If you have the option, do you purchase a school supply kit?
Many schools have started offering school supplies in a boxed kit. If your school offers these supply kits, do you purchase these for your kids? Or do you prefer to buy your own school supplies?
-
At the end of the school year my kids come home with unused or barely used supplies - like spiral notebooks with only the first 8 pages written in. So, we start with what we already have from the previous year and go from there. The kits are really convenient, but we just don't need everything in them.
-
I agree! We always have left over pencils for sure! Plus, I like buying my own supplies because I can often beat the school prices and it offers a little individuality as they can select their own printed notebooks and pencil cases.
-
-
Our schools don't offer supply kits, but it sounds like an interesting idea. It sure beats running around to different stores trying to find everything on the supply list.
-
I compared prices to the kits and the store sales. I saved nearly 60% in buying the supplies on sale. With 5 kids, it adds up.
-
I have always wanted to do the math on this, but never have. Thanks for sharing!!
-
Wow, that’s so helpful to know. There’s really no substitute for crunching the numbers!
-
-
Call me old school, but I love shopping for school supplies. I actually priced it out one year and buying your own is much cheaper than buying the kit. My daughter who is starting K in the fall can’t wait to shop for her supplies.
-
Our district handles all of the supplies and charges each family a supply fee that is included in the book/curriculum fee for the year. It makes it super easy not having to shop, but my kids usually don't like some of the supplies provided so we end up picking up special pencils, pens, etc anyway.
-
I'll just chalk this one up to another nostalgic experience our kids will "miss out" on. Those summertime scavenger hunts were fun as kids. But nowadays, I buy the kits...they are too easy!
-
We did the kits when my oldest first started school, but now we buy our own. There is so much that can be reused from year to year, and it cuts down on a lot of unnecessary waste and cost. We don't need to replace scissors, pencil cases, barely used colored pencils, and blank notebooks if they are still perfectly good! Many items also can be bought in bulk or come in a pack that's bigger than what we need for that year, so I keep a stash of extra supplies that will come in handy for the future. Each year, we start preparing for school by "shopping" our leftover items and stash of extras.
-
I purchased our own my son's first year and found it difficult to find the exact type of markers, etc, that they specified, so now I just purchase the kit. I like shopping for them as well, but until we have more general suggestions, I'm buying the kit. Our kits have exactly what we're required to purchase, so there's no waste there, at least.
