ACK! T minus 8 Days Til School Starts! And I haven’t written at all about frugal preparations for school! I’ve been remiss, and I apologize. I can only blame my excitement over the new house (closing in mid Oct), general chaos of the summer, and plain old space-y-ness. Is that even a word?
One of the things I did this year was to put off my back to school shopping for Princess. I did download the school supply list and purchase the requisite items at Wally World while everything was on sale. I even picked up a few extras at the rock bottom prices-after all, they usually wind up with a plea for more glue sticks after a few months. But I didn’t do any other shopping.
Why? Well, to start off with, she actually doesn’t need anything new just yet. Typically it is warm enough for the first few weeks of September to be wearing her summer clothes still. It really doesn’t make sense to rush out and buy a bunch of jeans, long sleeve shirts etc etc etc, and then leave them in the dresser for 3 or 4 weeks. . . I decided instead to wait that 3 or 4 weeks, at which point most of the “back to school” stock in the stores will be being reduced. Yes, I may not have quite as wide a choice, but I’m sure there will still be plenty to choose from.
Secondly, I’m just busy right now and don’t feel like pulling out her fall clothes. In our current house the closet and dresser space is limited, so I pack up the out of season clothing and put it in tubs out in the garage. To actually figure out what clothing she NEEDS, I’d have to pull out those tubs, ditch* all the clothes that are now too small, pull out the tubs of the next size up, see what will fit, then figure out what is missing.
To be perfectly honest, I just don’t feel like doing that right now. Since it IS still pretty warm, I really can’t pack up the summer stuff yet, so I’d wind up with the tubs of fall stuff sitting in her room and her drawers/closet still full of the summer stuff. If I wait a few weeks until the weather turns, then I can safely put away the summer stuff and take out the fall/winter. I’m all for making my life easy.
Lastly, the thrift stores around here haven’t turned over their inventory from summer to winter yet. That means that my only shopping option would be the retail stores. Again, if I wait I can shop thrift first, then fill in whatever I am unable to find at the retail stores.
So there you have it, my experimental philosophy for this year. I’ll let you know how it works out!
*Ok, I wouldn’t just throw clothes out. They will either be saved for a yard sale, sent to my big sister, who has a 1 1/2 year old (hey, she can save it) or given to the town’s clothing bank.
frugal 
back to school 
school clothes
{ 9 comments… read them below or add one }
You are not the only one!! After a summer of traveling and cleaning the basement, I really am not up to the seasonal swap. I know the kids have clothes that will fit, I am just not up to going through everything again! That will get done in the next few weeks
They closed some thrift stores in our area. I hope they open up new ones!! I found tons at the Dollar store of supplies!! Thanks for the advice!! Annette
You’re smart to wait a little while for the school clothes. My son wants to go shopping for new things, but I recently bought him some lighter summer clothes that should take him to the end of September. Besides…these kids grow so fast, I could buy something now and it won’t fit him in a month, LOL!
I think I am alone in this, but I have never really gone out to buy my kids back to school clothes. Our elementary school supplies pens, pencils, markers, and such. My MS son and HS son will have lists once school starts but we have stocked up on notebooks, pencils, and paper years ago so we are good there. When my boys need new clothes I buy them. My daughter does not suffer in the clothes department. A girl after two boys is just too much fun to shop for
.
Barb C
I never bought my son’s back to school clothes till late Sept. I always knew what stores had big clothes sales in late Sept. So I waited. He still wore shorts most of the time before then.
My dd is in fourth grade this year and what you described is exactly how we’ve done it since she started kindergarten. She usually receives clothing from dmil & dfil over the summer so she has “new” stuff to wear at the beginning of the school year. Late Sept or early Oct is when we finally start looking through her “too big” box and get the few items she needs.
I have shopped at CouponAlbum site for all my needs for clothes and accessories.
The coupon album site is ok, but I find that KeepCash has better coupons and deals.
Here is a relative information that readers here will benefit from:
The Rothem Collection is a direct source of
flower diamond rings, flower diamond earrings, flower diamond pendants and flower diamond bracelets, sold only to diamond dealers or diamonds wholesalers.
Since 1942, the Rothem Collection has remained a family owned company specializing in the manufacture of fine diamond flower engagement jewelry with
special emphasis on flowers and diamonds. Producing superior quality diamond
flower rings, diamond flower earrings, diamond flower pendants and diamond flower bracelets, engagement settings and other fine diamond jewelry has always
been our primary focus which is why we insist on only the highest quality loose diamonds. All of our products are shipped direct from the Israeli diamond burse
exchange and come with appraisal, professional grade image, warranty card, gift wrapping box, parcel tracking, and delivery insurance for the full purchase
price so your order is 100% secure. The Rothem Collection guarantees the lowest prices on the Web and if you think any flower jewelry, pendant, or any piece from
our collection is too expensive — then send us a reasonable offer and we will reply within 1 business day. While we try to always offer the best price on
every piece, we will consider any reasonable offer as part of our Flex Pricing policy. Find them at rothemcollection.com