading, writing daily — is priceless," Salvatico says. "When children see a parent reading the newspaper, a magazine, or a good book or writing a letter, a paper, or a report for work, they can connect why they are learning [those skills] in school."
I don’t know about you, but I never do “back to school gifts”. My kid can make a good impression my behaving and doing his work. Chances are, if you’re reading this you don’t have the money for stickers or reams of colored paper. But if you do, it sounds like a nice idea.

Separate wants from needs.
Most school supplies don't go out of style, and your child will happily use the unsharpened pencils his older sister didn't use. But as any parent with last year's superhero notebook knows, beware the power of trends. Rather than getting into an argument with your older child about whether a backpack with headphones is essential because "everybody is getting one," try setting a budget for supplies. It will help your child set priorities, learn how to manage money, and start saving his allowance for the items your budget won't allow.
A note from the teacher: You'll be doing your child's teacher a favor if you stick to supplies without gimmicks. Pencil sharpeners that light up are distractions in class, says Jane Ann Robertson, Arizona's 2004 Teacher of the Year and a GreatSchools consultant. "Keep supplies to the necessary and useful versus fancy and fun."

Good tips, definitely gone over before, and also ties in with below about using what you already have – clothing and supplies should be used if they’re in good shape!

Take inventory.
Sort through last year's supplies to see what is left over or can be reused. (Having trouble finding last year's stuff? Resolve to set up a place to keep your school supplies together this year.)
Start early and look for bargains throughout the summer.
The best bargains are often available at back-to-school sales. Keeping your supply list in your car or purse or on your PDA will help you shop for supplies as you do your other errands.
Good idea, but most of us are busy and always scraping money together at the last minute, so seems like few will be able to do this.

Buy basics in bulk.
You know you'll need paper, pencils, glue sticks and notebooks. Dollar stores, warehouse stores and even eBay are sources for buying these and other basics in bulk. You and a group of other parents might be able to negotiate a group discount from an office supply store.
Then set up a supply shelf or storage container in your home that you can use all year long. You'll be able to avoid late-night shopping trips to buy notebook paper when you run out. And you'll know where to find unused notebooks and pencils when it comes time to shop for back-to-school supplies next year.
If you set up this storage area near the place your child will do homework, you'll be modeling good organizational skills and he'll have what he needs nearby.
Nikki Salvatico, Pennsylvania's 2005 Teacher of the Year and a GreatSchools consultant, advises parents to send to school only what is needed. If you buy four dozen pencils, send in three at a time. This will help your child manage her supplies and help the teacher who has scant storage space in the classroom.
Great if you can do this, I can’t afford to buy things in bulk and then don’t have much time to organize everything so that it doesn’t get lost or chewed up by the time my kid gets to using it.

Get your kids into the recycling habit.
Now that environmentally friendly living is a hot topic, it's easier than it used to be to convince trend-savvy kids that reusing an item is cooler than buying a new one. Help them add pizzazz to last year's plain notebook with stickers or photos. Set up a scrap paper bin so that paper with writing on just one side can be reused. Check out garage sales, which can be a source of good-quality used items.
The best tip from this paragraph is to check out garage sales. There are lots this time of year, so it might also be possible and convenient.

Watch for promotions.
Some discount office supply stores offer free shipping on online orders. Local health departments in some areas offer free basic school supplies to parents who bring their children in for immunizations. Hang on to flyers and ads that advertise supplies at a particular price. If the store where you're shopping charges more, ask the sales clerks to match its competitor. Some stores that don't offer price matching will still do it.
Sales! Sales! We all know this. If you can get stores to price match, even bigger bonus!

Figure out when quality counts.
Leaky pens will cost you more in ruined clothes than some more expensive varieties. In the event that a strap or zipper breaks, a backpack with a warranty might be a good investment, even if it costs more.
"When buying crayons, colored pencils, markers and water color paints, I would definitely stick to a name brand," says Robertson. "Name brands seem to last longer."
Not every costly item will last as long as you'd like. Take calculators, for example. Math teachers advise that you not purchase one with more functions than your child will use so that she learns and uses those functions. But as she advances in math, your middle school or high school student will likely need to replace her scientific calculator with a graphing one, and these are costly.
Some schools have graphing calculators that students can check out, like library books. And some parent organizations raise funds to help defray the cost of calculators for needy students. Check with your parent group to find out more about similar programs at your school.
More checking around, good if you have the time.

Help your school while you shop.
If your school participates in a program like eScrip or OneCause, you can shop for supplies from a participating merchant who donates a percentage to your school.
Good idea, but I have yet to learn who supports the school or have gotten anything in the mail saying shop at this store – and a lot of times places on tv that are advertised are more expensive than where I would normally go.

Plan now for next year.
Some schools send a back-to-school list home with kids on the last day of school so that parents can shop for the best bargains. If your school doesn't do this, get together with other parents or your parent organization and talk to administrators about how you can help your school put together a list earlier next year.
At some schools, parent organizations negotiate with a supplier and buy supplies for the whole school at a discount. They often add a small extra charge that goes to support the parent group.
Susan Furr, a parent at the University Laboratory School in Baton Rouge, Lousiana, says her school parent group has purchased supplies this way for a number of years and virtually all of the families participate.
This is very hard to do in the real world, where most of us are taking summer vacations and aren’t going to shop early in the summer for back to school stuff. If you can do it, great. If not – don’t cry about it, there are still ways to save!!!