Every year we are amazed more and more at how quickly summer comes and goes and this year was no different! We are one month away from going back to school so it’s time to prepare and get ready for August!
Last year I was a little surprised as we had a very busy summer and when the day of “meet the teacher” came around we had very few things. All the stores are very short on a lot of supplies and we had to go from store to store and still didn’t find everything that was on the list.
This year, many stores are still short on supplies, and workers and not to mention that everything has gone up a lot in price so many of us will feel all that, that is, inflation for you!!
With prices much higher than normal many parents, believe it’s impossible to stay within their budget and be able to buy our children everything they may need.
In the following paragraphs, we will talk about how to prepare ourselves and also help our children to be successful in this new school year!
Of course, it will take a bit of work and planning but it is definitely possible to achieve! Together we will avoid being where I was last year, saving ourselves time and money in the process.
Ready?!
1. First things first
As parents, we have many things on our daily lists, and summer usually busier, so the first thing is to know are all the important dates.
Registration dates, if needed, meet the teacher, bring supplies to school date, and most importantly the return to school date!
2. Make a list of your Must have items
When you are trying to save, it is very important to have your priority list. I’ll give you an example, my oldest daughter is a lover of the color pink. Everything has to be pink, with glitter if possible and like many girls loves everything that has to do with colors and feminine details!
But I’m honest, the same red or yellow notebook costs twice as much if we put a unicorn with glitter on it. In other words, it is not completely necessary for back to school! Now if your budget allows it, go ahead, those are the things that our children like, but if we don’t have the budget that’s fine, it’s not a priority! The priority is that they have the notebook in time for their first day of school!
Another very important thing, is many schools ask these days for electronics but it all comes back to priorities. It is not a priority to buy the latest tablet or computer model. Most companies have these refurbished electronics. This means, that electronics have been reviewed and inspected and all tests have been approved by the company. With renewed products, we can save a lot as well.
3. Check your inventory
If you are like us in the middle of the year you are also in the position of buying some supplies for the second time. Things like markers, crayons, pencils, pens, and well a little list that will take our kids to the end of the year with everything they need.
Before going out to buy check your inventory with the list in hand.
Most schools put the list of supplies on their website and it is very easy to print it or how most of us take a picture of it on our phones and gradually mark what we are buying.
Now with all this in hand, we are ready to buy
4. Check online stores
I don’t know about you, but in our case, the less we go out to the stores, the better. This also helps stay on a budget!
Many, if not almost all of the stores that we usually go to have the option to buy online and leave it at your door or pick it up in a special part of each store and well that’s not counting Amazon!
Amazon has almost, if not everything we could possibly need for back to school and much more! Looking for the best prices for this post, I found something that seemed wonderful to me.
On Amazon, you can put your child’s grade and school supplies for _________ and they will give you a school supply kit with the best known and most popular supplies for each grade and school.
Backpacks and lunch boxes are also things we can buy online and it helps that we can also look at the comments, and reviews thus seeing how durable they are!
Amazon has various options for girls and boys with the lunch boxes included.
5. Buy during sales days
Most stores have their sale days specifically for back-to-school. Find out about those special days and try to shop during those days! It may be a small saving but throughout the process, you will see the results.
6. Shop during the tax-free weekend
In Texas, from August 5-7 it’s Tax-Free Weekend and it is very beneficial for us parents. If you think about buying clothes, backpacks, shoes and well everything else this weekend would be a good one!
7. Check the dollar stores in your area
Many of the dollar stores will help your budget but it is always important to check the quantities! Usually, at dollar stores, the amounts are less and you will end up spending a little more. But it is important to note that their prices may be lower than other stores.
8. Clothing
When we talk about clothing, we know that it tends to be more expensive, and I don’t know about your children, but mine outgrow their clothes very quickly!
And let’s not talk about shoes!
In our case, we like to buy the essential pieces that are a little more expensive but last longer and the rest we buy according to sales!
Here is an example:
My oldest daughter is picky about her shoes and likes to stay in them. The ones she finds comfortable with are those she stays and it doesn’t matter if she has 6-8 pairs to choose from she wears the same ones daily if we let her.
So we pick 2-3 good quality shoes that will last you all year.
And when we talk about clothes, for girls at least, it means looking for pants or shorts in various colors or in a single color that can be combined with others. So when we buy shirts it will be easier for us to pair them and make use of all of them.
9. Prepare for the upcoming year.
When we talk about budget, it does not always mean the cheapest things, but things that are within the assigned budget. This year when you finish your purchases, write the amount you spent and divide it by the number of months you would like to save for.
Let’s say you spent $300 between everything and you would like to save it for a total of 6 months next year, then it would be $50 a month which is actually more manageable than taking out $300 in a week.
The goal is always to make it manageable for your home and your budget, but if we don’t have one it will be very difficult for us and we will live paycheck to paycheck!
These are our “tips” or advice to stretch our budget this year for back to school, we hope you liked them and found them useful!