Back-to-School Tips!

It’s that time again! Time to put the kids to bed on time, buy school supplies and figure out where they stashed their backpacks after the end of last school year. And then, when you can’t find the backpacks – OR the lunch boxes – you go out and buy new stuff for everyone… just to be fair.

Here’s a few tips I’ve found to be useful over the years. See if you can convince your kids to try them out and maybe you can save some time, money or peace of mind!

• Make everyone clean their bedrooms before school starts. It helps everyone get a fresh start – and you may be able to locate lost school supplies like backpacks.
• If you are still paying for your kids’ lunches you might consider getting then a checking account for storing lunch money. It’s a good way to build responsibility. Instead of bugging you every day for money your child can learn budgeting while you’re still able to bail them out of trouble. Budgeting will become very important to them when they’re halfway through the month and have no lunch money left.
• Pack sack lunches – it’s healthier and cheaper. Or, make them pack their own. My Mom had a mantra – pack your own lunch or eat school lunch. Due to our nasty school lunches I learned very quickly how to pack a lunch – of course, Mom sometimes had to watch how many sweets we were throwing into the sack, but for the most part we ate well.
• If your child is in college convince them to buy textbooks used. Bookstores charge high prices because they can – not because they should.
• Pull out the remaining supplies from last school year and make the kids use them up before you buy all new stuff. We used to spend a fortune on school supplies every year because I thought I had to have new stuff. And hey, who doesn’t like new stuff? I’m just thinking that we probably threw away a lot of good stuff because it was “old”. And that gets expensive.

Any other ideas? Leave us a comment if there’s something I’ve failed to mention! We love money savers – and time savers. And I know there are tons of Moms out there with great ideas. We’d love to hear them!