Our Family: Here We Go . . . Back to School

The excitement in our house was building as we joined the throngs of families gearing up for school. It was time for our annual school supply shopping! And, this year we were actually in Virginia to take advantage of the tax free holiday. We downloaded and perused the girls' supply lists. Three two-inch binders, two three-subject spirals, and five composition books? What was the middle school thinking? How was Cassie going to be able to carry all this plus a lunchbox in her backpack? We Googled the required calculator only to realize that this model is no longer made. Great. Glancing at Lacey's list, I saw that the school still expects third graders to eat glue sticks and pencils. And, that illusive box of 36 crayons is still required.

According to a recent report from the National Retail Federation, American families will spend an average of $635 on school supplies this year. The report didn't explain if the average $635 was per child; per family of five; or per family of ten. Other recent news reports claimed that there will be a total nationwide spending of $26.7 billion for back to school needs. Finally, other sources reported that U.S. teachers will spend an average of $485 out of their own pockets to supply their classrooms. Wow. Even without Cassie's new calculator I could figure out that at $635 per kid, plus $485 for my own classroom, I'd be out a whopping $1755!!

Maybe the report actually said that "the average family" would spend $635. That would make this even more interesting because we would need a definition for average. But then I might need to spend a lot of time wondering whether my family would fall within the definition of average. Not wanting to become a statistic of any sort, I assembled the kids and explained that money we saved on actual supplies could be money for clothing and accessories. We went through our drawer of leftover school supplies and pulled out everything that matched items on the lists. The girls were great about bringing home unused supplies at the end of the last school-year. Cassie again told us about the piles of unused stuff that had gone from lockers to dumpsters at the middle school. This seems so sadly wasteful given the number of stores, churches and other organizations that are currently asking for donated supplies.

We next made an advance reconnaissance of Target to check items and prices. We decided to get there as the doors opened, when the tax free holiday began. From there, we shopped online for backpacks. We discovered that our favorite company would have free shipping on the tax free holidays. Great! That would allow us to purchase matching lunchboxes.

The final part of our plan was fashion. Lacey declared that she wanted to wear the three physical education t-shirts that Cassie had outgrown. Ummm...had to ponder that one for awhile. I looked through Lacey's closet and dresser at the lovely clothes that had gone untouched. I guess "lovely" was my opinion because she definitely has her own tastes. Cassie volunteered that she has also outgrown several Taekwondo t-shirts. Lacey couldn't have been happier. I suggested that maybe we could embellish the t-shirts with appliques or beads. Lacey said she'd think about it.

Cassie and I went online and researched "fashion essentials" for Fall 2013. We learned that dark jeans; a white t-shirt; and dark cardigan were the "must haves" for the fall. Cassie agreed that if we could find the essential pieces in the thrift store, we could apply the savings toward some awesome shoes.

Here are some pictures of our shopping trip and our fantastic finds. We began at Target. The girls were up early and we were on our way back home by 8:30 a.m., bags of supplies in the back of the car. Our only hitch had been that box of 36 crayons. Prior to shopping, I had reminded Lacey that no matter how hard we looked, we wouldn't find a box of 36 crayons. Crayons come in boxes of 12, 24, 48, 64 and 96. I explained to Lacey that she would have to settle for a box of 24. We still had to search for 36 crayons. It worked out well because I let Lacey look while Cassie and I filled the cart with everything else on the list. The kids were good comparison shoppers. When they realized that all the decorated spirals and composition books were three times the cost of the plain ones, they declared that they could decorate their own.

Opening Bell at Target

We then journeyed to the thrift store where we purchased 12 items for $90. At the thrift store the girls found jeans and jackets from Justice and American Eagle Outfitters with the price tags still in tact. Cassie found the white t-shirt; a Coke limited edition shirt; and two gorgeous velvet jackets. Lacey kept reminding us that she had the P.E. shirts. She had saved a 40% off coupon for Justice so she got the t-shirt she wanted. We ended our whirlwind shopping day taking advantage of the annual shoe sale at Nordstroms. Average or not, what fun we had.