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Our summer has consisted of trips to the beach, the local ice cream shop and play dates with friends. We’ve had our fill of fun and all that comes along with endless days off. Now my three kids are ready for school to start.
I think they might be craving some structure and who doesn’t love buying all the new notebooks, pens and markers?
The fresh start of a new school year feels great and one tradition I love is making a date with my kids for back-to-school shopping. We print out the lists, think about where to go and have lunch out afterward as a little treat. This year, we went to Kmart to stock up on all the supplies we’ll need to start the year.
If you’ve ever been shopping with children, you know you have to have a plan of attack.
Going in on a whim can result in tears and chaos. And yes, even teenagers have meltdowns. I’m a former teacher AND I’ve put in my fair share of time over the years shopping with my kids, so I know what I’m talking about here.
Our Top 3 Back-to-School Shopping Hacks
Today, I want to share my top tips to make the process enjoyable, as well as to save time and money.
Of course, the first thing you can do is shop the back-to-school sales and Kmart has some great ones going on – everything from backpacks starting at $5 to buy one, get one 50% off on featured Five Star products!
Read on for the hacks and even more amazing deals…
#1 – Print off your lists ahead of time
This might seem like a no-brainer, but you’ll need to look at the lists side by side to compare the similar items.
I like to highlight the items that are the same on each child’s list, so when we go down the aisle with pens (Paper-Mate 10 pack on sale for $1.50 each!), I’ll know just how many we need for each child and we won’t have to circle back to that aisle.
#2 – Have each child choose a color
This color will be the one they’ll use for everything from their notebooks to scissors to pencil bags. This will ensure a few things. When you get back from the store, there’s no fighting over who picked out what.
Plus, as the year goes on, when you see a notebook, you’ll know exactly who it belongs to.
#3 – Stock up
How many of us get notices throughout the year that the classroom has run out of crayons (Crayola 24 ct on sale for only 50 cents) or glue (Elmers 4 oz. also on sale for 50 cents)?
Kmart has such great deals on their school supplies through September 16, that it makes sense to buy a few extra.
And if the classroom doesn’t need them, we always go through these basics at home so there’s definitely nothing going to waste.
Bonus Tip: Don’t wait too long! Make sure you take advantage of Kmart’s big back-to-school sale going on through September 16th and get there before all the good stuff is gone!
Kristin