The other day I was in Target and saw that they already have a big section of school supplies for sale in their seasonal area!  We may be halfway through the summer according to the calendar, but with our recent interstate move, I'm just now getting in the groove of summer.  So those big bins of notebooks and erasers were a harsh jog to my summer enjoyment. 

Anyway, I was talking to a friend of mine and she told me she was planning on shopping this weekend for school supplies.  "Isn't it kind of early?" I asked.  "No way!" she said.  "Last year I went at the end of August and all the local stores were sold out." 

I always have waited until the kids register or get their supply lists from the school doors a week before school, but apparently, that's the old way of doing things.  If we want a choice of products, and want to take advantage of possible real savings before the "fake" savings they advertise in the heat of back to school shopping, you have to hit the stores now.

But what to buy?  Many schools these days require parents to buy less, or do something called a communal or community supply.  Basically, they give a list of optional items, and you buy what you can, and it all goes into a pool that the kids all use.

You can try to find a list of required and optional supplies on your school district's website.  Or, try calling the office--you might get lucky and find someone there.

Also, we parents on a budget don't wait until the end of August to start our clothes shopping--that's because we start early digging through the racks and bins at thrift stores.  A combination of luck and skill often means that I save us a couple of hundred dollars buying barely used clothes.  Then, when I can't find something at the thrift store, I only have to pay full price on one or two things.

And there's another thing I just can't comprehend.  Why, when we know that every year our kids are going to need pencils, crayons, and a box to hold them in, do we throw them out at the end of each school year only to buy new ones a couple of months later?  Tucking those away and bringing them out in August has these benefits:

• We save money
• We save resources that go into making those products
• We teach our kids how to be thrifty--and use common sense.  There is no rule that you have to have NEW things at the beginning of every school year, despite what the commercials show.
• We teach kids that a pencil sharpened half way down can STILL BE USED!!