How to Save Money on Back to School Supplies

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Shop at home first

Believe it or not, you might already have a lot of school supplies lying around the house. Things like rulers, calculators, pencils boxes and backpacks do not need to be replaced every year. You can easily use last year’s school supply if it’s still in good shape. So, before you head out to shop, take a walk around your house; closets, basement bins, and desk drawers might have hidden treasures that can save you some money.

Only buy what is essential

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Once you start shopping, all those fun extras can take your fancy-colored pens, superhero notebooks, locker accessories and the list stretches on. But in order to avoid overspending, it’s important to keep the supplies to useful and necessary versus fun and fancy. Determine in advance that how you will handle your kid’s requests for those non-essential items.

Consider quality

Don’t just get carried away with the cheapest item available. Take time to find more about the quality of the product, and then pick the ones that you think will last long. For instance, consider backpacks with a lifetime warranty, and bindings and spirals with durable plastic covers. Pricier options can eliminate the need to replace the cheaper items multiple times during the year.

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Buy in bulk

The back to school supply list is usually only meant to get the kids started. They will need refills on notebooks, crayons, papers, pencils, and more all year long and buying in bulk can save you a great deal. So, stock up for the entire year, but put away what’s not needed at the moment.

Buying back to school supplies at the end of the summer is an unavoidable task. But, it need not be an expensive one. Along with the tips above start planning ahead of time and take advantage of every weekly coupon and online deal that comes your way.

Do you have any back to school shopping tricks that can help to save money?

The end of August arrives with a flavor of holidays and some strings to be back on track. Especially for the children, readjust the bio-clock to return to school may not be an easy task. When getting back into the back to school routine seems stressful, a little planning helps parents and children make the process – which includes sleeping and waking early and eating at correct times – lighter.

Often children and adolescents have difficulties to get into the rhythm school after spending the long summer vacation away. However it is very important that your child start the year well motivated… with 3 simple steps!

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1. Review your Old Routine

Getting back to the old routine might be challenging. Some days before the classes start, set again an early bed time and start to get the routine back – this will help the transition to be smoother. Don´t do sudden changes because the children suffer the most radical changes. Go decreasing gradually daily the amount of time they can play video-games for example until it goes back school routine. The same goes for the hours of sleep, wake up time, time to play… Do everything slowly, so that your child does not feel that simply stopped having fun because classes are back.

2. Get your Children Ready

A must-do is to calm your child as a new year usually causes anxiety. “Will my friends be there? And if not, will the new classmates like me? Who will be the new teachers? Will I like the new subjects?” These and other questions are at the head of the young kids when the time comes to go back to school and you must answer them the clear way possible in order to help them to get ready. Also help the kid to remember all the good time that he had last year: talking about the school trips or friends can increase the kid´s willingness to go to school. A fun part of this process to all children is organize supplies for school. Let’s have a try together unique school supplies on Blooming a lovely website that I discovered “while browsing for back to school supplies”, and find a good solution to begin the children journey back to school!

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3. Plan a New Routine

Once the classes have started, it is important that both you and your child create a routine of activities that must be followed to the end of the year. This is because during school life, their homework, exams and events will become increasingly frequent, requiring from the students organization and planning. The lack of a pre-established routine often compromises your child’s school life.

Be firm. As much as your children may whine, or do not want to wake up early do not give in. The adaptation to the routine depends on your stance as a mother or father.

For more back to school ideas on Stagetecture, click here.

It’s hard to believe but it’s that time of year again – Back to School time!  Just like the famous office supply commercial says, “…it’s the most wonderful time of the year…” No, not Christmas – back to school! As parents rush to and from one store to the next gathering backpacks, books, and binders, we are filled with a bittersweet mixture of happiness (for some much-needed peace and quiet) and sadness to see our children growing so quickly before our eyes; another year older and grade-level higher.

Image via: LDa Architecture & Interiors

As the school days commence, our mudrooms seem to quickly implode with papers, shoes, back packs, and sporting goods. Suddenly it seems we need a mudroom/entryway overhaul, so here are some tips to quickly organize your mudroom and find a place to stash everything.

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De-clutter:

The first step for any room overhaul is to purge the room. If possible, take everything out of the room.  Assess all the items and put them in piles of “keep”, “donate”, “keep but belongs elsewhere”, and “trash”.

Image via: Two Ellie

Shelves, Baskets, and Hooks:

Now that you have de-cluttered, it’s time to bring in some great organizing tools such as baskets, trays, hooks, and shelves. One neat idea is to find an old set of metal lockers. These lockers look great with a new coat of paint – maybe chalkboard paint to write children’s names on the outside – and they are VERY functional for hiding backpacks, shoes , sporting equipment, and coats.

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Hooks also come in handy. A visit to your local hardware store will reveal a plethora of hook styles. They can be a great way to organize hat collections, antique baskets, scarves, and coats.

If your mudroom also holds your laundry room (like mine) considers hiding your washer and dryer by hanging floor to ceiling curtain panels.  Grommet curtain panels hung by a heavy duty tension rod work great and can easily be closed to hide your unsightly laundry mess.

Essentially, decorate your mudroom like you would the rest of your home; making it a pretty and welcoming place to enter after a long day at work or school.

For more mudroom ideas on Stagetecture, click here.