Back to school shopping

[Salvor-Hardon]

For those of you with kids, we can compare horror stories.

Those of you without, you can see what you're missing.

Our county is starting early this year, August 18th, so we just did ours to beat the crowds. $270 for two boys, including new shoes, jeans, shirts, back packs lunch boxes, binders, etc. And they're only in grade school.

I'm grateful that 1) I have boys and not girls 2) they are still too young to care about brand names 3) the TI-83 calculator of doom ($85-$99 sticker) is still a few years off.

As you start school shopping, post your war wounds here.

 

[JagFarlane]

-chuckles- Well no kids of my own, however one of my co-workers attends a church that is running a drive to gather school supplies for less fortunate kids. About $25 very easily blown on just basic supplies, not including backpacks.

Salvor, if I remember right, that was the price for the TI-80's when I went through, the 83's back then? Forget about it...phew $85 is a nice price these days for em.

 

[impressive]

It's the middle child who'll be expensive this year, 'cause he's into men's sizes now.

 

[Lady Reiha]

Here's something you parents should read:

NearbyNow (ARA) - Rising gas and food prices are putting the economic squeeze on most American households, and it's already time to begin back-to-school shopping. Families with school-age children are expected to spend over $500 on back-to-school merchandise, according to the National Retail Federation.

They'll also likely spend many days driving from store to store to get all the right items. It's no wonder parents are looking for creative ways to save money and limit their time in the car.

"The kids may look forward to some new sneakers or the most stylish new backpack as a welcome silver lining to going back to school, but for parents finding a bargain and saving time becomes vital at this time of year," says Theresa Boldrini-Laird, shopping expert for NearbyNow.com. "Planning, preparation and patience can help parents save money and limit the amount of time spent in the car."

Here are some easy ways to save time and money when seeking back-to-school bargains this year:

* Remember that saving time is just as important as saving money. While online shopping may seem like an easy way to save time, many shoppers - including parents - are turning to a new shopping strategy that capitalizes on the Internet's information-gathering power and the unbeatable immediacy of buying in a store.

NearbyNow, a California-based Web site, allows consumers to log on and search for specific merchandise at more than 200 local shopping malls across the country (go to http://www.nearbynow.com to find a mall near you). As a bonus, some shoppers who put items on hold may even get it for free thanks to the HOLD IT. WIN IT.(TM) for Back to School promotion.

Using the Internet or a mobile phone, parents can check the in-store availability of a much-needed item in 10 minutes or less, and if desired, put the item on hold for pick-up at a nearby store in the mall. Shoppers receive an e-mail or text message claim check to remind them where and when to pick up the item, and the claim check may also have other special offers from nearby stores. The NearbyNow service eliminates both hours and gas spent traveling to and from multiple store locations, shipping costs and time spent waiting for online orders to arrive.

* Make your list and check it twice. "It may sound so simple, but making a list is a great organizing tactic that too many people overlook," Boldrini-Laird says. To draw up your list, first take stock of what your kids already have, and remember to think beyond just notebooks and pens. Do they need new Converse sneakers or will the pair you bought at the beginning of summer do just fine? Can they reuse last year's backpacks, or can they use a new style with wheels? Does your teen desperately "need" a new cell phone - you know, the one that everyone has. Or does your college-bound child require a laptop? Be sure you know what you really need to buy.

* Decide on a budget and stick to it. Your budget should be generous enough to cover all the necessities and a few "extras" to make your kid feel cool at school. Get kids involved in budgeting; it's a great way to teach them how to manage money. Plus, if everyone knows up front how much can be spent - and on what - you'll possibly head off a few arguments.

* Shop smart. Take advantage of back-to-school sales, and visit retailers' Web sites to print out coupons. Many offer online-only coupons to reward committed deal-hunters. As much as possible, avoid using credit cards to fund back-to-school purchases of short-lived items like schoolroom supplies, backpacks, clothes or sneakers.

To save money on gas, consider doing your back-to-school shopping in a single trip and carpool with other parents also tackling seasonal shopping.

"Smart shopping strategies may never really ease some kids' desire to avoid going back to school and extend summer fun forever," Boldrini-Laird says. "But they can definitely make the back-to-school experience more cost-effective, time-friendly and stress-free for parents."

 

[Salvor-Hardon]

-chuckles- Well no kids of my own, however one of my co-workers attends a church that is running a drive to gather school supplies for less fortunate kids. About $25 very easily blown on just basic supplies, not including backpacks.

Salvor, if I remember right, that was the price for the TI-80's when I went through, the 83's back then? Forget about it...phew $85 is a nice price these days for em.

