Back To School

August marks the beginning of a new school year!! This year I will have a 7th grader and a 4th grader. (Plus a little peanut who is only 17 months old so he doesn't count when it comes to "back to school".) It seems with each passing year I find that school shopping gets a little more in depth and considerably more expensive!

We still have three weeks until school starts here in central Florida, so I'm in the "preparation" stage. Here are our goals for this week:

• Purchase any deals that are "better than tax free" (which is in two weeks).

• Make a list of clothing items that are "needed".

• Take inventory of what supplies we can reuse/recycle from last year or the summer.

Last week we took advantage of Staples "free backpack" week, so we'll have a Staples card for the full price of the backpack on it's way soon. I'm thinking we can use that for extra printer cartridges so we're not scrambling in the evenings.

Also, I'm adding tri-fold project boards, foam board and poster board to our school supply list this year. It always seems that we need one of those things...right now!! (Your kids probably don't do that. What IS your secret?!)

The one "must have" purchase of the week?

Target. Memory sticks. Love 'em.

USB, dude

Portable USB drives make saving homework, documents, and photos easy. And fun designs such as surfboards, skateboards, and snowboards make these USB drives all the more unique.

USB Boards, $14; available in Target Stores.