My Top 5 Back-to-School Sanity Savers

August 04, 2015

Right before the school year starts, I hear this imaginary bell going off in my head with Michael Buffer saying, “Let’s Get Ready to Rumble.” My first year was utter chaos – registering my kids at school, understanding what they can or cannot wear, the infamous list of what feels like 1,000 items to bring to school, and dealing with picky eaters who liked one lunch one day and thought the same lunch tasted like garbage the next week. The following year, I swore I would develop a strategy to keep myself sane. These are my top 5 sanity savers:

  1. Take advantage of your state’s tax free days. There are about 18 states that offer a tax free day right before school starts. Understand in advance what qualifies as a tax free purchase and plan accordingly. For instance, in some taxes like Mississippi, footwear or clothing under $100 is exempt from taxes. You can click on this link to CNBC which explains what purchases get the tax free exemption.
  2. Office supply stores can trump dollar stores on back-to-school savings. I learned this one the hard way after patting myself on the back for getting notebooks for a $1 each and then going into an office supply store that had them on sale for 25 cents each. Also, some office supply stores have great savings on backpacks and even lunchboxes.
  3. The best time to shop for consignment shop uniforms is a few weeks after school is over. Like many parents, I typically do an inventory of my kids’ clothes after school ends and decide what we will keep and give away. Where we live, even the kids that go to public schools have to wear uniforms. I have learned that if I wait about 2-3 weeks to start consignment store shopping, I can get all of their clothes for school. I also continuously visit consignment stores for uniforms throughout the year, and there have been times where I found brand new clothing with the tags still on them.
  4. Hit up the dollar stores for name brand school schools. If your child needs to channel their inner Disney Princess or Mutant Ninja Turtle through school supplies then a month before school starts is the time to go to get the best selection.
  5. Involve your kids in the lunch process. I shop with my kids for their lunch and I have them help me make their lunches. I give them the rule for lunches, which is essentially that cupcakes cannot be the only thing they eat for lunch. I have found that this gives them extra buy-in so they are more likely to eat their lunch and less likely to complain. Parents.com gives a ton of great ideas for lunches.

Doing these five things have helped restore sanity to sending my kids back to school. I would love to hear your thoughts about your back-to-school strategies. Feel free to share them in the comments section below.