Sunday, August 1, 2010

Back-to-School Preparations



I'm sure that, like me, you noticed the stores filling with school supplies mid-July, and all the back-to-school sales cropping up. It's exciting in a way, I mean who doesn't like school supplies, but also depressing at the same time. Don't pop the bubble that is my summer vacation, PUH-leez.

Well, like it or not, it's that time, time for us to start thinking about getting the kids, and ourselves, back into the school routine. For me, the best way to get in the mood is to go shopping for school supplies.

I've been thinking about revamping my School Clothes Shopping Check List, and I came up with the idea to make a School Supply Shopping Checklist. The thing I loathe about shopping for school supplies is having multiple lists to shop from. And I only have two kids! What must it be like for those of you with six kids? It's enough to make me want to bury my head in the sand.

Anyway, I came up with this solution to the confusion of shopping with multiple lists.


I took my girls' separate lists for school supplies, and I combined them into one list. I don't know why I didn't think of this sooner, being a lover of spread sheets and all.

Click on the picture if you need a closer look, but the idea is to write your kids' names across the columns at the top, and write the supplies they need along the left side. Then you just fill in the number that each kid needs, make a total column if you don't need that column for a seventh kid, write down what you have already, and come up with a total for each of the items you need to buy.

Pretty simple, right?


Here's a blank one for you. Just be sure to click on it first in order to get the best resolution, before you save it to your computer.


And here's the revamped School Clothes Shopping Check List. This one has enough room for two kids. If you have more than two kids, you'll have to print out more copies. Sorry about that.

Have fun shopping!

19 comments:

  1. This is genious! Why I hadn't thought of combining list and making the trip smoother is beyond me. Thank you!!!

    ReplyDelete
  2. You're so awesome! I only have one kid needing school supplies this year, but this will be perfect for next year. I'm definitely saving it to my computer.

    ReplyDelete
  3. love it!!! You are a rock star and are going to make my last month of summer (which I have surgery in the middle of) much easier. thanks a bunch.

    ReplyDelete
  4. Thank You Thank You!
    I am So excited to use these, thanks for thinking this out for me! :O) Mostly Thanks for Sharing it!

    This time of year always reminds me of You've Got Mail
    "Don't you love New York in the fall? It makes me want to buy school supplies. I would send you a bouquet of newly-sharpened pencils if I knew your name and address."

    ReplyDelete
  5. my goodness..what would I do without you? Your lists are just super!!!
    i will certainly be useing the clothes one & then emailing it to our grandmoms. They are always asking us what size clothes they are.
    Keep feeding my list addiction - I love,love,love it!!

    ReplyDelete
  6. How SMART are YOU!!!?!?!! VERY SMART, I'd say! I'm only shopping for 1 right now (my second child is 3 1/2 and starting preschool - luckily no school supplies needed for her yet!) But I'm going to save this for a couple years from now when I'll need to organize 2 lists!! So great!

    ReplyDelete
  7. Your lists are GREAT for households with multiple children. Very organized. It is hard to believe it is August already!!!!!!

    ReplyDelete
  8. I almost want to have kids again so I could try my hand at being organized like you!
    Great ideas and so CUTE.

    ReplyDelete
  9. great organization!! I'm just a wee bit flabbergasted at the amount of things you need to buy for your kids for school, though. Seems like a HUGE list!

    ReplyDelete
  10. Seriously-
    You Rock.
    (...and thanks for the lists-)
    :)

    ReplyDelete
  11. You are very smart! And I can see myself doing the same thing, lol! When I saw the name of your blog and your tagline, I said 'this is a kindred spirit'. I am a control freak as well. I WANT to be organized, and in many ways I am, but in sooo many ways I am not! I will enjoy looking on your blog for other solutions you have! As for this one, I will pass to my daughter as my baby graduated from high school this past year. My oldest however, has 4 to buy for! She said it was probably going to cost her $200 for just the basic supplies the school is asking for!
    http://bernicewood.wordpress.com/2010/08/01/calgon-take-me-away/

    ReplyDelete
  12. Great tip!

    I got even more nerdy and put it together in Excel so I could make the columns do their fabulous math magic for me :)

    Someone should make an iPhone app for that :)

    Kendra
    aka The Meanest Momma

    ReplyDelete
  13. Combining lists, who would have thought something so simple would be something I never thought of! Genius! Can't wait to go shopping now :)

    ReplyDelete
  14. Just shared this awesome post with all my friends on Facebook- what a genius and helpful tool! Thanks!

    ReplyDelete
  15. Am I the only one who is having no success in being able to print the lists? I can not get them to open into a program that allows me to print. What am I doing wrong?

    ReplyDelete
  16. Karlins, Did you save them to your desktop? If you do that, you should be able to open them, and go to file and print. You can also access the lists in my Tpt store (they are free) at http://www.teacherspayteachers.com/Store/Jill-Scott-13/

    ReplyDelete