2012: First Day of School

September 4, 2012 by Tracy

My toddler watching her siblings.

In my house, planning for the first day of school is more important and time-consuming than planning a birthday party or dinner party.

Beginning in July with all the back-to-school sales, our family shops, gathers, organizes, and plans for our First Day of School.

Last week, I shared our festivities on the First Day of School Eve. Today, I report how that first day commenced.

Morning Send Off

Having prepared the prior night made our morning this productive:

Dressing and grooming took around 10 minutes because clothing was chosen and laid out.
Lunch and snacks packed in prepared bags and notes written during breakfast.
Finished styling the girls’ hair and took pictures.
Arrived at school early to deliver teacher’s gifts and snag those first-day pictures.

All dressed and ready to go.

Back with his friends, my son returned quickly to his routine. On the other hand, my daughter had a slight meltdown in her classroom, but she found a friend and settled down to color. 😉

Whew! A busy morning ran smoothly with a little early planning and preparing for our first day of school.

Afternoon Pickup

Getting the privilege of picking them up at different times, I enjoyed listening to their first day adventures. My daughter eagerly whipped out her folder to show her lessons and request help with her homework. She loves learning and thrives on doing projects like writing, coloring, and crafts.

Though less-talkative than my daughter, my son gave a story or two about the day to appease his Momma. After stops at the grocery stores, we arrived home. Without homework, my son sauntered off to play.

Evening Preparations

With the busy day, we enjoyed a quiet evening at home. After dinner and baths, we desired another smooth-running morning and prepared for our second day of school:

Unloaded, cleaned, and chose lunch and snack options
Chose and laid out clothes

In using time wisely to prepare for the first day of school, we ended our day with success and exhaustion. I was surprised at how tired I was after getting the kids in bed. Though getting back into this routine may take a little time, I will continue preparing the prior night since this routine keeps me calm while using time wisely.

As you continue or start your fall routine, try to plan your morning the prior evening. Getting off to a good start sets the pace for your day. A little preparation can make your morning productive while using time wisely. Happy planning!

Question: If you have school-age children, how did you fare on your family’s first day of school?

2012: First Day of School Eve

August 28, 2012 by Tracy

Photograph Credit: Microsoft Images

Our house is a stir with excitement and preparations for the first day of school. On the first day of school eve, I start with a plan.

With some nervous energy from my daughter entering kindergarten to my calm son ready to see his friends, our big day is on the horizon.

My goal is to end the summer with fun while minimizing distractions for tomorrow morning.

To reach that goal, we started our day with breakfast and a shopping trip to Staples for the last two items that never went on sale during the back-to-school season.

On our way back home, we snagged 50¢ ice cream cones from Burger King while chatting about predictions for the new school year. At home, we ate lunch, and my toddler took a nap.

In between the loads of laundry, we finished labeling and packing my son and daughter’s school supplies.

Aligned their backpacks down the hallway in their designated spaces. (The third backpack, used by my son last year, has been passed down to the toddler for her items. ;-))

Chose their first day of school outfits complete with shoes and accessories.

Set out their lunch bags and drink containers.

Printed the signs for pictures and the lunch box notes.

Loaded up their school supplies and headed out to our annual Back-to-School family dinner. This year we ate at Stevi B’s with a Groupon.

My mom is staying for a little longer to spend time with her grandchildren and see them off to school. We are wearing her out and enjoying our time together. 😉

After dinner, we attended Back-to-School night at school where we dropped off our supplies, received information about the school year, reunited with our friends, and made a few new relationships.

With a busy evening and early start to tomorrow, we came home, ran through our evening routine, answered questions, calmed fears, and put our children to bed.

Packing in precious time with my family on our last day of summer vacation proved enjoyable and profitable. Keeping our tradition of a family dinner completed our summer activities and spurred us into our next adventure. In using time wisely, our first day of school eve activities closed one chapter and will start another in the morning. Keeping it together . . . barely!

Question: How did/are you planning your First Day of School Eve?

Back-to-School Free Printables

August 18, 2012 by Tracy

Photograph Credit: iStockphoto

After squeaking out the last few days of summer with shopping trips for those items that just didn’t go on sale and one more trip to the water park, I will return to this post to print these items for our school activities.

Though our school year begins at the end of August, I know many have or are returning to school this week. To send you off prepared, enjoy stretching your dollars with these free school-related printables from around the blogosphere:

First Day Picture Signs

Telisa from Sugar Tots Designs created grade signs for your child to hold during your first day photo shoot. Find your desired sign at I Heart Nap Time and download it. Then attach to a paint stick or pencil for your child to hold while picture posing.

