Frugality In Numbers

It’s like safety in numbers, only cheaper.  And having no real security benefits.  Moving on.

Tip Of The Day:  It’s time to prepare the rug-rats for prison school, and that means stocking up on the necessary supplies.  Sadly, all those Joe Bro folders and Miley Cyrus pens really add up.  That’s why joining forces with other families, and having a school supply swap meet, can help you all save money.

Tip For Tomorrow:  I can’t put it off any more – I have to show you exactly what I spent last week.  Please don’t judge me harshly about my wicked spending abandon.  Bristol Ren Faire comes but once a year.

Further Elucidation Of My Cheap Deal:  In high school, we all learned about the economies of scale and how the more you buy, the lower the price per unit.  In other words, it’s cheaper to buy stuff in bulk.  This Macro Econ 101 principle applies on a micro level to you family – in particular, your family’s back to school supply shopping.

However, how many supplies do you really need?  How does buying 50 pens at 10 cents a piece save you anything, if you only need 6 or 7 pens for the whole year?  Your kids won’t be in school forever, so how do you use up all that stuff?

Simple.  Share with the group, and host a school supply swap meet.  Here’s how it works:

Step one:  Gather up a group of parents.  You can either swap with the parents of your child’s friends, or get together a group whose kids are all in the same class.  Don’t know any parents of school-aged kids?  No problem – you can advertise your swap meet on Craigslist or Facebook.

Step two:  Figure out what supplies the kids need.  There are some basics on those REALLY FREAKING EXTENSIVE school supply lists like notebooks, folders, and pens that most kids in your swap meet will need.  Then, tally up how much of each supply you’ll need to buy.

Step three:  Also known as THE MOST IMPORTANT STEP.  Gather up the money for the supplies from each participating family.  Do this before you buy the stuff, or else you’ll never get paid back.

Step four:  Hit the stores.  One of your first stops should be a Sam’s Club or Costco – if one of the parents from the swap has a membership.  You’ll find many of the products you’ll need like pens, reams of paper and jump drives in the office supply department, and boxes of Kleenex for the classroom in the paper product aisle.  Plus, you can eat lunch for free with all the samples.

You’ll also find bulk savings at stores like Target.  The bigger the package of any given school supply, like pens or highlighters, the cheaper it is per unit.  Best of all, when you shop at Target, they donate 5% of your total purchase to local schools.  Because Target is Made Of Awesome.

Step four:  Divvy up the supplies among the families.  Whatever items you have left over at the end of the swap meet can be used later in the year, or you can donate those supplies to children in need.

You can treat the supply swap part like a party, and have drinks and apps, too.  Just don’t spill on the school stuff – it’d be hard to explain why little Sally’s notebooks smell like a gin and tonic.

One last tip?  When you do go shopping for school supplies, leave the kids at home.  Otherwise, your entire trip will sound like this, “Mommy, can I have that?  Mommy, can I have that?  But MOM, I NEED that!!!!!”  And then the whole day will end in tears and broken promises.