Steve Repak's Blog - Posts Tagged "back-to-school"
Don’t Bust Your Budget with Back to School Expenses
Proverbs 27:23-24(NIV) “Be sure you know the condition of your flocks, give careful attention to your herds; for riches do not endure forever, and a crown is not secure for all generations.”
It’s hard to believe that it is time once again to start planning for back to school. Having children myself, I understand the struggles because of the cost of school supplies and clothes. So what are some ideas you can use to make back to school shopping a little less painful on your checkbook?
1. Buy in bulk
#2 pencils, spiral notebooks, folders, and paper. Every child needs these basic supplies in school and most of the time it makes sense to buy these in bulk. Unless you have a child that is graduating this year, consider buying their school supplies like pencils, paper and glue sticks, which by the way do not spoil, in bulk because it will turn out to be less expensive and your child will likely need to replace these throughout the year, and will definitely need those items again next year. When buying in bulk though, just make sure you remember where you put all of the excess supplies for the following year so you aren’t wasting money buying them again.
2. Recycle supplies from last year
My child’s standard ruler, safety scissors, hand held pencil sharpener, pencil pouch, and sometimes even their book bag are still in great shape at the end of the school year and it makes financial sense to use them again for the upcoming school year. Take time to do an inventory with your children to see if they truly need new supplies or if you can get away with using some of the previous year’s items again.
3. It’s Okay to say no
While you can’t avoid back to school expenses altogether, there are ways to control them so you can keep a little more of your hard earned money! I have written a few articles in the past for back to school shopping where I have said, “It’s Okay to say No”. In the previous articles, the “No” was meant for the child. Saying “No” this year is going to be for the lists I get from my childrens’ schools. For example, this year I am going to say “No” to purchasing hand sanitizer, paper towels, 3 boxes of tissues, 2 reams of copy paper, 1 ream of colored paper, the Swiffer duster, zip-lock bags, a four-pack of Dry Erase markers, disinfectant wipes, and Band-Aids. When I take these optional items and multiply it by three (for my three children) that comes out to a lot of money!
Article courtesy of Choose Now Ministries http://nicoleodell.com/2014/08/dont-b...
It’s hard to believe that it is time once again to start planning for back to school. Having children myself, I understand the struggles because of the cost of school supplies and clothes. So what are some ideas you can use to make back to school shopping a little less painful on your checkbook?
1. Buy in bulk
#2 pencils, spiral notebooks, folders, and paper. Every child needs these basic supplies in school and most of the time it makes sense to buy these in bulk. Unless you have a child that is graduating this year, consider buying their school supplies like pencils, paper and glue sticks, which by the way do not spoil, in bulk because it will turn out to be less expensive and your child will likely need to replace these throughout the year, and will definitely need those items again next year. When buying in bulk though, just make sure you remember where you put all of the excess supplies for the following year so you aren’t wasting money buying them again.
2. Recycle supplies from last year
My child’s standard ruler, safety scissors, hand held pencil sharpener, pencil pouch, and sometimes even their book bag are still in great shape at the end of the school year and it makes financial sense to use them again for the upcoming school year. Take time to do an inventory with your children to see if they truly need new supplies or if you can get away with using some of the previous year’s items again.
3. It’s Okay to say no
While you can’t avoid back to school expenses altogether, there are ways to control them so you can keep a little more of your hard earned money! I have written a few articles in the past for back to school shopping where I have said, “It’s Okay to say No”. In the previous articles, the “No” was meant for the child. Saying “No” this year is going to be for the lists I get from my childrens’ schools. For example, this year I am going to say “No” to purchasing hand sanitizer, paper towels, 3 boxes of tissues, 2 reams of copy paper, 1 ream of colored paper, the Swiffer duster, zip-lock bags, a four-pack of Dry Erase markers, disinfectant wipes, and Band-Aids. When I take these optional items and multiply it by three (for my three children) that comes out to a lot of money!
Article courtesy of Choose Now Ministries http://nicoleodell.com/2014/08/dont-b...