Lunch Box Notes

I am one-of-those sappy moms who writes a note each day, dates it, and keeps it when it comes back home. Realizing that these notes probably mean more to me than to my son, I file them away with that year’s documents.

These notes may one day get tossed, but I continue to write. With my daughter beginning school this year, the notes will mean more to her, and I know she will keep them. 🙂

Though a plain sheet paper, folded and torn, works fine, I really like these cute printables for a nice change:

1. The Happy Home Fairy posted this Free Printable Lunch Box Notes Round-Up with lots of options.

2. For a more whimsical note, Build-A-Bear Workshop offers these free lunch box notes on their Facebook Page.

3. With these free lunch box notes by Paper Coterie, I love the Top 10 Reasons I love you. 😉

NOTE: If you get a TEMPORARILY UNAVAILABLE message through the Paper Coterie link, then click on the green DOWNLOAD button in the right hand corner of the Media Fire page. Then the printables should load.

Notes for School

When you need to inform the school of a late arrival, early pickup, absent notice, or any other information, Anything But Perfect created these free school notes. I love the clean, organized look to these school notes.

Money Notes for School

For the picture orders, book clubs, pizza orders, and field trip payments, these money notes designed by Anything But Perfect provide a quick and easy way to communicate with the teacher regarding your financial designation.

Teacher’s Survival Kit

Last year, I created this cute Teacher’s Survival Kit for my son’s teacher. Allowing him to help gather the items and put the package together geared up my son for a new school year.

This year, I put together items purchased from Target’s Dollar section that would benefit our two teachers. Next week, I will share with pictures our teacher kits. If you would like more inspiration, check out these posts from Teaching Heart and Kim’s Korner 4 Teacher Talk.

In using time wisely to finish this summer without regrets and to plan for the next chapter this fall, use these free printables to get you on track while stretching your dollars. With adjustments to the change of pace and routine, these printables offer simple solutions for back-to-school while saving you money, energy, and time. Happy saving!

Question: Which printable is your favorite?

Back to School: Sale Supply Lists

July 23, 2011 by Tracy

Photograph Credit: Flickr (Rebeca Falco)

As summer is winding down, the back-to-school sales are gearing up. Viewing the Sunday fliers, I am bombarded with sales from large retail suppliers competing for my attention and business. Sorting through the advertisements, I could spend 1-2 hours creating the perfect list of needed items at the best prices to stretch my hard earned dollars.

The Search

Wouldn’t it be nice if there were a master list of all the school supply sales from all the major retail stores? Well, I have some great news for you . . .

THERE IS.

The Find

Jenny Martin at southernsavers.com creates a master list of all the school supplies from all the stores. You can see this week’s deals (ending today) by clicking on this link. Armed with this master list, you can find the best prices on all your school needs.

Next week, Jenny will post another list. When I see her list, I will post the link on my Facebook page. (Are you following me on Facebook? If not, click on the Facebook icon in the right sidebar, like our page, and “talk” with me. I would love to hear how you are using your time wisely.)

The Timesaver

Having your created list, you are ready to hit the stores. What if you could get most or all of your items at the same store? A one-stop shopping trip would be a huge timesaver.

Hmm . . . have you heard that some stores, like Wal-mart, offer price matching? (You see where I’m going. Isn’t this exciting?)

If your store price matches, then take your list and all your sales ads with you while shopping. Here is how my shopping trip looks:

1. Choose to shop at Wal-mart since I have price matched successfully with them in the past.

2. Take my list and gather the items. The items need to be the same brand, size, and count as the price matched item.

3. Sort the items by the price matched advertisement. To make the checkout process as organized as possible, keep all the items to be price matched from the Walgreens ad together, then all the Kmart ads, then the Target sales, etc.

4. Go to checkout placing the sales ad with the group of items to be price matched. Let the cashier know you have price matched items. Then help him or her by locating the new price from your ads. Be calm, courteous, and don’t be afraid to ask for a manager if the cashier does not honor a sale price.

5. Share your savings with your frugal friends, including Using Time Wisely’s Facebook page or leave a comment on this post. 🙂

Keeping your shopping trips to a minimum and maximizing your savings can both be accomplished by using your time wisely when creating your shopping list and choosing a store that price matches. I wish you a great shopping experience as you preparing for your family’s up-coming school year.

Question: What stores price match in your area?