And So It Begins....Again

School is set to begin (for my two) on August 23rd. The three districts around us begin on or around the 16th as far as I am aware. That gives us a week of playtime. Lots of stuff to do with nobody else around. I like those little playtime weeks that private school inevitably gives you.

But that doesn't mean that we haven't jumped into the fray and bought school supplies. We took advantage of tax free weekend last Saturday -- even if it was only for about 5 things. The Chick and the Dude are at the grade that they no longer really have long varied lists. They pretty much need paper, notebooks, and pens. And that about covers it. I did notice that Chick will probably need lab goggles which is new for us and a scientific graphing calculator (you know, the $80 one). But other than those kinds of things, there isn't a lot. I think they request a box of tissue from every student each year knowing how many of those they'll go through. But truly, we have no need to run out and purchase bags and bags of things. I'm grateful for that now too.

One thing I always do though is stock up. We have a four shelf unit in our master closet that is stocked. I have learned that it doesn't matter when its due, my children will invariably remember that they need poster board at 9:00 the night before they absolutely have to have it. Walgreens puts posterboard on sale for 3 or 5 for a $1 several times a year and it doesn't matter when it is, I always get the limit in an assortment of colors. I have about 9000 bags of pens in there too. And index cards out the wazoo. I usually buy all this stuff when I see it on sale or dirt cheap, especially around this time of year. It never fails that if I wait to buy it, it will be ridiculously high when I do need it.

This has been my practice for several years now. I even recently found two new packages of elementary scissors hiding in there when picking out things to donate to a school supply drive for a local orphanage. Knowing I probably paid a quarter or fifty cents for them when I bought them made me happy as I contributed.

I highly encourage anyone who has school age children to do this too. As many of my younger mom friends are getting into couponing and bulk buying, they have learned to stock up when the price is low in order to ride out the time when the price is high until it dips again. I suggest doing the same with school supplies. It can prove to be worthwhile... not to mention convenient for 9:00 at night memory improvements.