Back to School Shopping Tips

School is starting in less than a month now... I remember seeing a commercial on TV. The father is doing the back-to-school shopping and pushing the cart HAPPILY (not to mention the sad-looking children following him). In the background there was a song--"It's the Most Wonderful Time of the Year!" That commercial gave me a chuckle, but is it really the 'most wonderful time' of the year?

Now that all of my children are in school, I have three separate supply lists that I need to keep track of. I consider myself a savvy shopper--if I am not organized enough, back-to-school shopping can be a frustratingly annoying experience. Forget about wonderful time of the year!

Luckily, because my children wear uniforms, the clothes shopping is simple and easy for me. I will share the few things I do when organizing the school supply shopping, so it is less stressful.

1. Organize the shopping list. When all three of them are in different grades, the things on the lists are slightly different, although, there are some things that are the same too. I make two separate lists--one that has all the common items from each child’s supply list and write down the numbers (for example 1" binder---3). Then, in the other list, I list all the other items from each child’s supply list. After the shopping is done I can divide them up into each of their backpacks as I scratch off of their individual supply sheets.

2. Gather information. I gather ads from all the local stores and see who sells what at what price. I do comparison shopping, but if store A has most of the item on the list for cheap, and store B has one item much cheaper, but only saves me a few pennies, I just stick with store A. Sometimes saving a few pennies isn't worth my time, when I think about all the hustle and stress. Talking to other moms is a great way to know the deals too.

3. Go shopping. If you are able, go WITHOUT your children! For me it makes a world of difference. In my case, my husband loves to spend time with the kids after he gets home from work, so I can just hop out and do the shopping without someone constantly talking to me, needing to go to the bathroom, and so on. I can focus better and the shopping goes by much quicker. If that is not an option, trading with other moms to watch the children might be something you can do.

One of the items that I am looking into getting is Microsoft Office 2010. They have been using computers at school more and more each year. Since my oldest is going into the 6th grade, I think it is a great idea that he is able to do more of his work at home on the computer.

Because I am not tech savvy, I really appreciate software that is easy to use and makes my life easier. Microsoft Office 2010 Word, Excel, PowerPoint and OneNote offer features that help kids collaborate on projects, take dynamic notes and give rich presentations, this year and beyond.

Guess what? Microsoft has a special offer for Tea Rose Home readers! When you buy Office today, you save 15%. Hurry, this promotion ends on 9/14.

I hope some of the back-to-school shopping tips and the 15% off will make your life a little bit easier. Happy shopping!

Be sure to visit Microsoft Office 2010's brand page on BlogHer.com where you can read other bloggers’ posts!