The high schools around here require them (or possibly the TI-99 I forget which) and friends with older kids always call me as the neighborhood techno-geek to explain what it is, where to get it, and why it costs so much.

I try to tell them it shows them how to do graphs and sine waves and other trig functions, most electronic and office supply places have them except the week before school starts and they cost that much because in the right hands, those little beauties can be used to plot the trajectory of the lunch spoon turned catapult, and you really want to hit the bully's lackey, not the bully himself.


$85 not a bad price, I'm just not looking forward to my geek son figuring out what can and can't be done with them and the call from the principal about him "hacking".

 

[damppanties]

3) the TI-83 calculator of doom ($85-$99 sticker) is still a few years off.

I've never owned a calculator. Maybe you need to move to India.

 

[Salvor-Hardon]

I've never owned a calculator. Maybe you need to move to India.

I'd love to get my older boy into an India school system. He'd be so much better of than where we are now even with the talented and gifted program he's in.

 

[Elianna]

The high schools around here require them (or possibly the TI-99 I forget which) and friends with older kids always call me as the neighborhood techno-geek to explain what it is, where to get it, and why it costs so much.

I try to tell them it shows them how to do graphs and sine waves and other trig functions, most electronic and office supply places have them except the week before school starts and they cost that much because in the right hands, those little beauties can be used to plot the trajectory of the lunch spoon turned catapult, and you really want to hit the bully's lackey, not the bully himself.


$85 not a bad price, I'm just not looking forward to my geek son figuring out what can and can't be done with them and the call from the principal about him "hacking".

I LOVED my TI-89. Ooh. You could put in all the formulas for special derivitaves so you didn't have to remember, do funny pictures, and

*gasp* play games on it. Then all the calc teachers banded together and said "NO" and we had to do all our work 'old school."

*grumble grumble*

I rock at basic calculus, but man... I was SO glad when we got to Differential Equations and could "cheat" again. There was NO WAY I was going to multiply all those stupid decimals out by hand and do the formulas without programming them into my calculator.

Funny... calculators are PROVIDED for kids here (well, maybe not at the rich schools... but where poor kids are they are supplied in the classrooms.)

 

[starrkers]

Only $270 for a full kit out? Wow.
It generally costs me about that for each kid.
The next couple of years will be interesting - the girl goes into Senior High and will need new uniforms (we've survived two years on the same kit, she hasn't grown much).
Then number one son will move to High School and that will be a full uniform set up (thank god he's male - school pants are less than half the cost of school skirts)

 

[fille]

Ack! We start a week earlier, and I have girls. The kind of girls who are maddeningly, and expensively, fashionable. Thank god they have not figured out that I shop the online clearance sales at their favorite stores.

 

[CeriseNoire]

Oh God no! I was trying to push the thought away, thanks a lot.

I have no kids of my own, instead I get to buy classroom supplies. Plus about 10 sets of the supplies I require (since there are always kids who can't/won't get any). I'm trying to keep it to a minimum this year though.

 

[impressive]

Oh God no! I was trying to push the thought away, thanks a lot.

I have no kids of my own, instead I get to buy classroom supplies. Plus about 10 sets of the supplies I require (since there are always kids who can't/won't get any). I'm trying to keep it to a minimum this year though.

I used to send my kids to school with an Office Depot gift card for their teacher. That was in the elementary school years, though. These days, they have 8-9 teachers apiece. I can't afford it.

 

[CrimsonMaiden]

My kids start school next week.

They're going to have to make due with clothes from last year (thank goodness they still fit!) because we just don't have the money for new stuff. Just supplies alone cost over $100 for my bunch. It wouldn't have been quite as bad except middle school requires a binder for almost every subject and those things are expensive. Thank goodness for 20 cent glue and crayons. Also, this year the teachers only asked for enough supplies to get them started. In previous years, they've asked for enough stuff to last them the whole year through. Luckily, I didn't have to buy them backpacks. A local church had a bunch to give away that were donated by some company. They aren't the el cheapos either, so they should last the whole year.

 

[Selena_Kitt]

Goodwill... jeans for $2, tops for $1. They don't know the difference between old and new

 

[tickledkitty]

Goodwill... jeans for $2, tops for $1. They don't know the difference between old and new

Heh. Wanna bet?

 

[Chantilyvamp]

These are the tips my mom did with us and I did one some of my friends children. By new clothes during months when there are mega sales on. Never buy in the month before school starts unless they have grown like mad in the 2 months before or they are offering one hell of a discount. Try to wait at least until a month or two after school starts.

