back-to-school

What?? Back-to-School Time Already??

Where did the time go?

 

Yep, it’s the end of July, and the back-to-school sales are ramping up.  If you’re like me, you hate this kind of shopping. So I was delighted when, about 5 years ago, my son’s school offered Edu-Kits – everything required by the school in a box delivered to the classroom.

 

Sure, it was expensive. But I knew I was paying for convenience and not having to run around to 3 stores to get everything on the school supply list.

 

Do you get what you pay for?

 

Reporter Patricia Lopez with ABC13 news in Houston did a comparison shop in 2014.  For $20.93, she was able to recreate the pre-packaged school supply kid that was selling at a local store for $67.99.  Yikes!  That’s a big upcharge for convenience.

 

In addition, in the last couple of years, I realized that I was buying the same stuff over and over again, when many supplies could just be reused from last year.  For example, every year, the school asks for a pencil bag (reusable), a huge number of spiral notebooks (barely used – tear out the written-on sheets), protractors, compasses, calculators, etc.

 

Just by going through my son’s backpack on the last day of school, I had half of the supplies needed for next year.

 

So, with very little effort, I’ve managed to scale back back-to-school spending.  Maybe I’ll sock that extra money into his 529 account!

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