It is July 19th, so where we are and in most places, the wondrous and deeply beloved School Year starts again in about 1 month and a couple weeks. My children are now 28 and 34 and I do not know where the time went. Still, I love the sweet scent of an approaching Fall season, the first cool wind after a hot summer and all the little hackers traipsing back to the hallowed brick halls with new book bags. A sudden and mysterious quiet lights lightly on the newly mown and unlittered grass one morning around 7:00am, and peace returns for the first part of the day until 3:00pm.
We live right across the street from a school and while traffic jams for fifteen minutes in the morning and one has to drive 15 mph to avoid hitting the little hackers, but the mere thought of kids in school and at least part of my computer time free, sends joy and delight. Alas though for the languid and oppressive summer, in which one may only hone their sycophant verbiage in maudlin remnants of writing. (blogging)
In any event, here are a few things i learned over the years to save a whole lot of money on school supplies.
Watch Out for Falling Prices
Beyond a doubt, even now, my favorite sale of the year is spiral ring notebooks at Walmart. I can practically feel it in the air, when the stacks of multicolored college ruled notebooks go on sale for a week or two for .10 a piece, and I rush to the car and buy up to 20 unless there is a limit. (In our local store, at least this has not happened yet, they are still .47!!!) I am then set for the year or even more. Most of the year, I limit my shopping at Wal Mart feeling responsible for their practice of hiring Indian laborers at 2 dollars a day to stitch jeans, but in the Fall I go for their loss leaders: spiral ring notebooks, pencils in a 12 pack for 50 cents, and packs of bic or bic like pens for .25 to .50. At this time of the year, their Elmer’s glue or similar glue goes on sale for around .25 to .50, and they have other great deals on cheap binders, cheap 2 pocket folders, erasers, crayons—big and small, pencil sharpeners and plastic ‘cigar’ boxes’ as well as other less super-cheap items, but still very good prices on other related supplies. Our Wal Mart has lists in the aisles of public and private schools supply lists as well. I’ve shopped a few other stores with very cheap prices around the start of the school year too, such as Shopko and Family Dollar, but the cheapest prices overall for the best quality supplies are their, unless you can find them for free.
Alternative Savings
There are some other ideas: many cities have used office warehouses with used desks, office furniture and file cabinets, and frequently large quantities of leftover presentation binders which work just fine as loose leaf school binders. One can sometime pick up dozens for a few dollars, or even get your student a desk.
Another thing to watch is state or county auctions: in Wisconsin, the Wisconsin State Surplus auction often offers items on bid such as office supplies and furniture, computers for as low as 25 dollars, printers, file cabinets, notebooks and even student work stations for pennies on the dollar. Homeschoolers outfitting a room in their house for lessons can pick up some real bargains, but one needs to keep vigilance over a few months on the auctions. (You can get a feed into your email to alert you of new offerings.) Some of their items are junk, so you have to sift through, and all sales are final so you must be careful, but you can obtain very expensive durable items by careful bidding.
Classics in Literature
Many teachers require the purchase of classic novels and works for reading throughout the school year. The cheapest solution is to make good use of public libraries. Another solution though, is to shop thrift stores book sections, for one almost always finds a proliferation of classic novels. (When they are .10 to .50 a piece, if you have a few dollars, always buy classics, because at some point your children will find them required or at least edifying reading. It sure beats up to 9.95 a paperback which will never yield back its cost. Encourage reading by talking about what your children are reading: listen intently to them tell the plot to you, then ask their feelings about the book: was it interesting, or too slow? Did the main character do the right thing? What would you have done? Get them to think critically early, in addition to loving learning. Classics are classics for a reason: they are almost always interesting reading to someone. I wouldn’t start a 5th grader with Pride and Prejudice, though.
Book Bags and Lunch Boxes
Thrift stores are also good places to look for cool low cost book bags or lunch boxes, some almost new, and in many cases for less than 3 to 5 dollars, you can obtain a very expensive book bag with very little wear (rich kids get tired of the style and want a new one every year.) Let your son or daughter see if there is one he or she would like. Even old ‘campy’ lunchboxes can be cool-o neat-o. Its just that your child might have to explain what “Happy Days” or “The Beatles” were. Really Poor does not mean that your child can not fit in with other kids, it just means finding viable and creative ways of shopping. Avoid things though that are too ‘homespun’, like a floral print self sewn bag with a string instead of a book bag. We know it is made with love, but kids today can have a cruel streak for any who are too different.
Some of the best deals for new shoes, are clearance sales at places like Payless or end of the season Wal Mart stores. Family Dollar or Dollar General sometimes have acceptable sneakers/running shoes for ten dollars or under instead of the very expensive name brands. It’s best if possible not to buy used running shoes or shoes in general, since there is no guarantees of hygiene or other issues, and worn shoes are usually molded to someone else’s foot. Keeping shoes dry prolongs their wear.
