Back to School Shopping : Guest Post

By Julie Hess- follow her here: www.hessesmadhouse.blogspot.com

Back to School Shopping

Today is payday. We only get one a month, so we have to pace ourselves a bit and budget pretty carefully. We decided, this morning, that today was going to be school shopping day. We had a BLAST!

We did things a wee bit differently this year. I sat down and figured out the budget and showed the kids what we had left for all of our extra spending for the month. We decided together how much would be budgeted and evenly split between six school kids. I think we were fair.

Before we left, we talked about what stores we wanted to shop at. We went to those stores online to see what they had special deals on. Old Navy has their jeans on sale for $10 for kids. Plus, they have a 25% coupon code that's good until today. If you order more than $50 worth of stuff, you get free shipping, so we ordered jeans and found two shirts that were $6 each.
On a piece of paper, we listed each child and the amount of money they started with. Those who ordered jeans and shirts, had those amounts subtracted from the original sum. We, then, headed to the bank. We figured out how much of each child's budget was left and put that amount in an envelope with the child's name on it. They were, then, each handed their own money.

We headed to Old Navy. #1 and #2 are at team camp for cross country, so they will shop next week, but #3 got a pair of jeans, a cami, a t-shirt, and a cardigan. #4 got a pair of jeans online, a polo a hoodie (1/2 price this weekend) and two t-shirts. #5 got a pair of jeans and a shirt online and two polos and a t-shirt at the store. #6 got a pair of jeans and a shirt online. He wasn't going to get anything more--long story, but he was so good at the store (no nagging, no whining. AMAZING!) that I bought him a surprise $5 t-shirt. Each child still has money left.

Everybody came home happy. The best part of the trip was that each child had to go to the checker by him/herself and pay from the money in his/her own envelope. I think they each felt very grown up and responsible. I love that they chose what they wanted within their own budgets, and I didn't have to comment on anything being too expensive. I think the only thing I'd change is that they each have their own calculator with them.

They did, thankfully, still ask my opinion on how things looked, so I did turn down a couple ugly shirts. I'm sure the day will come when they won't ask any more, but for now, life is good.

Now the challenge of holding them off until the first day of school. They'll have a fashion show tonight when the Warden gets home. I'll take some photos then, and then they'll have to wait for three weeks to wear them again.