Search Results for: blog back to school budget busters

School Supply Shopping

It’s that time of year—the time when all the school supplies are on sale. Pens! Pencils! Notebooks! Glue! It’s almost more than I can stand—I love all that stuff. It’s tempting to run around and put ten of everything in your cart, isn’t it? But for the most part, homeschoolers aren’t all that wealthy (why is that, anyway?) and we often need to shop wisely for the things we need. I encourage you to think about your family dynamics as you make your shopping list. Children who are homeschooled don’t have a daily need for backpacks and lunchboxes, so don’t … Continue reading →

The Euphoria of School Supplies

I love the movie “You’ve Got Mail.” At the beginning, when Tom Hanks’ character says that he wants to send Meg Ryan’s character a bouquet of freshly sharpened pencils to celebrate fall, I know exactly what he’s talking about—there’s just something about pencils and pens and paper and crayons and markers … sigh. I love school supplies. I love it when they go on sale at all the stores just in time for back to school, and I always grab at least two cases of notebooks, packages upon packages of pens, and whatever fun little goodies they have on sale. … Continue reading →

Back-to-School Budget Busters

What is the single most expensive back-to-school item on your child’s list? It likely varies depending on the age of your child, but according to a new report, backpacks are high on the list of back-to-school budget busters. Most kids insist that a new backpack is required back-to-school material despite what their frugal parents might think. However, if you want a backpack to last a couple of years it pays to invest in a good one. No offense to major discount retailers, but $3 clearance packs don’t often fare well against pricey, high quality bags. Prices for a high quality … Continue reading →

Christmas Shopping for Your Child’s Teacher

Now that Thanksgiving is over, the countdown to Christmas is on, and that means parents are under even more pressure to cram as much as humanly possible into a 24-hour period. For many moms and dads that means more Bah! Humbug! than fa-la-la-la-la, but such is the society-driven hoopla surrounding the birth of Christ. In addition to cooking, cleaning and coordinating school holiday concert schedules, parents must rack their brains to come up with meaningful gifts for grandparents, aunts, uncles, pizza delivery men and other major influences in their child’s life. What’s more, most of us also feel obligated to … Continue reading →

Fun Projects to Keep Kids Busy During Summer Break

In Hawaii public school kids headed back to class last week. Meanwhile, parochial schools in the Atlanta area open for the new school year in less than two weeks. But here in the Midwest, public school students don’t begin classes until September 8th. For parents, that means four more weeks of summer, and subsequently, an additional month’s worth of hearing: “Mom, I’m bored!” If you are looking for simple boredom busters to help get through the rest of August, consider the following fun ideas: EDIBLE DIRT Ingredients: 1 (8-ounce) package cream cheese, softened 1 (8-ounce) Cool Whip 1 cup powdered … Continue reading →