Buy school supplies again anytime a sale is on during the year and keep a stock box or buy in bulk (pencils, notepads etc) from a office supply store or somewhere like sams or costco.

When getting near the year they need to expensive calculators or any expensive equipment set up the change jar at least a year in advance and collect all your change to get those items.

Doesn't always work but it at least saves some hassle of crowds and stuff. And since 8 of us went through our household at various times it did save money in the long run.

Another friend of mine swears by doing her pre-school shopping for her kids an hour before closing in some of the stores (one child each trip, 3 trips at least to cover them all). she says less people are in there to try and get around and the lines shorter at the changing rooms and if she keeps it to one child then the others stay home with the other parent and less fighting between them. She has been known to go in the store on her own first and scope out where everything is to plan the easiest route.

Happy shopping all of you.

 

[Selena_Kitt]

Heh. Wanna bet?

Well, mine don't. And besides, I don't even buy new clothes for myself... they don't know what the inside of a mall looks like. So it's really not an issue for us!

 

[impressive]

Have scored about 10 tops & 5 bottoms for the diva child at Target for under $40 -- and three tops & 2 bottoms for the man child at Wal-Mart for about $25. I am pleased. Shoes next.

 

[DesertPirate]

Youngest is in college and works
My idea of back to school? Go get whatever you can afford and can wear in front of your mother!

 

[CeriseNoire]

I stalk Staples' alternating sales over the summer. Got folders when they were 1cent each, binders at 10 cents a piece. Filler paper at a quarter per ream. I'm holding out for markers now.

 

[desertslave]

My manchild (15, sophomore this year, honors track) goes back on 8/4. He already got his schedule. The yearbook set us back $60, and lab fees for AP chem and Honors bio (I might have reversed them) were another $80. Thankfully my Mom treated both kids to some new clothes when we visited 2 weeks ago. He'll be wearing summer clothes into November, so I can stall on winter clothes for a while.

My daughter goes back to community college (the other sophomore, registered drama queen) the end of August. Tuition is reasonably cheap, about $1300 for the semester, and I expect books to be $3-500. The pricing on college textbooks really pisses me off. Luckily tuition is paid for by my late Dad's trust. She wants to go to a rather pricey school, and the simplest way to a mostly-free ride was to do community college for the first two years. It's a pretty reasonable way to knock off the basic course, IMO, and most of her teachers have been excellent. The one who wasn't taught her a very different lesson, about standing up for getting her money's worth for her tuition. That nutjob won't be returning this year. DD and a few other students politely stormed admin and protested the poor quality, and got a tuition refund AND removal of the offending grades. Poof, never happened! She did that on her own, with her classmates. Makes me damned proud.

 

[OhMissScarlett]

Kidlet starts second grade this year, I cannot believe it. Luckily, he is the kind of kid who gets attached to his stuff and never wants to let it go. So, he's using the same Lightning McQueen backpack and lunchbox he got for kindergarten and they're still in good shape, that will save me a bundle.

All of his long sleeved shirts from last year still fit. That leaves an extra pair of shoes and some pants to buy. I went kind of crazy with the school supplies last year, so I still have a surplus. I still may buy a bunch of extras again this year to give to the teacher.

 

[cloudy]

I never do the back to school shopping thing. School starts here the second week of August, and he can wear his shorts and short-sleeved t-shirts all the way through October. I buy him some jeans and long-sleeved shirts then, and that's it until spring, except for replacing jeans that get holes in the knees, etc. All I buy now is shoes, and I'm done.

I'm also fortunate in the way his school handles the supply issue: you pay them a "donation" of $40 at the beginning of the school year, and they supply the pencils, paper, folders, markers, etc. I love it.

 

[buxxxom]

Jesus H. Freakin' Roosevelt Christ on a biscuit! Oldest daughter has to have a TI 84 or higher calc for this school year! Those things run upwards of $120! Is it worth it to spend the extra 25 to 30 bucks for like an 89? Should I get the bare bones 84? I don't want to have to spend more than I need to, but I don't want to shell out another $125 next school year either, for high school!

 

[glynndah]

Jesus H. Freakin' Roosevelt Christ on a biscuit! Oldest daughter has to have a TI 84 or higher calc for this school year! Those things run upwards of $120! Is it worth it to spend the extra 25 to 30 bucks for like an 89? Should I get the bare bones 84? I don't want to have to spend more than I need to, but I don't want to shell out another $125 next school year either, for high school!

You might want to talk to Sal about these. He mentioned them in an earlier post in this thread. He may be able to give you some advice. As far as high school goes, I'd suggest contacting the appropriate high school math teacher and asking for his/her recommendation.