Back to School the Simple Way

Once July 4th rolls by, retailers are all about gearing up for back to school. Have you noticed this trend over the last few years? Out go the flags and sparklers. In come the school and dorm supplies. The latter is particularly pronounced at Target in a college town.

As I trudge along my own journey to simplify my family's life (not an easy feat...my kids and husband believe more is more), I do my best to ignore the back to school marketing tricks.

Here's how we prepare for back to school the simple way:

1) Wearing What We Have---Have you noticed that your kids wear the same favorite items of clothing over and over again? It's okay! Let them wear their favorites and save yourself space, time, energy and money on excess clothing.

2) Keeping a Fairly Regular Schedule---If your kids are older than elementary school age, this might be more difficult to manage, but you can lead by example. This summer we attempted to stick with our school year bedtime and my kids' alarms were moved back only 30 minutes compared to the school year schedule. A week before school starts I will move that wake up time back by five minutes a day.

3) Using What We Have---In my home we have pencils, paper and all kinds of school/office supplies. If you do not already have a designated spot for these items, now is the time to set up an area or box for school supplies. In our school district the teacher's wish list letters come about a week before school starts. We leave that week open to find what we have on hand and what we need to purchase for school. I typically spent less than $10 on school supplies at this time.

Because things are basically organized, we spent August harvesting vegetables from our patch, hiking with our dog, going to day camp and enjoying the last few days of summer as a family.

Contact Carolyn if you need help getting organized for back to school.