Much to my daughter's dismay, it is time to start preparing for the upcoming school year.  Part of this ritual involves buying school supplies. This year, her school offered pre-packaged supply kits that were customized to her teacher's specifications.  The school receives $3 for every kit purchased.

Since I'm not a huge fan of fighting 10-year-olds for the last glue stick at the big box store, I was ready to take advantage of this offer – until I noticed that the cost of one kit was $80.  I was just certain I could properly supply her for school for much less.  So armed with the list, I headed to the store.

School Supply List

• 3 dozen #2 pencils, sharpened
• 6 blue ballpoint pens
• 6 black ballpoint pens
• 6 red ballpoint pens
• 1 box markers, assorted colors (8 ct.)
• Assorted markers and highlighters
• 1 box colored pencils (8 ct.)
• 1 box crayons (24 ct.)
• 1 ream of white copy paper (500 ct.)
• 10 pocket folders with 3 prongs, mixed colors
• 2 packs wide-ruled lined notebook paper (200 sheets each)
• 1 6" Big Kid Scissors, Ages 8+
• 1 bottle of glue (4 oz.)
• 1 washable glue stick
• 2 packages Expo marker (4 ct.)
• 1 foaming anti-bacterial soap
• 1 box tissues
• 5 Mead composition books
• 1 zipper pencil pouch with 3 holes
• 1 pack lined index cards (3 x 5)
• Large binder (Optional)
• 1 roll paper towels
• 1 box plastic bags (either sandwich, quart or gallon size)

The result?  The total cost of my daughter's school supplies was $54.97 – 31 percent less than the cost of the prepackaged kit.  That's without comparison shopping or coupons. 

Now, instead of the $3 that was going to be donated to the school, I can donate the $25.03 I saved by spending a little bit of time to shop for supplies myself.  As a bonus, my daughter got to participate by choosing her favorite color notebooks and folders. 

What do you think?  Is the convenience of pre-packaged back-to-school supply kits worth the cost? 

You might also enjoy reading:

Back-to-school scavenging: Smart or a little sad?
Frugal back-to-school shopping tips
Frugal tips ease back-to-school expenses

Comment(s)

When teaching, I got mad that my PTA was selling school supply kits at rip-off prices to our poor, inner-city parents so that the PTA could make money.

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