This week is actually back to school week for us (yesterday was our first day of school–my eyes are still red and swollen!) and I’m joining 21 other bloggers in a 5 Days of Organizing and Cleaning series, so for the next couple days I’ll be talking about organizing for the school year.

Monday: It Starts at Home

Tuesday: Supplies and Gear

Wednesday: Food and Meal Planning

Thursday: Simple Wardrobes

Friday: Fresh Routines and Learning Lifestyles.

There will also be some sweet GIVEAWAYS throughout the week–so be sure to check out the links at the end of my posts each day! (Hint, Hint…there’s cash!)

Today I’m talking about school supplies and gear–you know, just the essentials. Like 2,600 boxes of crayons and 50,000 glue sticks…I kid, I kid…

I wish.

Does anyone else find school supply lists outrageous these days? Truly! I’m not really talking about our schools the last couple years–we pay either way since it’s private. I’m talking about public schools. I’m talking about my tax dollars buying every high school student an iPad, while elementary school teachers are telling parents they can’t afford a couple boxes of tissues.

But I digress…

WHAT TO BUY

Here’s some tips for buying school supplies:

• Shop on your state’s Tax Free days. You can buy a lot of extra supplies for $5, $10, or $15 dollars!
• Buy extras. Buy as many supplies as you can budget for. The prices will never be better and I’d rather have 8 extra comp books for $2 than have to run out in the middle of the school year and buy 1 for $4.99 at Rite Aid.
• Don’t just think school! Glue, stickers, crayons, construction paper–these are just everyday craft supplies, stock up now for the whole year! Nature notebooks, anyone? They also make great last minute gifts! I can go to our craft closet and throw together a pack of construction paper, some glue and scissors, a pack of colored pencils or markers, and watercolors as a gift for less than $5 and no trip in to Town at the last minute. Oh yeah, and office supplies for your home office.

Our “craft closet” is just our hall closet. I used old shoe boxes and a label maker to create a “system” for storing glue sticks, pencils, rulers, scissors, etc. This way I control the supplies and no one goes through 12 glue sticks on one project. I just move things into their pencil boxes as they run out.

• Buy those household supplies like handi-wipes, ziploc bags, tissues, and hand sanitizer at club stores like BJs or Costco–not back to school sales. And use coupons–there’s usually lots of coupons for these items out as we head into fall (also know as almost cold season!).  Split a case of tissues with a friend if you need to–you’ll save tons.
• Don’t be married to the supply list from school! Seriously. Buy what’s on sale and they’ll make do. 2 large boxes of tissues? Um, I got a case of the small ones for half the price–we’re sending small boxes. Box of 12 pencils? Um, the boxes of 10 are $0.20 and the 12s are $1. You’re getting 10–or 20 if you’d rather!

We’re usually stocked about 1 year ahead with basic supplies–and they don’t really take up that much room.

Nap mats never even crossed my mind until we were introduced to the pre-school/extended care hybrid of all day school. But these things are awesome–better than sleeping bags!

• Backpacks. Mimi introduced us to Pottery Barn’s kid gear and I have to admit, I’m sold on their backpacks. Unlike their overpriced coffee table driftwood, I think their backpacks are priced fairly to the rest of the market and the Ladybug just retired her first one after 3 years of every day use–with at least another year left in it. And we throw them in the washing machine several times a year.
• Lunchboxes. We use the Pottery Barn ones–I’m not crazy about them. If you put the drink in, you don’t have much space left for bento box dividers or anything. I’m looking for something else, but they’re holding up ok, and we wash these even more often. (Air dry, don’t use the dryer!!)
• Water bottles. Um, the Klean Kanteen ones that Pottery Barn sells–they leak. The fine print says “may leak.” Well, if you put them in a lunchbox and the lunch box is not kept completely upright, they will leak. I promise. They’re great for water, not great for lunch boxes. (Notice in the catalog that they’re always carried in the backpack pocket?) We like the $4 Embark ones from Target.
• Nap Mats. I never even thought about these until the Cowboy went into preschool and our whole schedule shifted to the kids being at school and then extended care for a full day. I shopped around and found these nap mats by Wildkin at eBags {Note: Goodness, the price has gone up, use coupons! And if you order from ebags, order one at a time–they’ll send you a 20% off your next purchase coupon if you write a review after you buy something.} These little babies are cushioned, the blanket and pillow are 100% connected, and they roll up with a carry handle. We’ve washed them 100 times over the last three years and they’re still going strong.

The kids don’t mind hauling them around for themselves.

Tomorrow I’ll be talking about food and meal planning–which will be very different for us this year since we’re back to only packing one lunch a day. The boys’ hot lunch is included as part of their tuition.

In the mean time, be sure to enter the GIVEAWAY posted below and stop by and visit some of the other inspiring posts for tips and tricks on cleaning and organizing everything from your time to your bathroom…

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