It’s time to plan for ‘Back to School’ shopping! This year will be different, for me, as my daughter is starting high school. Assuming my daughter doesn’t need anything new (clothing not included), is completely unrealistic. For example, if your son carried a Spiderman backpack in grade 8, I highly doubt that he would want to use it in grade 9 … what do you think? Having said that, last year’s red pencil case (zipper is working, and no rips/tears/or holes) should work fine for this year.
When last at Staples, we picked up a Back to School Shopping List for grade 9. There is NO way that my daughter needs every item on that list; however, it is a good basic list to work with. The goal is to use this list, as a reference, to help you make up your own list; one that is more realistic, and one that is more catered to your needs.
Here’s a plan I’m working on; one that my daughter can fully participate in! I’m going to ask my daughter to list everything she thinks that she’ll need for school. Then I’ll ask her to cross off the list those items that she still has from last year, that she can still use. She will then make up a new list which will include only the remaining items … she will then have to find the prices of all the items and place them alongside the applicable item. She can go to the store to find prices, or she can use flyers (I’ll be reminding her that watching for sale pricing would be ideal). GREAT. Once this task is complete, we’ll total what’s on her list – of course I’ll do the ‘once over’ just in case a car is listed! The final list should be her Back to School Budget. At that point, I’ll make her an offer.
It might get tricky here! Let’s say the total amount on that list is $100.00 … I’ll give my set budget (let’s say) $70.00 and tell her if she doesn’t go over that amount, I’ll give her half of the difference (in cash) to do whatever she wants with it! So let’s say she managed to buy all she needs for $30.00 – I would give her half of the difference in savings ($70 – $30 = $40 … $40 / 2 = $20), she’d get $20.00 cash to spend! WOW! Not too bad, eh? Keep in mind: I will not be buying any more school supplies for the rest of the school year. At all; under any circumstances.
Sounds like a plan; now to put it in to action! How will you be dealing with Back to School Shopping?
