Hacking school supplies — plan ahead

This is a post for all you moms out there who want to save on school supplies! I had FOUR children in elementary school this year. That means I had to buy four children school supplies! I did not do myself any favors in that area, let me tell you! It was EXPENSIVE! I was actually pretty shocked. I really didn’t think it would be all that bad. We moved from Utah, the schools provide all the school supplies for the children where we lived and the teachers would ask for donations occasionally (which I was happy to provide.) When we moved to Idaho, I had no idea the expense it would be until the big number was shown at the checkout. I am pretty sure everything was way more expensive because I bought it in September. AND, to add insult to injury, by the time we moved and got the supply lists, everywhere I looked, the supplies were picked through and very bare. I determined to be prepared for next year!

It’s the end of January and a unadvertised sale happened at Target (sadly it happened quickly and it’s over now). I purchased a lot of supplies that I know I will need for the next school year. There are bound to be items I will have to purchase for the specific teachers, but I know that I saved A LOT of money on this sale, and that makes me tickled pink!

So begins the tradition that I shall name, the “school store”. When school comes around, I will “shop” in my little store and I know that it won’t be such a burden all at once. I am not sure of the timing of the sales, but it’s a good idea to watch out for them throughout the year (I will make sure to check at the end of January next year as well). It was almost impossible to find watercolors at any store during the beginning of the school year, so I made sure that I purchased those. Some other items that I had a really hard time finding were pink erasers and believe it or not, glue sticks. I bought a lot of them during the sale, and they were very cheap (63 cents for a 3 pack)! When I finally found some at Walmart I know I overpaid, but I was in a bind. Not this year! Do you have any school supplies hacks? Share them below!