Think Ahead Thursday: Back-To-School
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I don’t have school age kids but I am very aware that many of my readers do. And some of you can’t imagine that we could start talking about back-to-school in July. Didn’t summer vacation just start? While others of you have your little countdown calendar set for the first day of school. Won’t it ever get here?
It doesn’t matter which camp you are living in, it will be coming soon. Here are some things to start thinking about (and preparing your wallet for).
School Supplies
- Meijer.com $15 off $100 order – Promo Code: mjr15special
- Amazon.com Back to School Deals
Clothes
Groceries/Cooking
- Kellogg’s Fuel for School Rebate – $80 in savings
- Starting the 1st of August you will see lots of back-to-school lunch items going on sale. You will want to watch out for boxed cereals, lunch meats, individual sized snacks and puddings, and much more.
And all of you experienced back-to-school moms (and dads), what are some things that we need to think ahead about? Do you remember certain sales from last year? Do you have a story about something you forgot? What am I missing here?
I’m going to put a concept out there to all of the moms of school-age children: litterless lunches! That means packing a lunch that does not contribute to the landfills. Here are some suggestions:
* instead of buying individual sized containers of yogurt and apple-sauce, etc, try buying the large container and pack it into a reuseable containers
* bake your own healthy muffins and pack that
* cook a little extra at dinner time, and put leftovers into a thermos
* abandon the idea that a school lunch must include a sandwich! There are lots of other stuff to eat
* Make a big salad at the beginning of the week, and use that for lunches: bean salad, pasta salad, couscous salad, etc
I did this last year for the first time and was astounded at how much money I saved, and felt better that I was not contributing to the land-fill. A great resource for learning morea about litterless lunches is http://www.laptoplunch.com
Good Luck!
Natalie
Sorry, I posted the wrong URL.
It should be http://www.laptoplunches.com
I could not find the Fuel for school rebate mentioned on their website. The link takes you to a blurp about Fuel for school, but does not mention the rebate or coupons.
I created a direct link. You will still need to click on the link in the lower right corner to get to the order form.
My only advice is to just be aware of what you are buying. We are making a conscious effort this year to use as much as we have from home, rather than buying. We have enough “party pencils” to last a lifetime. That will save me 50 cents. Last year’s backpack is in fine condition. Reusing that sucker! Do my kids really need “all new clothes” when the ones they have look fine? We’ve decided that a new wardrobe will come with the cooler months, when they will really need the clothes. Supposedly, the stores will be really pushing sales due to the sluggish economy. I will be watching and might be purchasing, but for the most part, we are “using it up!” Good luck to everyone!
Great advice.
[...] around these parts. So I thought I would remedy that this week! Since we have been talking about getting ready for back to school and preparing our menu for going back to school, how about a back-to-school giveaway? Sounds like a [...]