#1. Did you know that you can buy used textbooks online?
Your kids are bound to lose one or two during the year anyway…
just tell them you’re saving the environment and you’ll be cool…
not cheap

#2. If your kids are using a laptop, get a laptop backpack, (they’re very inconspicuous looking), that way if they take their eyes off the laptop case for a minute (or an hour… depending on the kid) it won’t grow legs and walk away

#3. Shop…later… O.K. don’t take this advice for your Christmas shopping or under your tree will be bare…but seriously… the day after the first day of school is bargains, bargains, bargains. Get the kids the basics and a couple of great new outfits for the first few days of school but leave the rest til later…you’ll save a bundle!

#4. Let your kids decorate their at-home-desk. Shocking pink chairs and posters of vampire-teenagers may not be your taste but it takes the “boring” out of homework…by the way the best place for this homework area is in “their” room.

#5. Sort, Store & Toss…No it’s not a new reality T.V. show it’s what I do every Fall. Get together with your kid(s) and ask about their clothes. Be prepared to hear “toss” to that new outfit you just got them in the Spring. For a small investment get them some “cool” clothes that they love. Their confidence level will go up and we all remember how tough it was meeting new classmates. Donate their old clothes to a charity... most will pick up the donated clothes right at your front door. Get great colorful hangers and plastic containers for their accessories. Organizing things means cleaner rooms and less stressful mornings.

#6. This may seem like a big investment but it can be controlled by certain plans...if you haven’t got your kid a cell phone I suggest that you get one. If your child is old enough to go out with friends it could be a life-saver. Have you noticed that there are very few pay-phones anywhere? Get a pay-as-you-go or an inexpensive plan…and learn how to text them…it saves a bundle of money in air-time and you’ll have more conversations with them than you ever have had before and …believe it or not…that’s a good thing

#7. Let your kids look online for their favorite look. They’ll tell you the stores, clothes and shoes they want…it saves a lot of time whether you buy online or go to the actual mall with the prints of the photos of their choices in hand…by the way…have extra printer ink on hand… you’re going to need it!

#8. Change your batteries in your smoke detectors and carbon monoxide detectors …O.K., O.K. ..this has nothing to do with back to school except for the fact that you’ll be buying a ton of batteries for calculators and other school items. Anytime soon the gas furnace, space heaters, gas fireplace etc. will be starting up. Now is a good time to pick up the batteries for the detectors and do a really good thing for your little students to keep them safe

#9. What’s for dinner? That old familiar song will be singing through the house soon. Are you ready? Containers for lunches, snackables (lots of fruit and veggees), a crockpot to make one-dish meals, and other gadgets are needed for those home-cooked meals as you say good-bye to the BBQ and the fast-food meals of summer

#10. Go out on a date with your significant other or friends. Evenings of noise, homework frustration etc. are back again. Plan a great date-night sometime in the Fall. Get a sitter or order a pizza for the older kids and have something to look forward to...especially as you are going crazy that 1st week of school….It’s time to slip out of Mommy and Daddy mode and “party like it’s 1999!”