Back 2 School

Glad to see that the kids are getting good use out of their outrageously expensive calculator!

All these Back to School ads really crack me up.  Just today I saw a Wal-mart challenge to get all your back to school clothes for under $100.  Are you stinkin' kidding me??? For ONE kid??  And that's a challenge?  I think I could get all seven ready for under 100 bucks!

(except for the calculator, of course.)

Seriously.


Homeschoolers have it made in that department.  Well, at least homeschool moms do.
Because back to school clothes for a homeschooler consist of the same exact clothes that you were wearing prior to back to school time.  With the exception of new socks and undies and an occasional pair of shoes... if there's nothing that fits in the recycle bins from the attic.  When the weather gets cooler, we'll bring all those bins down and do a great big clothes swap.  And then we just wait til Christmas to buy the cute new jeans and trendy shoes.  Cool, right?

And I also love to watch all the "other" moms in the school supply aisle with their lists, buying exactly what the teachers requested.  Because Wal-mart knows what those teachers asked for, they can jack up the prices of those items... even though they sell spiral notebooks at a loss for 17 cents each.  But guess what I buy.  Yep, 20-40 of those cheap notebooks.  20 composition books.  14 boxes of markers.  Ditto the crayons.  And glue.  And everything else that's super cheap.  And then we just make it work.

Because... homeschoolers spend a FORTUNE on curriculum.  A  F-O-R-T-U-N-E!   I'm sure that's when the other moms get their laugh.

So, that's what I'm busy doing this week...making my lists and planning out my year.  (We school all Summer, so we don't officially start back when everybody else does.)  And then I'm gonna spend a small fortune.  Because after spending a big fortune for the past 16 years, I've got quite a nice collection of school books and it's just about to get a little cheaper for me.

 (And it's a good thing, since we'll be helping pay for college!!)

OK, so maybe homeschooling isn't such a good deal.  Hmmm.  Well, I still think it's worth it.

 I'll just keep thinking about what a great deal I got on those notebooks.  ; )