Planning for Back to School and a Free Printable

It's one of my most favorite shopping times of the year.  BACK to SCHOOL!  Not because I'm eager for the kiddos to head on back for another year of school, but because everywhere you look there are deals and more deals on school and office supplies.  I think I love those more than I love craft supplies, and I seriously love craft supplies.  I couldn't tell you why, I just do!

So, once I start seeing the school supplies show up in stores, I start planning for the year ahead.  Not just for the kids (oh my, I have two in school this year .. sniff, sniff...where does the time go?) but for the home as well.  If I were a small business owner, this is when I would totally stock up on things I need.  Aside from the obvious paper, pens and other office/school items, there are ton of organization solutions that come on sale around this time too.  Magnetic locker organizers can easily be used on the fridge or magnetic board.  Small two drawer file cabinets usually get marked down quite a bit for college students, it's a great time to snap up one or two.  Don't need a file drawer?  How about using them in a teen or tween's room for a bedside table?  The possibilities are endless.

And, because they are endless, it is oh so easy to get swept away (especially if you have an irrational love of all things office and school supply related) so this year, I decided to plan things out on paper first, and take stock of what we already have.  With two to buy for, a move in the works, among other things, I need to be really careful with where the dollars are going.  So I created this little baby to help me keep track:

Back to School Planner

It's the first part of what I'm calling my "Back to School Planner"  Here's how it works (at least how I use it) The first part is for the supplies I'm pretty sure will be on my list.  Crayons, markers, pencils, scissors, glue, and notebooks for Liam; lined paper, graph paper, plain paper, pencils, pens, highlighters, etc... for our Teen.  The first column is for listing out what I know we already have.  This way I'm not buying more than we need.  I try to pick up a few extra items from their lists, just in case they need more, but I try not to buy too much extra.  The next column is where I list the things I know we're going to have buy this year.  And the last column is things we need for the home.  They could include notebooks, paper, markers and crayons ... whatever I think/know we need.

Then comes the clothing section.  Who doesn't love new school clothes?  I could easily get carried away here, but the truth is, summer clothes will still be used for the first few weeks of school, which means I can pick up new school clothes a little at time.  I like to note the size and how many of an item I need, that way, I'm not tempted to spend too much on one of an item when I still need to pick up x amount more. 

The last section is for those miscellaneous items that sometimes need to be picked up and sometimes don't.  I don't want to have to do up a new one every year, so I just put them all down.  (No, my boys do not go to private school, but I added that just cause) This year, we need two of everything on that list.  But next year we will probably only need a few things.  

And there you have it!  Just a simple little list planner, to help me get more prepared for the coming school year and to keep me on track.  As always click the link below the pic to snag a copy of your own!  

What do you do to get ready for the school year?  Do you love school/office supplies too?  Any item that makes your personal "must get one" list?