All of the above should hold for now: O, and rulers, mechanical pencils, and compasses and protractors are great deals around the next few weeks.
More from “Really Poor” next time. ekb
![]()
We live right across the street from a school and while traffic jams for fifteen minutes in the morning and one has to drive 15 mph to avoid hitting the little hackers, but the mere thought of kids in school and at least part of my computer time free, sends joy and delight. Alas though for the languid and oppressive summer, in which one may only hone their sycophant verbiage in maudlin remnants of writing. (blogging)
In any event, here are a few things i learned over the years to save a whole lot of money on school supplies.
Watch Out for Falling Prices
Beyond a doubt, even now, my favorite sale of the year is spiral ring notebooks at Walmart. I can practically feel it in the air, when the stacks of multicolored college ruled notebooks go on sale for a week or two for .10 a piece, and I rush to the car and buy up to 20 unless there is a limit. (In our local store, at least this has not happened yet, they are still .47!!!) I am then set for the year or even more. Most of the year, I limit my shopping at Wal Mart feeling responsible for their practice of hiring Indian laborers at 2 dollars a day to stitch jeans, but in the Fall I go for their loss leaders: spiral ring notebooks, pencils in a 12 pack for 50 cents, and packs of bic or bic like pens for .25 to .50. At this time of the year, their Elmer’s glue or similar glue goes on sale for around .25 to .50, and they have other great deals on cheap binders, cheap 2 pocket folders, erasers, crayons—big and small, pencil sharpeners and plastic ‘cigar’ boxes’ as well as other less super-cheap items, but still very good prices on other related supplies. Our Wal Mart has lists in the aisles of public and private schools supply lists as well. I’ve shopped a few other stores with very cheap prices around the start of the school year too, such as Shopko and Family Dollar, but the cheapest prices overall for the best quality supplies are their, unless you can find them for free.
Alternative Savings
There are some other ideas: many cities have used office warehouses with used desks, office furniture and file cabinets, and frequently large quantities of leftover presentation binders which work just fine as loose leaf school binders. One can sometime pick up dozens for a few dollars, or even get your student a desk.
Another thing to watch is state or county auctions: in Wisconsin, the Wisconsin State Surplus auction often offers items on bid such as office supplies and furniture, computers for as low as 25 dollars, printers, file cabinets, notebooks and even student work stations for pennies on the dollar. Homeschoolers outfitting a room in their house for lessons can pick up some real bargains, but one needs to keep vigilance over a few months on the auctions. (You can get a feed into your email to alert you of new offerings.) Some of their items are junk, so you have to sift through, and all sales are final so you must be careful, but you can obtain very expensive durable items by careful bidding.
Classics in Literature
Many teachers require the purchase of classic novels and works for reading throughout the school year. The cheapest solution is to make good use of public libraries. Another solution though, is to shop thrift stores book sections, for one almost always finds a proliferation of classic novels. (When they are .10 to .50 a piece, if you have a few dollars, always buy classics, because at some point your children will find them required or at least edifying reading. It sure beats up to 9.95 a paperback which will never yield back its cost. Encourage reading by talking about what your children are reading: listen intently to them tell the plot to you, then ask their feelings about the book: was it interesting, or too slow? Did the main character do the right thing? What would you have done? Get them to think critically early, in addition to loving learning. Classics are classics for a reason: they are almost always interesting reading to someone. I wouldn’t start a 5th grader with Pride and Prejudice, though.
Book Bags and Lunch Boxes
Thrift stores are also good places to look for cool low cost book bags or lunch boxes, some almost new, and in many cases for less than 3 to 5 dollars, you can obtain a very expensive book bag with very little wear (rich kids get tired of the style and want a new one every year.) Let your son or daughter see if there is one he or she would like. Even old ‘campy’ lunchboxes can be cool-o neat-o. Its just that your child might have to explain what “Happy Days” or “The Beatles” were. Really Poor does not mean that your child can not fit in with other kids, it just means finding viable and creative ways of shopping. Avoid things though that are too ‘homespun’, like a floral print self sewn bag with a string instead of a book bag. We know it is made with love, but kids today can have a cruel streak for any who are too different.
Some of the best deals for new shoes, are clearance sales at places like Payless or end of the season Wal Mart stores. Family Dollar or Dollar General sometimes have acceptable sneakers/running shoes for ten dollars or under instead of the very expensive name brands. It’s best if possible not to buy used running shoes or shoes in general, since there is no guarantees of hygiene or other issues, and worn shoes are usually molded to someone else’s foot. Keeping shoes dry prolongs their wear.
All of the above should hold for now: O, and rulers, mechanical pencils, and compasses and protractors are great deals around the next few weeks.
More from “Really Poor” next time. ekb
No comments:
Post a Comment